Hot Rocks 1964-1971 [DSD Remastered]

There's no doubt that the years 1964 to 1971 were the best years for the Rolling Stones. Sure, they put out some great singles in the years since, and at least two killer records (Some Girls and Steel Wheels come to mind), but overall, the Stones were at their very best during this era. These songs are mostly arranged in chronological order, so you can easily see the Stones' transformation from bad boy Beatles rivals to a sharp, biting blues-rock band poised to conquer the world. By the second disk, the songs take on a much more noticeable complexity, such as the sitar parts in "Paint it Black" to the social commentary of "Sympathy For the Devil" and "Street Fighting Man," all concluding with the brilliant "Brown Sugar" and "Wild Horses," both of which were taken from the Sticky Fingers album, which I believe is one of the Stones' best.

Echoes of the band's Beatles rivalry are present in several of the early songs here, the similarity between the beat of "Get Off My Cloud" to that of "Twist and Shout" (even if the Beatles were covering the Isley Brothers), the Stones' answer to "Yesterday," the acoustic song "As Tears Go By," which also features a string quartet coming in around the second verse. Actually, though, the Stones wrote "Tears" a year before the Beatles did "Yesterday," and gave it to Marianne Faithfull, who had a hit with it. After the Bealtes did their song, the Stones changed the arrangement and released their version. They weren't ripping off or anything; that was the game back then, you had to stay with current musical trends if you wanted to survive. That aside, the Stones' early stuff proved to influential in its own right; garage bands everywhere attempted to emulate songs like "Satisfaction." The Stones were one of the leading bands of the British Invasion, and for good reason. Many of the songs on the first disc prove why.

On the second disk, we see the Stones shift gears, incorporating psychedelic elements into their work (again, the sitar in "Paint it Black"), and shortly after going back to their rootsy sound that they would largely stick with for the rest of their career.

Most of my favorite cuts are from the second disk, although I do like early songs such as "Mother's Little Helper" and "Play With Fire." I would have liked to have seen "The Last Time," "Stray Cat Blues," and the Bo Diddley-Buddy Holly pastiche "Not Fade Away" be included, because they were great songs, but overall, though, for anyone who is a newcomer to the Stones or just a casual fan (like I am), then this disk is really the best way to get started. Don't let the fact that this is a 2 disc CD scare you off...it's worth every penny. If you are interested in checking out the Stones, this won't dissapoint.


Oh please   September 3, 2006
THE MAIN MAN (Central Bookin', NY)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

Anybody who gives this 1 star, has no idea what classics are, or what real music is. I'm a diehard hip hop fan and I know what the rolling stones mean to music. I listened to my fathers collection and all there albums are classics to me. I say get the albums before this. Either way you cant go wrong.


Just the hits, mostly, but better than ever!   September 28, 2002
T. A. Shepherd (Palmdale, Ca. 93550)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful

I have never been so fanatical about sound before now. It has always been performance first, the former taking a back seat. Without question, these classic albums have stood the test of time as well as any recordings ever released! All the studio discs released in 1986 sans the hits packages were brought under my roof, including the rare U.K. version of Aftermath. That being the case, I decided to test the waters of the new remasters with "Hot Rocks". I was not just blown away by the improved sound, but also the life-like quality of each and every track that I listened to. The new life that breathed into even the mono tracks was so impressive, I decided to eventually replace the entire Decca collection. Most appreciative, "She's A Rainbow" on "More Hot Rocks" loses the camp introduction that lost its welcome since the "Majesties" disc.


MUSIC VS. THE MUSIC BUSINESS   October 9, 2002
"The Woj" (Downers Grove, IL)
4 out of 12 found this review helpful

Since this is the definitive collection of the Stones pre-Exile work it is a must have for any fan. The bad part is this SACD scam. The sound is more enhanced, but in an un-natural sort of way. Music companies are pushing this format to combat the cd-r and mp3 revolution. If you like to burn back-up copies or play music on your computer, you're out of luck. This disc can not be decoded on most computers. Remember...all of these SACD Stones cds were originally recorded on pre-1970 analog equipment.
The original remastered version of "Hot Rocks" sounds identical to this one (as do all the SACD versions) when played on "non" SACD eqipment. So unless you have the higher end player, there is no need ot upgrade or spend more money on these newer releases.


The Best Rolling Stones Greatest Hits Collection   October 11, 2003
Carlos Rodriguez (Miami, Fl.)
4 out of 6 found this review helpful

HOT ROCKS 1964-1971, in my opinion is the best Greatest Hits collection by the Stones. This 2CD set has all of their classic recordings from 64-71 which I feel was their most prolific period. If you're a Rolling Stones fan, this album should be in your music collection. All of the songs compiled on this special release are all gems but I do have some that I like more than others. This is an excellent collection and the music contained herein can be classified as timeless. No matter how many years go by these songs will always be part of a great musical style known as classic rock and will never be outdated.

My favorites songs on this collection are:"Wild Horses", I really love this song I think its one of the best ballads ever written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. "Honky Tonk Women", a great song with some great blues riffs, this one is a classic.
"Gimme Shelter", awesome song with great guitar and background vocals, I love the song's intro. "Jumping Jack Flash" a real classic from beginning to end one of my favorites. "Under My Thumb", fantastic tune I love the music and the lyrics to this song. "Sympathy For The Devil", simply superb and very original. I love when Jagger starts shouting somewhat to "Hey baby ah, what's your name,. "Satisfaction" their first big hit and a great song. "Let's Spend The Night Together" love this one, this song puts me in the MOOD if you know what I mean. "Play With Fire" soft and mellow, really nice. "You Can't Always Get What You Want" one of my all time favorites, I really like this one and I don't mind that is a little over 7 minutes.

These are basically my favorites on this album. A song that I love and is actually my favorite Stones song is "Angie" but as you know this great classic was not release till 1973, two years after this great collection. However, I pointed it out because I feel that on this particular song is where I feel that Mick Jagger's voice has been the best. Excellent CD, I highy recommend it is a CLASSIC for all times.