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?
According to Mike Moffat of Schiit Audio, a lot of music lovers fell out of love with The Rolling Stones albums produced after Exile On Main St. The reasoning he gave was that all albums up to that point had mixed the vocals behind the beat, whereas after Exile, all albums were mixed with the vocals on the beat. That subtle shift in recording mixing style altered how the overall music sounds on the Stones albums, tending to be less enjoyable.
As primarily a Beatles fan I too yearned for better sound quality from my records as my system improved. Unfortunately the EMI / Hayes plant wasn't all it could be, and the recordings themselves suffered from a little too much 'bouncing down' from take to take.
Much later upon hearing various Kinks and Rolling Stones records I realised that the Beatles records actually sounded great in comparison. At least EMI / Abbey Road / George Martin insisted upon some kind of a standard for those initial recordings. You can't say the same for everyone else as the recording culture here in the UK was such that pop music was hardly taken seriously for decades.
Basically the Stones 60s output ( Brian Jones era) is listenable but don't expect sonic excellence. I loved my UK copy of Rolled Gold on vinyl for the music without caring too much for the sound. It was/is a little murky with crushed bandwidth but it's OK.
@fsonicsmith - I love "Talk is Cheap". I bought the CD back when it was originally released 30 years ago. Didn't realize it had been released on remastered vinyl. Just ordered a copy in Red vinyl. Can't wait to give it a spin.
I just received my copy of the 30th anniversary reissue of Keith's Talk is Cheap Limited Edition on colored vinyl (mine is dark red) issued by BMG and the sound is stellar. Better yet, the music holds up very well. There's a superstar lineup of players on this album-Waddy Wachtel, Ivan Neville, Bootsy Collins, Patty Scalfia, and more. The dynamic pop of the kick drum is startling on many of the cuts. A "must-getz' for any Stones and vinyl fan IMHO.
I have not contributed to any of the “What’s playing on your rig tonight” threads, but I will be playing the Stones all day Friday. Mick’s surgery day I believe. Decca reissue monos through a Bob’s Device sut Stoned.
Listening to Let it Bleed right now. Its a 1969 US London pressing given to me for Christmas that year by my older hippy brother and sister and originally played by me at the time on my Westinghouse portable record player. When home from college and the Navy, they would play it on our Dad’s old Fisher reciever, Garrard turntable and full range speakers, of course LOUD per the instructions on the sleeve, and dance around the house. Listening toit tonight it sounds bloody fantastic on my current system. I must have played my Three Dog Night albums much more back then(!) as it is really no worse for the wear from the Westinghouse’s sapphire stylis.
I have a super well worn original US vinyl pressing of Exile on Mainstreet, an 80s reissue of Flowers, a Japanese original orange vinyl pressing of Some girls, and an original US pressing of Tatoo You. All of these sound great to me, and better than my 2005 CD Virgin Release of Exile on Mainstreet, which sounds OK until you compare it directly to the original vinyl, even the EOM copy with all the scratches.
Audiophile recordings? No. Well recorded rock music with tons of soul? Yes. Exile on Mainstreet has to be one of my favorite albums of all time, and the better my system gets, the more it sounds like it was recorded in somebody’s kitchen, and that is a great part of its charm.
The best it ever sounded to me was in a VW beetle around 1970 when played on an 8 track, while everyone in the car was stoned. Since then, I my favorite recordings are from a German Decca box set entitled: "the rolling stones story."
The most important conditions for judging a Stones album are: 1. Play it LOUD. 2. Don't play it when you're "straight". Have a couple of drinks and a couple of tokes, too. 3. Did I mention .... PLAY IT LOUD !!
Love the Stones too. I have a few SACDs including the double Hot Rocks collection. I’ve found the best sounding stuff is the later albums like Tatoo You... I recently picked up the hi res blu-ray Grrrrr... disc. The last 15 songs (again, the later recordings) are excellent. They will definitely inspire if you you have a good rig and a solid D/A converter.
The 2018 Bob Ludwig 50th anniversary Beggars Banquet is pretty good. Let’s hope they do the same with Let It Bleed. Ludwig has a tendency to press the LOUDNESS button but he is more subtle these days than he once was, and also somehow maintains decent dynamics.
I have all the 2002 Stones Abkco SACD/Hybrids and the CD layer sounds ok. I guess I will have to buy a SACD Player to hear the difference on the SACD layer.
Just adding an SACD player will probably not do a lot for your sound. On most systems SACD alone will not be that much of an improvement. You have to get your whole system up to a pretty high level for SACD to be worth it.
You'd be better off just accepting that the Stones are a LoFi group and enjoying them for what they are.
Sorry Mantra I’m a grown up audiophile snob who loves classical, opera, jazz, older country and R&B with emphasis on blues. But I love The Rolling Stones. IMO the greatest rock and roll band. They captured the energy and live feel rather than seeking audiophile SQ And I Like it. Yes I do.
