It's Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It)
Last week saw the release of The Rolling Stones Singles Box Set (1971-2006), a mammoth collection of 173 cuts featuring every single released from 1971's Sticky Fingers through 2006's underappreciated A Bigger Bang. While that includes a lot of filler, or tracks only the most die-hard collector would be interested in (8 versions of "Out of Control? 5 mixes of "Anybody Seen My Baby"?), there's gold in the set that makes it fun to take a spin through, since it also includes the B-sides like 1963's cover of Chuck Berry's "Come On." It also features a ton of rarities that haven't shown up previously on any of the what must now number in the hundreds of previous compilations: "Cook Cook Blues," the 12" mixes of "Miss You," and "Mixed Emotions," a cover of Muddy Waters' "I Just Want to Make Love to You," and live versions of "All Down the Line," "Like A Rolling Stone," and "Ruby Tuesday" along with everything else you would expect from the release's title. 80 of the tracks aren't on any "official release"- a dubious claim since there are so many alternate mixes of songs from the late 80's through the 00's, but still- there's a ton of stuff I've never heard before or haven't heard in decades that are going to take up a few afternoons of listening.
At almost $120 retail on Amazon, I can't see putting any more money in the Mick and Keef's pockets, but the entire set is available on MOG. Why am I pimping MOG so much lately? Because I think it's a fantastic deal for music lovers. For either $4.99 or $9.99 a month (depending on how many devices to which you want it delivered) you can access more than 10 million tracks and complete albums with no commercials and no limits.. That's just an incredible deal in my opinion and it's not pirating any music because it's the labels who are providing it to MOG.
I signed up as an affiliate to promote it, hence the ads now on this site, for which I get some revenue for anyone who signs up for it through A Beast. So do yourself and Marcher a favor and sign up for your free two-week trial via that advert link box beneath "A Beast Recommends MOG." Just make sure you have a few hours to kill, because there's more music on it than you can ever possibly listen to- old and brand new. One more thing- MOG's local, based in Berkeley, and they're really responsive to the customer. I sent them an email last week asking why there was no Ozzy-era Black Sabbath on the site and someone wrote back to me within an hour with an answer. It's pretty weak as far as the classical selection is concerned, but for all other genres of music it runs pretty deep. If you can hear it on Spotify, Pandora, My Space, All Music, Rhapsody, Last, etc. (I've tried them all and found something lacking with each one), you can let it rock on MOG without commercials and without having to constantly keep clicking your mouse. Who says you can't always get what you want?
