Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 11-15 of 82
 Great but... September 6, 2002
Blues Bro (Lakewood, Colorado USA)
11 out of 14 found this review helpful
A new 40 track compilation is being rleased in the next month, including practically all of these tracks and more. Also, no bonus tracks were included in the remastered version, but three bonus tracks were included in the remastered version of hot rocks vol 2. Why? Because they want you to buy hot rocks and the new compilation coming up very soon. So, dont buy this album and wait for the next compilation 'fourty licks'.
 Outrageous rip-off for 30 year old songs ! January 18, 2004
Misha Bendavid (Austin, Texas United States)
11 out of 33 found this review helpful
First, let me say that these songs are
incredible; there's no denying how good
these songs are. That's not what I'm here to
write about. I'm absolutely outraged that
Virgin can remaster these discs for the second
time and charge 18-19 bucks a disc for the
Stones ABKCO catalog ! This stuff has been
around for over 30 years and has made tons
and tons and tons of cash for everyone involved,
except Virgin which bought these masters from
ABKCO a few years ago. Further, most of the
early studio albums are about 30 minutes long.
These could and should have been two-fers, priced
at around 15 bucks. But this sickening greed will
prevent me from every upgrading the 1989 ABKCO
remasters. Even If I could afford it, I wouldn't
give a dime to these weasals. The Stones, themselves,
are somewhat to blame for seeking more piles of
hundred dollar bills to burn in their fireplaces
each night when they signed a new contract with
Virgin in 1996. But in the end it's the fans who
get the shaft. I've bought about a dozen Stones
records once or twice on vinyl and once again
on CD, and It royally pisses me off that these
dirtbags want 36 bucks for " Hot Rocks ". I hope
these greedhead record companies all burn in a
very special hell ! In a few years, they'll regret
doing this because they will be obsolete. We'll
be buying music directly from the artists. Boo
hooo and good riddance EMI/Virgin !
 Great remastering of Abkco compilation! September 16, 2002
J. E FELL (Carterville, Illinois United States)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
I picked this up to see how well the new remastering sounded on the Stones remastering/reissue project. I do not have a SACD compatible player but the sound on a regular player is also much better. It is not nearly as muddy sounding and stereo versions of some the songs were used instead of mono. Just listen to the better clarity of Charlie Watt's drumming on cuts like "Get Off My Cloud" and "Honky Tonk Women". Bill Wyman's bass never sounded better on "19th Nervous Breakdown". The backing vocals on "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and Mary Clayton's vocals on "Gimme Shelter" are much clearer. Brian Jones sitar on "Paint It Black" sounds great. Bobby Key's sax break on "Brown Sugar" is in your face. The marimba on "Under My Thumb" and extra percussion on "Sympathy For The Devil" sounds much better and "Jumpin' Jack Flash" sounds incredible. The songs themselves are the legendary hits from the "greatest rock and roll band in the world." Some people have suggested that casual fans should pass on this and wait for the new "40 Licks" 2 cd set to come out. I recommend picking this up as well. There are many songs on this set which are not included on that set and in addition I do not know if the new remastering will be used on that set. The only drawback is that for a 2 cd set the time is rather skimpy (around 85 minutes). They should have added some more cuts to this set. For example cuts like "Little Red Rooster", "You Better Move On" and were included on the British versions of "Big Hits" and "Through The Past Darkly" respectively but not on the US versions or "More Hot Rocks". Also the single "I Wanna Be Your Man" was not included on "Hot Rocks" or "More Hot Rocks". However, if you can only afford one Stones set this is definately the one to get. You also might want to add "More Hot Rocks" which includes many more great cuts not included on the first "Hot Rocks" set along with some rarities. Kudos to the remastering job!
Great collection May 9, 2003
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Better than "Forty Licks" for the pacing and quality of the album, Hot Rocks is the best collection of the Stones at their peak. Every song is a gem, the tracklist covers all the important songs, and you get what you need. There's enough here to pique a new fan's interest and also serve as a handy set for the older Stones fan that wants the essentials for their car stereo, or whatever. The remastered sound is excellent, for those who care. My only complaint is that a few more songs--the best from "More Hot Rocks", perhaps?--could fit on this set. When I made a tape of my old 80's copy for the car (back before they had CD players in cars), I stuck "She's a Rainbow" on before "Jumping Jack Flash", and it worked quite well.For more information on the Stones' best albums, check out "Beggars Banquet" and "Let It Bleed", which is where you should start your REAL Stones collection (please see my review of that album, entitled "Stones Classic).
Best of the Best-Ofs June 21, 2004
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
I first got this record about the time it first came out, in foot-wide flying-saucer vinyl, in 1972. (You know what I miss about vinyl? The huge, vivid jackets!) It was the first rock record I ever purchased; at the time I'd heard like three Stones cuts ("Ruby Tuesday"; "Satisfaction"; "The Last Time"...and maybe "I Wanna Be Your Man"...or was that the Beatles' version...?), had heard tons of Beatles music, and was more of a Beatles than a Stones fan. Hot Rocks changed that very, very quickly. It's still, and always will be, the best available introduction to the Rolling Stones.
I've heard a number of reviewers grouse, with cause, about the two-disc format. (In vinyl, necessary, plus it generated more cover art! But if you can get "Exile on Main Street" on one CD, you can do it here too.) I've heard others argue for a merger of "Hot Rocks" and "More Hot Rocks." A two-CD set of the two records? A blow for music fans everywhere. (Make the CD case bigger! Load up on that cover art!)
But please don't talk about merging these in the name of "dropping filler." For one thing, both of these records had incredible, well, cover art. None of it should be lost. More importantly: each of these holds together better not only than anyone else's Greatest Hits, but also better than most made-to-be-together studio collections. The sequencing is impeccable; and the records really do represent the band's best work. Most of it, anyway.
You will know whether or not you are a Stones Fan after a few good listens to "Hot Rocks" and "More Hot Rocks". I went on to buy pretty much every studio record they did between 1965 and 1990. But I didn't need and haven't bought any more hits collections. Thse two will do you. The Stones' post-"Exile" work really doesn't support any collections. (An occasional gem -- "Goats Head Soup," "Steel Wheels," one or two others -- surfaces from the murk. But the album must be bought. The best of post-"Exile" Stones can't be had on any collection.) I heard it suggested by an "Exile" reviewer that for the rock fan who just wants the best of the Stones, "Hot Rocks" and "Exile" would be sufficient. It would be hard to argue, if one insists on being casual. But beware. You are more likely to become hooked. And this is a good -- a very good -- thing.
I rarely listen to the hits collections now; I have the studio albums. But when I put them on, boy does it take me back, and make me feel good. It's like they were cut by the group itself in the studio, no middleman no marketing, meant to sound that way. On vinyl, CD, SACD, tin cans, whatever. Long live the Rolling Stones. And they'll always start here.
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![Hot Rocks 1964-1971 [DSD Remastered]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41WHGN7FCNL._SL500_.jpg)
