Some Girls [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

This is one of my favourite Stones albums but the record company seems determined to neutralise my continued enjoyment. The 2009 remasters of the post-Decca/London studio albums (from 1971's Sticky Fingers to date) have come in for some stick in some quarters & rightly so; the one-EQ-setting-suits-all-tracks approach to 'remastering' was a creative mistake which simply did not suit some titles, with Some Girls suffering the most. The original release didn't sound like it was recorded in a tin can but the 2009 version did with the contents compressed to a degrading degree, stripping the original of its dynamic range. What used to sound nice & sleazy was transformed into something shrill & dense. I was hoping that this 'deluxe' issue might feature a decent second attempt at the job but, alas, no: this package contains exactly the same 2009 remastered version with no discernible attempt to improve the faulty sound. This is disappointing, to say the least. Some Girls deserves so much better than this. What is truly frustrating, however, is that the same does not apply to the bonus disc of out-takes. The sound here is excellent from start to finish- I'm not about to complain on that score because the 12 extra tracks are well worth hearing if you're interested in a collection of would-be B-sides in fine quality sound. But is it not ABSURD that the out-takes sound so much better than the album proper? This is not quite how it's supposed to be, is it? If you think I'm being a tad tetchy here, compare this version of Some Girls to the 1990s remaster & you'll hear what I mean. The difference in tonal range is striking. Hell, under normal circumstances I'd be giving Some Girls a five-star rating but this version succeeds only in making it sound like a 3-star album & that just can't be right. In fact, it's a bit of a crime in my book. Are we not entitled to expect it to sound better instead of worse? Has concern for musical quality been finally thrown out of the window? Worth buying for the out-take disc, though, which really does sound pretty good.

The Stones really hit the mark with this one, great playing, great production and great songs-even if they are a bit below the belt. It has everything that I like about the Stones in bucketloads. Keith and Ronnie make the ancient art of weaving sound as effortless as breathing. They really work as one on this one. Ronnies slide, Faraway Eyes, and lead guitar work really stands out. The Stones, for me, peaked with this one, followed closely by Tattoo You. Everyone is giving it 110%, playing Lies would exhaust a lot of modern "rock" bands.

This album features a load of styles from the sly funky disco opener Miss You, through the smooth cover of Imagination, the rawk bluesy anthropological and educational(well not in the school sense) trawl through the wiles and ways of the worlds female population Some Girls, the punky and rocky Lies, the country hued sarcastic take on "gospel" radio Far Away Eyes, via others ending with the evocative description of the darker side of dwelling in New Yawk. Its all here! Magnificent degenerate rock music.

The remaster is once again a touch up in the detail on previous releases, better drums, better vocal separation, better guitar separation, better guitar crunch and better bass definition. Not as immediately apparent a difference as the Sticky Fingers and Its Only Rock and Roll remastering, but an improvement none the less.

Is it worth buying? If you are new to the Stones, definitely! If you have this on the Virgin release, yes if you want to hear every detail, no if you are just going to blast it on a portable.

There are folk out there who like to feed the music through a wave editor to find out what is going on, this review is based on listening to the music on a couple of different cd players.

I've personally been waiting a long time for this remaster,one because this is my favourite stones album,two because i couldn't find the virgin reissue and also because i was excited about this because i had been wanting a nice sounding copy as i have the original cbs cd but wanted something a little clearer and more powerful.
So is it clearer?
Well yes it is definitely clearer but whilst its not a complete disaster unfortunately this is yet another member of the loudness war.
Not to the extent of anything thats distorted but there is hardly any bass here at all and the whole album is very "toppy" meaning the treble range is over-emphasised,so it sounds rather washed-out without any warmth at all.
It's also been redone too loud,which means it's great for using in the car etc but for quality listening at home or through good quality headphones this doesn't sound great,in fact the original is better,which sort of defeats the purpose really.
A friend of mine has the virgin remaster of this (which i cannot find lol) and i will be continuing to look for a copy of that for myself,it sounds clear,isn't too loud,has a nice dynamic range and is a step up from the original,which is exactly what a remaster should be.
Unlike this one which just doesn't cut it.
I shall be getting rid of this one as soon as possible which is a great shame but at least i have my original to listen to while i look for the other one.
I don't know if all the 2009 stones remasters are going to sound like this but if they are i'll stay away.
So as to a rating,well 5 stars for the music,maybe 2 for the remaster.
A great shame,but it doesn't surprise me as sound quality on cds these days seems to be getting very poor.