The Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones In Mono (2016) [16LP Box Set]

It's often unfair to compare the Rolling Stones to the Beatles but in the case of the group's mono mixes, it's instructive. Until the 2009 release of the box set The Beatles in Mono, all of the Fab Four's mono mixes were out of print. That's not the case with the Rolling Stones. Most of their '60s albums – released on Decca in the U.K., London in the U.S. – found mono mixes sneaking onto either the finished sequencing or various singles compilations, so the 2016 box The Rolling Stones in Mono only contains 56 heretofore unavailable mono mixes among its 186 tracks. To complicate things further, the box – which runs 15 discs in its CD version, 16 LPs in its vinyl incarnation – sometimes contains both the British and American releases of a particular title (Out of Our Heads and Aftermath), while others are available in only one iteration (Between the Buttons is only present in the U.K. version). All this is for the sake of expedience: this is the easiest way to get all the mono mixes onto the box with a minimal amount of repetition. To that end, there's a bonus disc called Stray Cats – with artwork that plays off the censored plain white cover art for the initial pressing of Beggars Banquet – collecting the singles that never showed up on an official album, or at least any of the albums that made the box. Along with the odd decision to have the CD sleeves be slightly larger than a mini-LP replica (they're as big as a jewel box, so they're larger than a shrunk vinyl sleeve, a size that's rarely seen in other releases), this is the only quibble on what is otherwise an excellent set. The sound – remastered again after the 2002 overhaul for hybrid SACDs – is bold and colorful, with the earliest albums carrying a wallop and the latter records feeling like they're fighting to be heard in two separate channels and all the better for it. If nothing here provides a revelation – none of the mixes are radically different, the way that some Beatles mono sides are – this nevertheless is the best the Rolling Stones have sounded on disc (or on vinyl) and there's considerable care in this package, from the replications of the sleeves to the extensive notes from David Fricke. Plus, hearing the Stones in mono winds up being a hot wire back toward the '60s: this feels raw and vibrant, as alive as the band was in the '60s.

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, allmusic

Tracklist LP01. 1964 - The Rolling Stones:

A1 Route 66
A2 I Just Want To Make Love To You
A3 Honest I Do
A4 I Need You Baby
A5 Now I've Got A Witness (Like Uncle Phil And Uncle Gene)
A6 Little By Little
B1 I'm A King Bee
B2 Carol
B3 Tell Me (You're Coming Back)
B4 Can I Get A Witness
B5 You Can Make It If You Try
B6 Walking The Dog


Tracklist LP02. 1964 - 12 X 5:

C1 Around And Around
C2 Confessin' The Blues
C3 Empty Heart
C4 Time Is On My Side
C5 Good Times, Bad Times
C6 It's All Over Now
D1 2120 South Michigan Avenue
D2 Under The Boardwalk
D3 Congratulations
D4 Grown Up Wrong
D5 If You Need Me
D6 Susie Q


Tracklist LP03. 1965 - The Rolling Stones No. 2:

E1 Everybody Needs Somebody To Love
E2 Down Home Girl
E3 You Can't Catch Me
E4 Time Is On My Side
E5 What A Shame
E6 Grown Up Wrong
F1 Down The Road Apiece
F2 Under The Boardwalk
F3 I Can't Be Satisfied
F4 Pain In My Heart
F5 Off The Hook
F6 Susie Q


Tracklist LP04. 1965 - The Rolling Stones, Now!:

G1 Everybody Needs Somebody To Love
G2 Down Home Girl
G3 You Can't Catch Me
G4 Heart Of Stone
G5 What A Shame
G6 Mona (I Need You Baby)
H1 Down The Road Apiece
H2 Off The Hook
H3 Pain In My Heart
H3 Oh Baby (We Got A Good Thing Goin')
H5 Little Red Rooster
H6 Surprise, Surprise


Tracklist LP05. 1965 - Out Of Our Heads (US Version):

G1 Everybody Needs Somebody To Love
G2 Down Home Girl
G3 You Can't Catch Me
G4 Heart Of Stone
G5 What A Shame
G6 Mona (I Need You Baby)
H1 Down The Road Apiece
H2 Off The Hook
H3 Pain In My Heart
H3 Oh Baby (We Got A Good Thing Goin')
H5 Little Red Rooster
H6 Surprise, Surprise


Tracklist LP06. 1965 - Out Of Our Heads (UK Version):

K1 She Said "Yeah"
K2 Mercy, Mercy
K3 Hitch Hike
K4 That's How Strong My Love Is
K5 Good Times
K6 Gotta Get Away
L1 Talkin' 'Bout You
L2 Cry To Me
L3 Oh, Baby (We Got A Good Thing Going)
L4 Heart Of Stone
L5 The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man
L6 I'm Free


Tracklist LP07. 1965 - December's Children (And Everybody's):

M1 She Said "Yeah"
M2 Talkin' About You
M3 You Better Move On
M4 Look What You've Done
M5 The Singer, Not The Song
M6 Route 66
N1 Get Off Of My Cloud
N2 I'm Free
N3 As Tears Go By
N4 Gotta Get Away
N5 Blue Turns To Grey
N6 I'm Moving On


Tracklist LP08. 1966 - Aftermath (UK Version):

O1 Mother's Little Helper
O2 Stupid Girl
O3 Lady Jane
O4 Under My Thumb
O5 Doncha Bother Me
O6 Goin' Home
P1 Flight 505
P2 High And Dry
P3 Out Of Time
P4 It's Not Easy
P5 I Am Waiting
P6 Take It Or Leave It
P7 Think
P8 What To Do


Tracklist LP09. 1966 - Aftermath (US Version):

Q1 Paint It Black
Q2 Stupid Girl
Q3 Lady Jane
Q4 Under My Thumb
Q5 Doncha Bother Me
Q6 Think
R1 Flight 505
R2 High And Dry
R3 It's Not Easy
R4 I Am Waiting
R5 Goin' Home


Tracklist LP10. 1967 - Between The Buttons (UK Version):

S1 Yesterday's Papers
S2 My Obsession
S3 Back Street Girl
S4 Connection
S5 She Smiled Sweetly
S6 Cool, Calm & Collected
T1 All Sold Out
T2 Please Go Home
T3 Who's Been Sleeping Here?
T4 Complicated
T5 Miss Amanda Jones
T6 Something Happened To Me Yesterday


Tracklist LP11. 1967 - Flowers:

U1 Ruby Tuesday
U2 Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow?
U3 Let's Spend The Night Together
U4 Lady Jane
U5 Out Of Time
U6 My Girl
V1 Backstreet Girl
V2 Please Go Home
V3 Mother's Little Helper
V4 Take It Or Leave It
V5 Ride On, Baby
V6 Sittin' On A Fence


Tracklist LP12. 1967 - Their Satanic Majesties Request:

W1 Sing This All Together
W2 Citadel
W3 In Another Land
W4 2000 Man
W5 Sing This All Together (See What Happens)
X1 She's A Rainbow
X2 The Lantern
X3 Gomper
X4 2000 Light Years From Home
X5 On With The Show


Tracklist LP13. 1968 - Beggars Banquet:

Y1 Sympathy For The Devil
Y2 No Expectations
Y3 Dear Doctor
Y4 Parachute Woman
Y5 Jigsaw Puzzle
Z1 Street Fighting Man
Z2 Prodigal Son
Z3 Stray Cat Blues
Z4 Factory Girl
Z5 Salt Of The Earth


Tracklist LP14. 1969 - Let It Bleed:

AA1 Gimme Shelter
AA2 Love In Vain
AA3 Country Honk
AA4 Live With Me
AA5 Let It Bleed
AB1 Midnight Rambler
AB2 You Got The Silver
AB3 Monkey Man
AB4 You Can't Always Get What You Want


Tracklist LP15-16. 1970 - Stray Cats:

AC1 Come On
AC2 I Want To Be Loved
AC3 I Wanna Be Your Man
AC4 Stoned
AC5 Fortune Teller
AC6 Poison Ivy (Version 1)
AC7 Bye Bye Johnny
AD1 Money
AD2 Poison Ivy (Version 2)
AD3 Not Fade Away
AD4 I've Been Loving You Too Long
AD5 The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man (Single Version)
AD6 19th Nervous Breakdown
AE1 Sad Day
AE2 As Tears Goes By (Italian Version)
AE3 Long Long While
AE4 Who's Driving Your Plane?
AE5 We Love You (Single Version)
AE6 Dandelion (Single Version)
AF1 Child Of The Moon
AF2 Jumpin' Jack Flash
AF3 Street Fighting Man (Single Version)
AF4 Honky Tonk Women
AF5 You Can't Always Get What You Want (Single Version)