The Rolling Stones

With recordings from the Stones' 1972 American jaunt presenting the novice with an alarmingly eclectic choice between the good, the bad, and the ugly, it presumably was always a matter of time before someone packaged up some kind of "best of" -- and this collection fits that description very well. Offering up one version of pretty much every song the Stones dug out on what might well have been their last truly legendary tour, drawing upon a variety of sources (broadcast and vinyl), some remarkable performances are captured: an overbassy, but still effective "Dead Flowers"; a funereal "Love In Vain"; and a truly disheveled "Ventilator Blues" -- still one of the greatest songs in the Stones' entire catalog. Most critics remain united in the belief that Exile on Main St. was the Stones' finest hour; the nine tracks here remind us of when it was also the freshest-sounding. There is also a sense of urgency to the older warhorses in the set. Today, "Satisfaction," "Street Fighting Man," and "Jumpin' Jack Flash" are little more than crowd-pleasing clichés. In 1972, however, they still possessed the urgency which made them so special in the first place. The medley linking "Satisfaction" to a stage-crashing Stevie Wonder's "Uptight," meanwhile, is priceless, proving that while Jagger's always been an old hand at singing soul, Wonder could cut it in the rock stakes as well. And then, of course, there's "Bye Bye Johnny," to remind us where the Stones copped their attitude from in the first place. The sound quality is uneven, generally cut through with a constant hiss, and the abrupt ending to several tracks suggests that a CD-R might well have been employed at the premastering stage. But if you want a window onto the 1972 tour, and don't want to chance a single show disc, Very Ancient fits the bill fine. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide