Review: The London Years Box Set

It’s Boxing Day once more so what could be more appropriate than a look at the only box set the Stones have released. I guess I should say that The London Years is the only box set of Stones material. It is my understanding that this set was released by ABKCO Music. It seems that the Stones are one of the many artists from the early years of rock who do not have control of their early recordings. I suppose that we could spend hours debating the merit of this collection and whether or not the Stones would ever have released it.

There are people who don’t like box sets. Box set contains nothing new. It’s a fact that every song in this collection is available somewhere else. Having said that, I like the ease of having all these hits in one place. When I’m on the go I’d rather bring along three CDs than ten. This doesn’t mean that I don’t listen to the albums these singles come from. In most cases I have the albums in my collection also. Sometimes I think things are a little crazy when I have multiple live and recorded copies of one song. How many copies of “Satisfaction” are in your collection?

When I first purchased this set, way back in 1989, my Stones collect was quite anemic when it came to the early recordings. As a matter of fact, the first time I ever heard “Off The Hook” was when I listened to this set. I’ve read that Mick Jagger doesn’t like this song but it’s one of my favorites. Just because it’s fun. I also enjoyed the essays by rock critic Anthony DeCurtis and Andrew Loog Oldham that are included with the brief annotations and lyrics to each song.

I highly recommend this set to people who only know the Stones from hearing their 60s hits on the radio. From “Come On” (1963) to “Sympathy For The Devil” (1968) the set provides a guided tour as the Stones go from local bar favorites to international rock stars.

The arrangements of the early songs are quite simple. It’s obvious that the Stones were learning on the job. That doesn’t make these songs any less enjoyable. Personally, I wish the boys would do some of these old songs like this more often. I long for the days when the Stones were a five piece band (six if you include Ian Stewart on piano) giving their all. Not that their current love of studio tricks, backup singers and horn sections is wrong. I just crave something simpler. The London Years fills this craving quite well.

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