The Rolling Stones - Rolling Stones, Now! [Remastered] (CD)

All Music Guide

Although their third American album was patched together (in the usual British Invasion tradition) from a variety of sources, it's their best early RB-oriented effort. Most of the Stones' early albums suffer from three or four very weak cuts; Now is almost uniformly strong start-to-finish, the emphasis on some of their Blackest material. The covers of "Down Home Girl," and Bo Diddley's vibrating "Mona," Otis Redding's "Pain in My Heart," and Barbara Lynn's "Oh Baby" are all among the group's best RB interpretations. The best gem is "Little Red Rooster," a pure blues with wonderful slide guitar from Brian Jones (and a 1 single in Britain, although it was only an album track in the U.S.). As songwriters, Jagger and Richards are still struggling, but they come up with one of their first winners (and an American Top 20 hit) with the yearning, soulful "Heart of Stone."will hear the difference with SACD, even on a cheap stereo system without a high-end amplifier or speakers. And you won't ju...st hear the difference, you'll be an instant convert and wish, hope and pray that other artists whose catalog hasn't been reissued since the early days of CD -- Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, especially the Beatles -- are given the same treatment in the very near future. SACD and DSD are that good.] - Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide Read more Less