Read Review of Forty Licks [Limited] - The Rolling Stones
Review Summary
About the Author
Forty Licks: A Rolling Stones Rockuspective
Oct 29 '02
Pros Forty songs spanning a forty year career.
Cons A few missing tracks, edits, mono...nothing of note really.
The Bottom Line HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. This album is for all fans of all ages and all levels of The Rolling Stones.
Full Review
The Rolling Stones have been around for much longer than I’ve been alive. In fact, they were formed in 1963 (a full thirteen years before my birth) and within the next decade the British band, the antithesis of the Beatles, would take over the world of rock and roll and solidify their place in history.
Without delving too deeply into the problems faced by the band (addiction and personality clashes have been widely discussed), it’s amazing that they still are making good music some forty years since their inception. It was in 1964 that the quintet first made their musical debut. The self-titled album was more rhythm and blues than rock and roll and chock full of covers. But the fact remains that at the core, The Rolling Stones are a sexy, rowdy, blues-drenched rock band. So what more could one have expected from a debut?
At the release of the first album, The Rolling Stones consisted of frontman Mick Jagger, drummer Charlie Watts, bassist Bill Wyman, guitarist Brian Jones, and the rather visible Keith Richards. Jagger and Richards have been the most central of all the forces of The Rolling Stones. Members have come and gone…Mick Taylor replaced the fired (and soon thereafter dead) Jones. Ron Wood, formerly of The Faces, then replaced Taylor in the late 1970’s.
Over the years, The Rolling Stones have built up a formidable catalogue of songs. I wouldn’t even bother to guess for fear of seriously underestimating the band. Suffice it to say that over the decades the band has released something more than twenty-five studio albums and nearly ten live albums. Very, very few acts can ever record this many albums and it’s amazing that The Rolling Stones have accomplished so much considering the internal strife the band’s faced throughout the years.
Fans all have their favorite albums and songs. Some commonly referred to favorite albums include (but are in no way limited to): Exile on Main Street, Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, and Aftermath. The band’s most worthwhile work was recorded throughout the 1960’s and through 1981’s Tattoo You. There are of course other briefly shimmering moments, but the bulk of the classic material came from this era.
I’m much more a fan of The Rolling Stones than I am of The Beatles. I’m almost embarrassed to admit to the fact that I know little about the inner workings of the latter of those two bands. I’m even more ashamed that I own so few Stones albums. Then again, it would cost a small fortune to collect each work…maybe it’s for the best that they most recently released the seamless Forty Licks, a greatest hits collection worthy of any collection. It’s the first career-spanning greatest hits collection representing The Rolling Stones. There have been other briefer and still other more encompassing collections. This one just seems the most appropriate and would serve as a great introduction to young fans of the band while still satisfying long-time fans with both new and old tracks.
Forty Licks is a 2-CD set. It contains—shock of all shocks—forty tracks meant to cover their best songs not necessarily just their number one hits. Keep in mind that despite their continued success, The Rolling Stones have historically had very few hit singles. The concept of gathering together the best tracks in this case works well. The tracks aren’t ordered chronologically. Instead, they seem to have been put together to sound pleasing to the ear…almost an album arrangement. Again, this approach works well.
There are songs that are missing. It’s unfortunate that tracks including Time Is on My Side, As Tears Go By, Dandelion, and Waiting on a Friend have been overlooked but what is included is priceless and timeless. Forty Licks proves to all fans of all ages the staying power that a truly talented band can and should have. I could nitpick this album to death, complain about the remastering or edits or omissions or mono sound. What’s important is that this is an easy to love and important to cherish album.
Each of the forty tracks is a classic in it’s own right. Of those songs, there are a few that speak to the core of my being. The most notable of these is Ruby Tuesday. Upbeat, jangly, and shimmering in a pop-rock rather than blues-rock sort of way, the track is an example of musical perfection. It’s on one level sparse and easy going. On another very different level, it’s uneasy and full of layered melodies. I adore the sitar masterfully melded into the guitars and various other traditional rock elements. The words too speak to me:
There's no time to lose, I heard her say
Catch your dreams before they slip away
Dying all the time
Lose your dreams
And you will lose your mind.
Ain't life unkind?
Another track that stands out in this collection is of course Paint Is Black. It’s a creatively free, nearly psychedelic musical experiment. It has to rank among the most universally appealing of all Rolling Stones tracks ever put to tape. A mid-tempo rocker, the genius rests in the percussion, piano and the incessant (though perfect) guitars. Jagger’s vocals are magnificent, but the backing vocals are more notable. The fact that he can take a purposeful backseat to the female blues vocals proves that his voice is just one part of the overall fantastic picture. Again, the lyrics are appealing:
I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door and it has been painted black
Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts
It's not easy facin' up when your whole world is black
You Can’t Always Get What You Want also screams for undivided attention. With one of the most distinctive introductions ever recorded in rock music, the tracks takes a bit of time to materialize but when it does it’s perfect. Seamless. Flawless. Effervescent. With litter more than an acoustic guitar Jagger’s voice, the song is exactly what one could hope. As it continues, more rock elements are added and the track becomes fuller and freer and in my humble opinion ranks among my favorite from the band.
