Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 68
 Most Over-rated Group in the World April 4, 2008
Frank C. Branchini (Edgewater, MD USA)
11 out of 44 found this review helpful
The Rolling Stones have recorded some of the best music ever made. But they have continued to perform long past their prime. The evidence is on this disc. The performances range from adequate to painful. I was excited to see they had inclued As Tears Go By and Connected. That was before I heard the disc. The performances are simply painful. Connected is completely off-key.
The Stones have been the leaders in pushing ticket prices to obscene heights. The last time they played in Washington the top ticket price was over $600. Any one who paid that much to hear a show this bad was cheated. The performances here aren't even worth the price of a CD. This is a group that is coasting on their reputation and hoping no one will notice their complete decline.
 Has its moments May 23, 2008
T. McCool (Lafayette, IN United States)
11 out of 17 found this review helpful
The Stones continue the pattern of a studio CD followed by a live CD with Shine A Light. This one is a little different that there is a Martin Scorcese film that goes with it. (Or does the CD go with the film?) I'm not only a Stones fan; I'm a collector. So I buy every CD they put in the racks.
I'm beginning to feel used.
Here's an interesting observation on the CD. It doesn't include any songs from the previous studio CD, A Bigger Bang. In fact, this CD does not include any Rolling Stones song released in the past 20 years. And only 3 of the songs were released in the 1980s. Most were released in the 1970s, with the Some Girls album contributing four songs.
Is it any wonder I feel cheated?
So what makes this different than any of the four other live CDs I've had to buy in the past two decades? The band's style of playing has remained virtually unchanged. If you put all the live CDs in your iPod and hit 'shuffle' they would sound as if they were all recorded during the same tour.
So why do I keep buying this stuff?
There is some good stuff here. There are songs that have never appeared on a live CD, like She Was Hot and Shine A Light. There is a great version of Loving Cup, an obscure track from Exile on Main St., that features Jack White of the White Stripes. Buddy Guy joins in on Champagne and Reefer, a late-model Muddy Waters tune.
And there are the songs that long time fans call "the warhorses" that are performed and nearly every concert, like Satisfaction, Jumping Jack Flash, Start Me Up, and Brown Sugar. I guess there has to be something for the tourists.
I haven't seen the film yet, but I probably will at some point. The clips I've seen look very good and I look forward to seeing it. Maybe it will help me appreciate this CD a little more.
Because the music itself is pedestrian. Or maybe I'm just tired of hearing Jumping Jack Flash played live for the nth time. At times the band sounds like they're just going through the motions, even on a song like She Was Hot that the band rarely performs.
There is one line in Some Girls that made me smile. On the Some Girls album, the line goes, "Some girls give me children that I never asked them for." On this CD, he sings, "Some girls give me children and I only had sex with her once!" That must be what he told Jerry before she kicked him out.
Yeah, I've bought into "the machine" (another fond term used by hardcore fans). And I'll buy the next CD too. I guess I still listen for those magic moments that do come, but are now fewer and farther between.
The truth is, the Stones haven't really lost a step. Some fantastic performances have been recorded and are available (if you know where to look, wink, wink) from every decade of the band's history. Check out the intensity of the Saitama, Japan show that's included on the Biggest Bang DVD. Seek out the entire show (if you know where to look, nudge, nudge). The Stones can still bring it, when they want. But as another reviewer has noted, sometimes they're on and sometimes they're off.
They're mostly off on Shine A Light. And it had so much potential...
 The Biggest Bang! April 1, 2008
Whamo (San Clemente, California)
9 out of 13 found this review helpful
The live double-CD set captures the greatest rock and roll band in the world at the pinnacle of their powers. A far cry from the exhuberant energy of the band's 1969 effort, "Get Your Ya Ya's Out", the tone of "Shine a Light" exudes a mature, refined Rolling Stones -- in a "live" mix with a studio sound. Mick Jagger's sense of humor uncorks "Faraway Eyes", "Some Girls" and insults. Songs from the 60's, 70's, and 80's comprise the set. Martin Scorsese, Jack White III, Buddy Guy, and Christina Aguilera appear in the band's best live album since '69.
The Stones are STILL the Stones... April 2, 2008
John F. Narducci (Providence, RI USA)
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
I had an original idea! Lets's judge the music for the music. If anyone can give me a list of contemparary bands that match this amazing live performance, please come forward with your list. Even if you do, you will probably end up including The Allmans, Skynyrd, Petty, and others from an earlier era. Rock and Roll will die. When people forget Led Zep, The Stones, The Who and numerous others. The template is out there, follow it or get out of the way!
One word: "KEEF" April 4, 2008
Mike (San Jose, CA)
8 out of 12 found this review helpful
I agree with many of the reviews here...the presence of so many tracks that have never appeared on a Stones live album is the main attraction.
But the unquestionable sweet spot is Keith Richards on "You Got The Silver." Pure, utter MAGIC. Classic track that's stood the test of time and may even be stronger in 2008.
Not to mention Buddy Guy sitting in on Muddy Waters' "Champagne and Reefer." Any chance to hear Buddy is a cause for celebration.
It's a much stronger live album than Live Licks (topless cover)...and that's not saying a lot, because that album is one of the weakest of all Stones live albums...but Scorsese has charmed a "Stones Lovers" concert from the band. Yes, many of the expected tracks are here, although I would have loved another chance to hear Lisa Fischer wail on "Gimme Shelter"...but that's a minor detail.
Mick may walk through some of his performances and side-step the high notes of yore, but the Stones are still the Stones, and it's only rock & roll, and I STILL like it.
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