Original Rolling Stones vinyl with exceptional audio -
33 rpm 12" - Rolling Stones No. 2 (Decca Mono LK 4661) (unbelievable realism) - Their Satanic Majesties Request (Decca Stereo TXS 103) (stunning dimensionality and depth)
45rpm 7" (mono) - Little Red Rooster / Off The Hook (Decca F 12014) - It's All Over Now / Good Times, Bad Times (Decca F 11934)
There are many others including the new 12" mono mix of Sympathy For The Devil included with the Abkco Beggar's Banquet Anniversary Edition, which sounds wonderful for a contemporary pressing.
I feel ya, udog. If you want 'Satisfaction' with the Stones, you either should be a juvenile 'It's Only Rock-'n'-Roll' listener or a grown-up 'snobby audiophile', but not both.
Well, since I left I dug out my early pressing of Tattoo You and it was a gem. Visited a couple of my local record shops and came away with an Emotional Rescue and today picked up a pretty good looking London pressing of Get Your Ya Yas Out. Good listening ahead. Thanks for opening my ears save for some of the previously mentioned disappointments which we won't mention again.
I’m with you dog, or udog. I have recently bought new re-releases of Sticky Fingers and Let it Bleed. They both sound like the mics were covered in wet oatmeal when they were recorded. I’ll try to find a vintage copy of both and see if there is an improvement.
Every musician I knew had the Harvey Mandel album and followed him when he later joined Canned Heat, but I wasn't aware he had recorded with The Stones. Ry Cooder also did, and has told a very interesting story about that experience. I don't want to bash The Stones on a thread dedicated to them, so those interested will have to look it up for him or herself ;-) .
One guitarist who was auditioned as a replacement for Brian Jones was Dave Edmunds; I'm real glad he didn't get the gig, as I love his solo albums and the one he did as a member of Rockpile (with Nick Lowe, Billy Bremner, and Terry Williams---a true super group).
bimasta, FWIW I heard the Stones live with Brian, with Mick T. and with Ron. I never heard them sound good live. The playing may have been great but the sound system never overcame the difficulties presented by the setting (twice indoors in Houston, once outdoors in Dallas).
Yet another vote for "Get yer Ya Ya's Out"....far and away the best recording I have in my RS collection and think a lot of that has to do with the fact that it was a live recording. I always thought the digital RS albums were poor and found that vinyl on a decent system made them at least tolerable.
Most of the classic-era Stones releases were issued on R2R as well. If you’ve listened to any (Let it Bleed, for instance), you won’t question their sound quality.
Skyscraper, you and I are on the same page. I used to skip school senior year and ride over to the ocean with a buddy playing Let It Bleed on an 8 track. I still hope to hear it in all its glory. I have had moments of bliss with it, but not consistently. Maybe it was due to an altered state. Thanks for all the discussion. If nothing else I'm digging out all of my Stones catalog and have found a pristine Some Girls which will be on the TT tonight. Michael Green, I'm starting to think about my system as well. On other threads I've considered the power of my amp and whether it is up to what some Stones recordings require. BTW found a podcast Sound Opinion that discusses the making of Exile. Pretty good. I'll be checking out the recordings again and simply enjoying the music. Thanks
Physically, the London-label LPs hold up well over the years. Their pressings and vinyl quality seem solid. As for the sound, the Stones are not a clean band, but a grungy sounding one by choice. They used a mobile recording system during the Exile/Sticky Fingers era—that suggest to me that they cared more about keeping their vibe loose and free rather than employing the ideal, state-of-the-art studio. Maybe the audio clarity that we audiophiles look for is not what they sought. That being said, I do wish that Sticky Fingers had a higher fidelity sound. Sigh.
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?”
The album Black and Blue is outstanding. Sound quality is very good on cd and their lean towards raggae on their is nice twist. Notable tracs are “Hand of Fate”, “Hey Negrita”, “Hot Stuff.Another exceptional recording for them was Get your ya ya’s out. “Midnight Rambler” and “Sympathy” stand out, imo.
I have all the 2002 Stones Abkco SACD/Hybrids and the CD layer sounds ok. I guess I will have to buy a SACD Player to hear the difference on the SACD layer.
"She’s So Cold" from Emotional Rescue is one of the more fun,straightforward, and finely polished Stone’s productions out there IMHO. Maybe my favorite Stones track these days.
Good to read that your A3 speakers are arriving next week. My vote is for the 2002 SACD that edges out my other CD versions. I can recall the day back in 1986 when I had my first "hifi" moment. It was a Fall Saturday during a local Mall visit like teenagers do. I walked into Metzger's Electronics and was blown away with a Yamaha stack (pre/power amps/cd player) playing "Time is on my Side". My family had always had lower fi systems from Sears or J.C. Penney. This was a different presentation and sound altogether! I wish that I knew speakers and cabling that rounded out that incredible mid-fi system? Anyway, I was captivated and seduced all at the same time. Many years and a few systems would pass until 2012 where I had a second "higher" fi moment via Thiel Audio loudspeakers. Happy Listening!
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