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You just might find
You'll get what you need
One final track calls out to me from the first CD. Wild Horses is the most gorgeous offering out of these two discs. Dueling acoustic guitars equal the power of Jagger’s unconventional though highly emotional vocals. This acoustic approach wasn’t often taken by the Stones, but it should have been…the power of this track is undeniable. The tearful melody only serves to further implant the song into the psyche. Just close your eyes and breathe in the majesty of Wild Horses.
I watched you suffer a dull aching pain
Now you decided to show me the same
No sweeping exits or offstage lines
Could make me feel bitter or treat you unkind
The second disc of this collection is equally as impressive despite the fact that I’m overall more partial to the 1960’s/1970’s Rolling Stones discography. Start Me Up was a smart choice to start the disc. Absolutely one of the most upbeat songs ever from the band, the track is impossible to not to groove to…it was also a perfect early MTV hit. Fortunately for the elder rockers, the track is musically watertight. The claps, the attitude, the great guitars, Start Me Up is a classic.
You make a grown man cry
Ride like the wind at double speed
I'll take you places that you've never, never seen
Start it up
Another classic track, this time of the bluesy groove rock variety, is Beast of Burden. It’s understated, smooth, intelligently arranged, and not in the least bit cliché. Part of the appeal of the Stones rests with their ability to morph into different incarnations at the apparent drop of a hat. It’s obviously heavily influenced by the 1970’s with rather adult contemporary sounding guitars, but Jagger’s distinctive vocals and Richards’ distinct style save the songs from blandness and thrust it to the pinnacle of perfection.
I'll never be your beast of burden
So let's go home and draw the curtains
Music on the radio
Come on baby make sweet love to me
Another wonderfully appealing track is It's Only Rock 'N Roll (But I Like It). Half country-rock, half blues-rock, the track is one of my favorite songs specifically about my favorite kind of music. A mid-tempo rocker, it’s supported by amazing blues guitars and a distinctive, fiery bass make it a wonderful track. Hey, and the lyrics are pretty decent too:
If I could stick a knife in my heart
Suicide right on stage
Would it be enough for your teenage lust
Would it help to ease the pain? Ease your brain?
In addition to all the old favorites, the Stones have included three new cuts. Don’t Stop is getting plenty of radio airplay in metro Detroit. The three songs are all decent, but this is probably my favorite. Not that any of them really can rank even close to the same level as the thirty-seven classics.
Forty Licks is a must own. It’s a nearly-complete and not at all overwhelming to overly expensive career retrospective of the Rolling Stones. If you have merely a passing interest in the band, may I humbly suggest you check out this album? It will most certainly peak your curiosity about this uber-talented band. If you’re already a fan, why not pick up an album where you don’t have to skip through you least favorites to get to you most favorites? I highly recommend Forty Licks.
Rating: 5/5 stars
Disc 1
01. Street Fighting Man [Beggar’s Banquet, 1968]
02. Gimme Shelter [Let It Bleed, 1969]
03. Satisfaction, (I Can't Get No) [Out of Our Heads, 1965]
04. Last Time, The [Out of Our Heads, 1965]
05. Jumping Jack Flash [Single, 1968]
06. You Can't Always Get What You Want [Let It Bleed, 1969]
07. 19th Nervous Breakdown [Single, 1966]
08. Under My Thumb [Aftermath, 1966]
09. Not Fade Away [The Rolling Stones, 1964]
10. Have You Seen Your Mother Baby? [Flowers, 1967]
11. Sympathy For The Devil [Beggar’s Banquet, 1968]
12. Mother's Little Helper [Aftermath, 1966]
13. She's A Rainbow [The Satanic Majesties Request, 1967]
14. Get Off My Cloud [December’s Children, 1965]
15. Wild Horses [Sticky Fingers, 1971]
16. Ruby Tuesday [Between The Buttons, 1967]
17. Paint It Black [Aftermath, 1966]
18. Honky Tonk Woman
19. It's All Over Now [12 x 5, 1964]
20. Let's Spend The Night Together [Flowers, 1967]
Disc 2
01. Start Me Up [Tattoo You, 1981]
02. Brown Sugar [Sticky Fingers, 1971]
03. Miss You [Some Girls, 1978]
04. Beast Of Burden [Some Girls, 1978]
05. Don't Stop - (previously unreleased)
06. Happy [Exile on Main Street, 1972]
07. Angie [Goats Head Soup, 1973]
08. You Got Me Rocking [Voodoo Lounge, 1994]
09. Shattered [Some Girls, 1978]
10. Fool To Cry [Black and Blue, 1976]
11. Love Is Strong [Voodoo Lounge, 1994]
12. Mixed Emotions [Steel Wheels, 1989]
13. Keys To Your Love - (previously unreleased)
14. Anybody Seen My Baby? [Bridges To Babylon, 1997]
15. Stealing My Heart - (previously unreleased)
16. Tumbling Dice [Exile on Main Street, 1972]
17. Undercover Of The Night [Undercover, 1983]
18. Emotional Rescue [Emotional Rescue, 1980]
19. It's Only Rock 'N Roll (But I Like It) [It’s Only Rock and Roll, 1974]
20. Losing My Touch - (previously unreleased)
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