The Rolling Stones had plenty of mouth-watering hits to choose from at this point. Although it was very early on in their long and successful career, they released this compilation way back in 1969 although to be fair, they didn’t really need to do so as they were successful enough without it by this time. Despite that, this was a quintessential release at the time due to the novelty value of the LP design and the track listing. In any case, let’s revisit this release and hear what it sounds like.

Jumpin’ Jack Flash begins with some interesting riffage that is dual tracked and very catchy and quintessential late 1960s listening. This is Classic Rock 101, and this is a fantastic listen from the start throughout. Although it is simplistic and riff driven, this is a very excellent listen and shows the proof of The Rolling Stones being a wonderful Rock and Roll force of nature from this time. Very catchy and cool listening, this points to many ongoings around 1969, when this compilation was released. It ends with some glorious harmonica and excellent guitar playing. A true classic, the fade out is glorious.

Mother’s Little Helper comes next and is the quintessential 1960s tale of drug use and abuse. It’s quirky and humourous in the uber-British sense that many should be more aware of. It’s really excellent and wonderful listening from these guys, and you need to hear it with a real sense of humour to enjoy it. The combination of headbanging acoustic guitar and drums, along with hilarious lyricism is pure gold. The climax at the end is really gold and hilarious. A fine tune and a must hear.

2000 Light Years From Home begins with a dark, eerie keyboard combination of reversed piano playing and other sounds that are super freaky. This is very odd sounding. It is quickly followed up by a good electric guitar intro, before launching straight into a great song that is about the loneliness of space travel and other ongoings, straight from the late 1960s. This is, again, a very wonderful song that definitely deserves listening from The Rolling Stones, complete with some spacey theremin styled sounds. A very nicely constructed piece of spacey music and listening, this still has the same impact as it did on Their Satanic Majesties Request album back in 1967. A very great tune and a must hear from The Rolling Stones. It ends with rolling tom-toms and other discordant sounds, before concluding. Great work.

Let’s Spend The Night Together is a great piece of piano led Pop delight. It sounds great and romantic and points back to the tunes prevalent during the 1960s. This is upbeat and lovely listening, and the combination of piano, Classic Rock melodicism and catchy riffs makes for a pleasant listen. A really cool and clever tune that is forever a Pop/Rock melodic masterpiece, this is a must listen for those of you who don’t know who The Rolling Stones are. A great and excellent piece of music, and worth repeat listens, this is a defining 1960s track.

You Better Move On is a strange piece that sounds rather influenced by The Beatles, and it sounds a little ridiculous for that reason. In any case, it is enjoyably quirky but all the same sounds fairly ordinary. This is enjoyable for what it is but sounds incredibly bizarre for The Rolling Stones to do. Poorly recorded and head-shakingly embarrassing, this is not what these dudes were about. A joke track for sure.

We Love You begins with some footsteps and clanging before some rapid fire piano enters and this piece gets going. This sounds really interesting musically but launches into a piece of music that surely is a parody of what The Rolling Stones would typically do at this point. It’s okay, but probably not necessary on this compilation. A strange leftfield effort of a track, the piano is its saving grace. Weird and wacky, this isn’t very normal sounding at all. In any case, the music here is different, but not that brilliant. Not the best moment for The Rolling Stones, to be fair. Also, it is too long at over four minutes long. Ordinary.

Street Fighting Man begins with some excellent guitar in the right channel, followed by some extra acoustic guitar in the left channel, before pounding drums and other excellent instrumentation, including sitar, get this going. This is a typical 1960s Hippie style track that exudes artistry and creativity, whilst invoking the spirit of revolution. A really thoroughly awesome and excellent listen from start to finish, this song is very, very good. A variety of instrumentation and nicely written lyricism keep this one going, a really cool piece of music.

She’s A Rainbow cuts out the super long intro from the album version and just leaves the piano part onwards in it. Nonetheless, this is an amazing song that has stood the test of time and just sounds really cool and fantastic. This is without a doubt one of the finest late 1960s pieces from The Rolling Stones themselves and is a gorgeous and far-out creation of beauty and wonder. It still sounds super pretty and lovely to this day, just being a well crafted and original piece of song craftsmanship by the group. Gloriously good and excellent to hear, this is a fantastic listen. Definitely worth your time if you can hear some of The Rolling Stones, this does sound fantastic. A great and tearjerker piece of melodic beauty, it ends with a very nicely played open guitar chord. Wonderful.

Ruby Tuesday is another classy tune by The Rolling Stones, complete with gorgeous piano, strings sections and glorious melodies, this one is a real winner. A great slice of three minute Pop/Rock majesty, these tunes just sound ridiculously good in general. “Goodbye…Ruby Tuesday…who could lay a name on you? When you change with every new day…still, I’m gonna miss you,” is simply great melodic lyricism. A fine effort by these guys, and worth your time.

Dandelion is a surreal piece of music with some acoustic guitar that is fingerpicked and harpsichord, along with some gorgeous singing and harmonies from the group. This does sound simple and fantastic, it just delivers what it has to do so. An awesome tune, although it is very much Hippie nonsense, it still sounds very fresh and unique to this day. Wacky and weird melodicism, this does sound like a good late 1960s piece of music that survives well to this day. It ends with some interesting drum rolls and instrumentation that do sound quite trippy, including saxophone. Good effort.

Sittin’ On A Fence is very much the closing song here. It has dual-tracked and pretty acoustic guitar fills that sound really awesome. It would be considered very sexist today from a male perspective, but despite that, this is a good song to hear from time to time. A good piece of music that makes some sense to male listeners out there, but to female listeners probably sounds very sexist, this does sound nice and relaxing regardless. A good piece of music that sounds very, very fresh to this day, this sounds uniquely good and wonderful for what it is.

Honky Tonk Woman is the encore here. It begins with some interesting percussion, followed by a dramatic guitar riff that is super catchy. The lyrical content is hugely sexual in a very male way but is hilarious and different to listen to this day. A weird and wonderful tune that has very much a Country feel to it, this sure sounds really cool and amazing. There is pristine saxophone here as well to match the loud and sizzling guitar parts. All in all, a great way to finish this compilation. Nice to listen to.

Although the music on this compilation seems scrappily put together and hastily created for marketing’s sake, this is actually fairly decent listening throughout. Sure, some of the cuts here are better than others but all the same, this is okay for what it is. Not the best starting point for The Rolling Stones, but certainly not their worst, either. Good to have a whirl if you are in a late 1960s trippy Hippie mood.

Decent.

7/10