Rolling Stones - Singles Collection

[RandyHat]

How does this collection stack up against some of the other "best of" stones records? I know the songs have been digitally remasterd. In this case is that good or bad? Which sounds best...the LP or CD version of this compliation? This looks like an attractive box set but I have not heard it and don't know anything about the sound quality.

Randy

[Joseph]

Originally posted by RandyHat
How does this collection stack up against some of the other "best of" stones records? I know the songs have been digitally remasterd. In this case is that good or bad? Which sounds best...the LP or CD version of this compliation? This looks like an attractive box set but I have not heard it and don't know anything about the sound quality.

Randy

Randy, I would stay away from the Singles Collection unless there are some specific songs that you cannot get elsewhere. In listening comparison with Hot Rocks and More Hot Rocks (UK versions) I found the Singles sound quality to be worse. I also compared Flowers (UK) against the same tracks on Hot Rocks with Flowers sounding better.

Note: I am comparing CD's. I have no clue on the LP's.
All analog recordings have to be digitally remastered to convert them to CD.
Unfortunately the Stones material is sorely in need of better remastering.
The Stones recently announced a career best of 2 CD set for this fall.
There are other posts regarding Stones material on this site (use search)

Hopes this helps:)

[Grant]

I have to agree with Tangent here! It's mostly bad news. Not only that, It doesn't have all the single mixes! Many are the same old stereo mixes just sounding worse than what you get elsewhere. I understand one or two tracks are edited here where they are not on the original 45s.

I love mono 45 RPM mixes, but even I think this set was mostly wasted money. I didn't find all of the single mixes here. I had to get the original London 45s anyway and dub them to CD-R. Just last week I steered a potential buyer of this set away from it.:cool:

I wish for a good CD set of their REAL 45 RPM single mixes! Bill Inglot, where are you??? Talk to ABKO!

[Matt]

Great track selection, but poor mastering. I think you're better off finding the Hot Rocks compilations that Mofi mastered, the ones Tangent mentioned. They were available only in the UK and Japan and were replaced by the crappy US versions around 1995 (and a bit later, like 1997, in Japan).

IMO, the best stuff on the Singles Collection box set can be found elsewhere in better sound. Not a big fan of some of those early, early singles.

[Joe Koz]

Randy,

I had really high hopes for this when it came out. Boy, what a disappointment. I though for sure they would get it right. The box set has stereo fold downs were it should be mono. For example, you go from mono to stereo then to narrow stereo, then mono, then wide stereo, then back to mono. It's a plain mess. No excuses for this at all. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. However, they do use an alternate take of "Under Assistant West Coast Promotional Man". But, for 50 or 60 bucks, the box still isn't worth it. Go with what Grant, Matt & Tangent told you.

Joe.

[count.d]

It's strange but I have to disagree with you all on this.

I found the vinyl Singles boxset to be far better than vinyl Hot Rocks and all other copies of Stones that I have.

Funny old world.

[Joseph]

Originally posted by count.d
It's strange but I have to disagree with you all on this.

I found the vinyl Singles boxset to be far better than vinyl Hot Rocks and all other copies of Stones that I have.

Funny old world.

Maybe the vinyl was handled differently then the CD?

[Joe Koz]

I also have the vinyl, and I don't think it was handled differently. I'm not saying that the box sounds all that bad. It's not accurate. That's what dives me crazy with this set.

[Grant]

Originally posted by Joe Koz
I also have the vinyl, and I don't think it was handled differently. I'm not saying that the box sounds all that bad. It's not accurate. That's what dives me crazy with this set.
I could overlook the lousy mastering if had just gotten the correct singles mixes!

[lukpac]

Originally posted by Grant
I could overlook the lousy mastering if had just gotten the correct singles mixes!

Either the correct single mixes or the correct stereo mixes. Instead for a lot of tracks we get narrowed down versions of the stereo mixes - the worst of both worlds!

Yes, Under Assistant is the correct, unedited, original version.

[David R. Modny]

Anyone ever figure out what the "rmk" stands for after "Child of the Moon". It sure as hell doesn't sound like a "remix" or a "remake". I've heard some crazy explanations...has it ever been figured out?...lol!

[Matt]

That's always puzzled me, too. I read somewhere that it was a remix. No explanation was given, much less any details of what was changed in the remix.

[CT Dave]

I think the low spot on this set is on "Heart Of Stone", where the intro is in stereo, and then the track quickly goes to mono. Guess someone forgot to throw that switch back to mono before the tape started rolling. Just plain sloppy.

[lukpac]

Originally posted by CT Dave
I think the low spot on this set is on "Heart Of Stone", where the intro is in stereo, and then the track quickly goes to mono. Guess someone forgot to throw that switch back to mono before the tape started rolling. Just plain sloppy.

Honky Tonk Women is the same way - cowbell intro is stereo, track is mono.

What's even more interesting is, if memory serves, it's not as if they a) played the intros in stereo then "flipped the switch" to mono OR b) panned the mono mix to one side for the intro to simulate stereo, then panned it back to center. In both cases they used the stereo mix for the intro, then edited on the mono mix for the body of the song. Bizzare!

[Paul K]

I am new here and just wanted to say hello to all! I have been looking for years to find a forum that would indulge all my wildest geek fantasies! I have lived for initial pressings from the country of origin and beautiful sounding masters of the masters!! Having been a fan of Mr. Hoffman's work ever since I picked up a vinyl copy of Pet Sounds 6 yrs ago, I am ecstatic that there is a forum whereby intelligent people who seem to know what they are talking about, can interact. I am impressed that Mr. Hoffman interacts here as well. I am an obsessed Beatles fanatic and will probably bore most of you with questions pertaining to specifics...or maybe then again I won't be!!

The person who mastered the Singles Collection box is none other than Andrew Loog Oldham himself! I interviewed him (musician posing as a hack journalist!!)for a Canadian magazine (will post the interview links if anyone wants it) that will run next week. He did it in Hanover, Germany in the mid-eighties with an old cutting engineer who had experience cutting Stones stuff. He claimed that he was not in a good way at all and that the experience gave him an almost mental breakdown. I have had problems with the box myself, but it serves it's purpose to a degree as some songs are harder to find than others.

Cheers, I feel right at home!!:cool:
:cool:

[Paul L.]

Welcome, Syd.

Make sure to take advantage of the search function in looking through the thousands of posts of the past, particularly for answers to Beatles questions.

[Andrew]

Originally posted by sydbarrett
(will post the interview links if anyone wants it)

Please do (and welcome!) :D