First posted 8/29/2009; last updated: 11/16/2020. |
A Retrospective: 1972-2002 |
A Brief History: Considered by many to be the greatest rock and roll band of all time, the Rolling Stones have put together a career lasting more than 50 years. As a result, they’ve released multiple compilations and sorting them out can be quite a chore. As such, the DMDB has put together two pages focused on just a sampling of the compilations released throughout their career. This page covers 1972-2002. Check out the 1962-1971 compilations page as well. Sorting out Stones’ compilations can be a bit of a chore. It’s not every band that’s had as many hits as they have and for over four decades. As a result, this page focuses on the Stones’ post-Decca and London Records era. Those record companies, in the U.K. and U.S. respectively, held the rights to pre-1972 Stones’ material. The first official Stones’ compilation from the post-’71 era was Made in the Shade in 1975 followed by a companion piece, Sucking in the Seventies, in 1981. In between, Time Waits for No One overlapped both of those collections. With more focus on album tracks, and the fact that the most important cuts are covered elsewhere, this is the least significant of the compilations from this era.
Rather than pick up where * Rewind was released with different track listings in the UK and U.S, hence the two different codes.
** Forty Licks set is a double-disc career retrospective. Only the second disc is covered on this page. For disc two material, check out 1962-1971 retrospective page.
These studio albums have their own DMDB pages, but are spotlighted here. The snapshots of the studio albums will indicate all songs featured on any of the compilations, noted with the codes above. Appearing after song titles are the writers in italics, the time of the song in brackets, and then, in parentheses, the date the song was released as a single (if relevant) and its peaks on various charts.
Click for codes to singles charts.
This was the Stones’ first self-released album. It was their first album to reach #1 in the U.S. and UK. It is one of four Stones’ albums to rank in the the top 100 albums of all time according to the DMDB.
|
Made in the ShadeThe Rolling Stones |
About Made in the Shade: “Made in the Shade, released in 1975, is the first official compilation album by The Rolling Stones during their Atlantic Records contract. It draws entirely from their first four albums on that label.” WK-MS “The material…surveys the highlights from the band's post-Decca/London era…from 1971’s Sticky Fingers to It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll from 1974, with no new material.” WK-MS The Stones “were mid-way through recording Black and Blue upon this album's June 1975 release” WK-MS, putting this out “to capitalize on the band’s summer Tour of the Americas, featuring Ronnie Wood for the first time in Mick Taylor’s place. Wood, fitting in so well, was asked to remain in the band on a permanent basis following the tour’s conclusion.” WK-MS “Subsequent Rolling Stones compilation albums have also anthologized tracks included on this album.” WK-MS Black and Blue (1976):
|
Time Waits for No OneThe Rolling Stones |
About Time Waits for No One: “Time Waits for No One: Anthology 1971–1977 is a British-only compilation album…released in 1979. It covers the period from Sticky Fingers in 1971 until Love You Live in 1977. Only two of ten single A-sides from the period are included – Angie and Fool to Cry.” WK-TW
Some Girls (1978):
|
Sucking in the SeventiesThe Rolling Stones |
About Sucking in the Seventies: Sucking in the Seventies was “released in 1981. As the successor to 1975’s Made in the Shade, it covers material from 1974’s It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll to 1980’s Emotional Rescue. All of the album tracks except Shattered were remixed or re-edited for this release, and some rarer material was also included. Everything Is Turning to Gold was previously released as ‘Shattered’s B-side in late 1978 in the U.S. only; If I Was A Dancer (Dance Pt. 2) is a longer and different mix and containing different lyrics than ‘Dance (Pt. 1)’, the opening track on Emotional Rescue, which, despite this compilation’s title, was released in 1980; and When the Whip Comes Down is presented in an otherwise unreleased live version, recorded in Detroit on the 1978 tour.” WK-SS
Emotional Rescue (1980):
Tattoo You (1981):
Undercover (1983):
|
RewindThe Rolling Stones |
About Rewind: Rewind (1971–1984) “was released in 1984. Coming only three years after Sucking in the Seventies, the album was primarily compiled to mark the end of the band’s worldwide alliance with EMI (and Warner Music in North America), both of whom were the distributors of Rolling Stones Records.” RW “The UK and US editions…would each feature altered track listings, reflecting the individual tastes of both territories.” RW “The album was re-released on Compact Disc in the United States adding It’s Only Rock’n’ Roll (But I Like It) and Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker).” RW Dirty Work (1986):
Steel Wheels (1989):
|
Jump BackThe Rolling Stones |
About Jump Back: This was the Stones’ “first release under their contract with Virgin Records in November 1993.” JB This was released worldwide, except in North America, where it finally “came on 24 August 2004. The first Rolling Stones compilation packaged in the Compact Disc era, Jump Back: The Best of The Rolling Stones stretches from 1971’s Sticky Fingers to then-most recent studio album Steel Wheels in 1989.” JB Voodoo Lounge (1994):
Bridges to Babylon (1997):
|
Forty LicksThe Rolling Stones |
About Forty Licks: This double-disc compilation offers a forty-year, career-spanning look at the Stones. While the set maddeningly doesn’t play out chronologically, it does collect the band’s Decca/London-era material from 1963-1970 on disc 1 and the band’s self-owned material from 1971 to 2002 on the second disc, which also includes four new songs. For disc one material, check out the 1962-1971 retrospective page.
Resources and Related Links:
|