Do any of your Rolling Stones recordings bring "Satisfaction"?


Before I became a snobby audiophile I loved the Rolling Stones.  But as my system grew and I discovered all kinds of sounds in recordings (CD as well as Vinyl) that I had never heard before and the openness and depth of soundstage that was a wonder, I never had that same Wow moment with the Stones recordings.  Actually the best sound I have found came from the Hot Rocks double LP.  Has anyone else had a better experience with their recordings?  Having gone through so many remasters, nothing seems to have changed.  Sticky Fingers should be something better than we get.  The opening riff of Brown Sugar has always seemed so muddy.  My rant, any thoughts?

udog

Showing 10 responses by geoffkait

What is LoFi is the system and or the ears 👂 used to conclude the Stones are a LoFi group.
The ones that got a lot of air play early 60s sounded terrific. One assumes they were 45s.
Harvey “The Snake” Mandel from early Canned Heat plays on Memory Hotel and Hot Stuff on Black and Blue. I know what some of you are thinking, “You mean one of the judges on America’s got Talent?”
Starting with Bridges to Babylon, maybe even Steel Wheels (has it really been 30 years? OMG!) Stones CD have suffered greatly due to dynamic range compression. Too bad, since there are always a few good tunes even on their crappier albums. Like “Let me Down Slow” on A Bigger Bang. Goodness in the Doorway is excellent, Jagger solo. 
This discussions highlights the big gap that exists between exciting music and well recorded crapolla. That’s if you buy into the proposition that the Stones were not well recorded, which I actually don’t. You need look no further for proof than their DSD CDs. 
Just to mention the irony about the DSD CD Stones releases circa 2002 - they were produced by Abkco, you know, the company that pretty much botched the original Digitally Remastered Stones stuff way back when. All is forgiven. Virgin Records reissues back in the 90s were very good, too. But the DSD stuff is the sine qua non.
Stones on DSD CDs are outstanding. If you don’t believe me pick up High Tides Green Grass or Though the Past Darkly, the “best of” DSD CDs are pretty inexpensive on eBay. I have quite a few now. 😛