Definitely worth the money

I just bought this album today, not aware until now that it had only been released on the 5th of April ("remastered," or so they say); I guess it's the first time it's been released on CD.



First of all, let's get something out of the way - it is not remastered. The Forty Licks album has much better remasters of Wild Horses, Brown Sugar, Happy, Angie, and It's Only Rock N' Roll (But I Like It). I wondered why they didn't just put the Forty Licks remasters on this album. In fact with Made in the Shade, you're paying $11.99 for five out of ten tracks that are included on the Forty Licks album, which you can buy for twice the price - which includes four times the amount of tracks as Made in the Shade. (Are you still with me, here?)



The GOOD thing is that this includes five other solid tracks that AREN'T included on Forty Licks: Tumbling Dice, Dance Little Sister, Bitch, Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker), and Rip This Joint.



Also, the Forty Licks album was not only remastered, but the original tracks were edited, something Rolling Stones purists might find appalling. The tracks here are left untouched - there is often static in the right speaker, I instantly noticed, preserving the original scratchy quality of the sound. (Before surround sound and stereo was perfected.) Good evidence that it was poorly remastered, and therefore not tampered with by over-zealous technicians. Whether you find this a good or a bad thing may depend entirely on how you favor the Rolling Stones.



One thing I was rather disappointed with was the packaging. Not the artwork, but the actual interior packaging. There is no pamphlet, no additional photos. In fact, the album doesn't really offer anything exclusive (as some tend to do - e.g. The Beatles Anthology). But they did manage to sneak in a special warning on the inside cover that tells you not to share the CD with friends or post any tracks on the Internet. It kinda shows where the producers' hearts lie.



In summary, Stones enthusiasts should definitely buy this, and it's worth the money, as it includes some of their best songs ever. It also preserves the tracks in their original nature, with only minor digital touchups ("remastering") that is so poor that, at first, I thought they had taken it straight from the vinyl without remastering it at all. But if you're just a casual listener, the Forty Licks album is more comprehensive - it features better audio quality and a much larger selection of Greatest Hits, whereas if you aren't a Stones freak you might be turned off by some of the tracks here.

Good but brief overview to Stones' early 70s heyday

The Rolling Stones released their fifth compilation album Made in the Shade in June of 1975.

The band were coming off of FOUR consecutive #1 studio albums(1971's Sticky Fingers, 1972's Exile on Main Street, 1973's Goats Head Soup and 1974's It's Only Rock and Roll) and needed product to go on the road in support of in 1975(a year that also saw bands like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd dominate the rock concert arenas and album charts as well that year).

However lead singer Mick Jagger, guitarist Keith Richards, drummer Charlie Watts and bass player Bill Wyman once again saw themselves without another guitarist as lead guitarist Mick Taylor quit the band and was filled in for the 1975 tour by Ron Wood(of The Faces (which also featured Rod Stewart, bass player Ronnie Lane and future Who drummer Kenney Jones)) whom would not officially be a Stone until sometime in 1976.

Made in the Shade contains ten tracks.

The songs representing Sticky Fingers were the #1 hit Brown Sugar, Wild Horses and the album track B*tch.

Exile on Main Street was represented by the hit single Tumbling Dice and of course Keith Richards' famous lead vocal on a Stones track Happy.

Goats Head Soup is represented by Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo(Heartbreaker) and the #1 hit Angie.

It's Only Rock and Roll was represented by its title cut and also the album rock favorite Dance Little Sister which featured stellar lead work from Mick Taylor.

Upon release, Made in the Shade made a respectable showing at #5 on the Billboard album chart and quickly attained Gold then Platinum status.

For years, this album was out of print(and was seemed inferior as the 1984 best of Rewind, 1993's Jump Back and 2002's Forty Licks were released in the nearly 30 years since Made in the Shade's release) and now it is available once again with a superb remastering sound courtesy of Bob Ludwig and Adam Ayan which buried the 1980s CBS CD issue by a longshot.

I highly recommend this CD if you don't know where to start on early 70s Stones albums then buy Sticky, Exile, Goats and It's Only Rock and Roll.

Mick Taylor's last Waltz

I have always loved this LP. It has some really classic songs on it. Brown Sugar, Bitch, Angie, Heart breaker, Rip this Joint etc. This was their first real greatest hits package with their classic 70's hits. Then came everything after it. It has a special meaning for me because of that. I remember hanging out with my friends, playing the record, and trying to solve the famous album cover. Is it a she or he? Great Lp but it should of been a double LP with more hits like, Rocks off, Sister Morphine, Sway, Dead Flowers, Winter,Coming Down Again, Star-Star, Moonlight Mile,Time Waits for No One, Finger Print File etc. This was Mick Taylor's last hoorah of hits with the Band. They went on tour that year(1975) but it never was the same without the guitar slinger-Mick Taylor.

Wouldn't You Like to Meet the Blonde on the Cover?

Call me a sucker. Call me a fool. Hey you can even call me a marketing analyst's wet dream! For some reason I keep buying the endless remastered, CD compilations, that the Stones keep putting out of their old hits. The funny thing is, that I pretty rarely put these babies in the CD player. I'd much rather listen to classic titles like "Let it Bleed" or "Exile On Main Street". In fact, ironically, the most use I get out of these releases is to use them to burn my own compilations on CD-R. There are two exceptions to this scenario. One is the excellent double CD "Hot Rocks", which is primarily the Stone's chart topping, sixties greatest hits. I had it on vinyl as a kid and it's an excellent overview for any neophyte just getting their toes wet on Rolling Stones music. The other compilation, that I truely love is the 1975 release, "Made in the Shade". This compilation is mainly made up of both hits (and a few non-hits) from the early to mid '70s. For some reason this mix of songs, just seems to work so well together. They are equal parts, good old Stones Sassiness ("Dance Little Sister", "Heart Breaker", "B**ch") and sentimentality ("Wild Horses", "Angie", "Happy"). I have endless memories of past summers, where I would roll the windows of my car down, slip "Made in the Shade" into the old cassette player and let it blast at top volume. It might sound totally corny, but this compilation album just totally reeks with rock n' roll spirit. It's why I ever liked the stones in the first place! A couple of years ago the record companies finally started re-releasing the Stone's classic albums to CD in remastered form. Let's just say I was more than mildly disapointed, when "Made in the Shade" was not included among these re-releases. I even used many of the compilations to create my own remastered version of the album. Well finally to my delight, Virgin Records has put it out in remastered form. The other day I put it in the car CD player, rolled down the windows and it just sounded great! Every Mick vocal, every Keith guitar lick, every Charlie cymbals crash, just sounded so clear. I could even make out some of the more obscure lyrics! If your a fan of the Stones '70s work or just a plain old fan of good rock n' roll, than give this CD a try. I just can't stop playing it. Highly recommended!

You Can't Go Wrong

You can't go wrong with this Best Of from the Mick Taylor era. The only thing wrong with this release is it's brevity, they really should have loaded it up with bonus tracks seeing as how they have already sold this in multiple formats over thirty years.



Oh well, It's Only Rock and Roll, but I like it!