Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Having listened to this all afternoon, I have to say this is mostly a waste and certainly over the top. Never mind all the repeated songs due to using both US and UK albums, the simple fact is only a dedicated Rolling Stones fan would want this box, and that same fan would already have most if not all of the currently available CDs by the group. So those who want this already have most of it. Let's start with the early albums. The Rolling Stones, Rolling Stones No. 2, and Out of Our Heads - both US and UK versions - are already out there completely in mono, so there is absolutely nothing unusual about those four discs (except possibly the shorter fadeout for Tell Me). 12x5 and December's Children CD's have 7 songs total in stereo with the rest in mono, but the mono versions of those 7 (6 on 12x5 and 1 on December's Children) songs on the box set are fold-downs of the stereo mixes; in other words if you already have those two CDs and also have the freeware app Audacity, you could create the mono mixes yourself and they would be just like what you get here. This is also true of 2 of the 3 songs in stereo on the Rolling Stones Now cd; the only song in stereo from that cd that is in a true mono mix on the new box is Heart of Stone, and that mono mix was already available on the Out of Our Heads UK disc. So that is 7 discs so far with nothing new. Then there is Let It Bleed, which the entire disc in the box is a fold-down. So is Beggars Banquet except for Sympathy for the Devil. And almost everything on the Stray Cats disc can be found on the 2002 remasters - mainly on the Singles Collection - with the exceptions of I've Been Loving You Too Long (which may be a fold-down), The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man (presented in its uncensored version, otherwise identical to the version on Out of Our Heads), Honky Tonk Women (which is a fold-down), and Con La Mie Lacrime (As Tears Go By sung in Italian). Then there is Aftermath US which consists of 10 songs also on Aftermath UK plus Paint It Black, which can be heard in mono on Singles Collection. The prizes here are Aftermath UK, Between the Buttons and Their Satanic Majesties Request, all released in mono on CD for the first time ever. Aftermath's mono mix totally blows the stereo mix out of the water, cleaning out most of the reverb on the stereo mix while giving an overall very punchy quality to everything. The mono mix of this album rocks as hard as anything the Stones ever did. Only 2 songs - Mother's Little Helper and Lady Jane - were available in true mono on the earlier releases (Stupid Girl is in mono on Singles Collection but comparing that with the box set as well as the stereo Aftermath cd, I am convinced the Singles Collection mix is a fold-down). Between the Buttons also has strong mono mixes though I would not call it overall an improvement over the stereo (many disagree with me on that). It primarily is better in mono on the more rock-oriented tunes like Connection, All Sold Out and Miss Amanda Jones. Be aware that two of the songs - Back Street Girl and Please Go Home - are fold-downs. Finally the mono of TMSR brings a new aspect of sense to some of the odder numbers on that album like both versions of Sing This All Together and On with the Show. Side 1 of the album is particularly good in mono; Side 2 not as much. Lastly there is Flowers which mostly has tracks that were already available in mono on the 2002 re-masters or are repeats of songs on Aftermath UK or Between the Buttons. The only unique tracks here are Ride On Baby, Sitting on a Fence, and Out of Time which has a different mono mix (and I do not mean the shorter running time; the mix is truly different and is rumored to have been done because Out of Time was considered for a single release) from that on Aftermath UK. There is also My Girl but once again that mono mix is a fold-down. All of this might not have mattered if there was significant improvement in the remastering of the previously available mono tracks in the box set, but that is just simply not the case. Comparing the sound of 2002 remasters with the Box Set, they come off sounding pretty much the same if not identical, which makes sense as Bob Ludwig did both the 2002 remasters and the mono box set. It would be nice if Aftermath UK, Between the Buttons, and TMSR were to be made available in mono separately. Don't count on that happening. It also would have made more sense to have made this just an 8 disc set consisting of the first 6 UK albums plus a 2-CD Stray Cats containing all the non-album singles, B-sides, EP tracks, and US album only tracks that are not fold-downs, plus the mono Sympathy for the Devil. That would have been consumer-friendly. But when has ABCKO ever been consumer-friendly?