Thanks for the coda with the Singles write-up. A year ago, you posted lists for comps from 1963-1974 (quoted below to save time for those interested) . Would you share similar lists for post-74? http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...bum-thread-part-9.346203/page-9#post-10193641: DISC ONE/1963-1965: Come On/Bye Bye Johnny/I Wanna Be Your Man/You Better Move On/Not Fade Away/I Just Want To Make Love To You/Carol/Mona (I Need You Baby)/Walking The Dog/It's All Over Now/Around And Around/Down The Road Apiece/Everybody Needs Somebody To Love/You Can't Catch Me/I Can't Be Satisfied/Little Red Rooster/Heart Of Stone/Time Is On My Side/The Last Time/Play With Fire/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction/That's How Strong My Love Is/She Said Yeah/Mercy, Mercy/Get Off Of My Cloud/I'm Free/19th Nervous Breakdown track 1 - A-side of single, 1963; tracks 2, 4 - The Rolling Stones EP, 1964; track 3 - A-side of single, 1963; track 5 - A-side of single, 1964; tracks 6-9 - The Rolling Stones, 1964; track 10 - A-side of single, 1964; track 11 - Five By Five EP; tracks 12-15, 18 - The Rolling Stones No. 2, 1965; track 16 - A-side of single, 1964; tracks 19-20 - A/B-side of single, 1965; track 21 - A-side of single, 1965; tracks 17, 22-24, 26 - Out Of Our Heads, 1965; track 25 - A-side of single, 1965; track 27 - A-side of single, 1966 DISC TWO/1966-1967: Mother's Little Helper/Out Of Time (edited version)/Under My Thumb/I Am Waiting/Lady Jane/Ride On, Baby/Sittin' On A Fence/Paint It, Black/Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow?/Who's Driving Your Plane?/Let's Spend The Night Together/My Obsession/Connection/Yesterday's Papers (instrumental)/Who's Been Sleeping Here?/Dandelion/Ruby Tuesday (instrumental)/2,000 Light Years From Home/We Love You/The Lantern/In Another Land (single edit)/She's A Rainbow (single edit)/Child Of The Moon (rmk) tracks 1-5 - Aftermath, 1966; tracks 6-7 - Flowers, 1967; track 8 - A-side of single, 1966; tracks 9-10 - A & B-side of single, 1966; tracks 11, 17 - A & B-side of single, 1967; tracks 12-15 - Between The Buttons, 1967; tracks 16, 19 - A & B-side of single, 1967; tracks 18, 20-22 - Their Satanic Majesties Request, 1967; track 23 - B-side of "Jumpin' Jack Flash," 1968 ---------------- And...here's the next two discs' worth, FWIW, which conveniently enough take us up to the present moment: DISC THREE/1968-1971: Honky Tonk Women/Monkey Man/Prodigal Son/Jumpin' Jack Flash/Dead Flowers/Let It Bleed/Stray Cat Blues/Gimme Shelter/Sympathy For The Devil/No Expectations/Can't You Hear Me Knocking/Street Fighting Man/Bitch/Midnight Rambler/Brown Sugar/Moonlight Mile/You Can't Always Get What You Want track 4 - A-side of single, 1968; tracks 3, 7, 9-10, 12 - Beggars Banquet, 1968; track 1 - A-side of single, 1969; tracks 2, 6, 8, 14, 17 - Let It Bleed, 1969; tracks 5, 11, 13, 15-16 - Sticky Fingers, 1971 DISC FOUR/1972-1974: Rocks Off/Criss Cross/All Down The Line/Time Waits For No One/Angie/Happy/Loving Cup/It's Only Rock 'N Roll (But I Like It) (single edit)/Let It Loose/Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)/Sweet Virginia/If You Can't Rock Me/Rip This Joint/I Just Want To See His Face/100 Years Ago/Tumbling Dice/Shine A Light/Fingerprint File/Soul Survivor tracks 1, 3, 6-7, 9, 11, 13-14, 16-17, 19 - Exile On Main Street, 1972; tracks 5, 10, 15 - Goat's Head Soup, 1973; track 2 - outtake from Goat's Head Soup, 1973; tracks 4, 8, 12, 18 - It's Only Rock 'N Roll, 1974 The obvious difference between discs 1-2 and discs 3-4 is that, once the band moves into their "classic period" (in other words, once they become a pure album act), I start sequencing and juxtaposing songs for 'flow' rather than slavishly adhering to chronology. Just works a lot better, IMO. Try them out if you're so inclined -- it's a damn good 'setlist' that flows together as a coherent whole. I'm sure some will complain about my track selections for the 1968-1974 era: no "Love In Vain," "Sway," or "Wild Horses"; nothing from Ya-Ya's (space was limited, and I wanted this to set to be exclusively studio-based anyway); and fully ELEVEN songs from Exile, etc. But you know what? I honestly couldn't bring myself to cut any of the songs I included. The last one to get the chop was "Winter" from Goat's Head Soup. It wasn't a question of quality (I'd have been willing to drop something from Exile to make room), it was about flow...the songs I chose just seemed to fit together like jigsaw puzzle pieces, and "Winter" didn't have a place.
Nevertheless, an extremely interesting and well thought out review of Sticky Fingers. While I don't agree with all of it, I can understand where you're coming from and I do agree with some of it. In particular, the deservedly high praise for the album's 5 best songs: "Sway", "Can't You Hear Me Knocking", "Bitch", "Dead Flowers" and best of all, "Moonlight Mile". I too consider "Moonlight Mile" to be the single greatest performance of the Stones career. It's as close to the perfect song as there is, in my opinion...and Keith doesn't even play on it! And I do love the rest the album too...just not as much.
Thanks very much for that review. Brilliant! There are other Stones comps where I'll just play a song or two, or three, or four, such as the glorious stereo mix of "Paint It, Black" from Hot Rocks, but if I want to play one from start to (almost) finish, then the only one is The Singles Collection. I love the fact that it's assembled chronologically (as all compilations should be, in my opinion) and as such, shows perfectly the Stones gradual transition from dedicated champions of R&B, through their own blues tinged rock 'n' roll, a string of unforgettable pop/rock/psychedelic masterpieces, to finally their full flowering as the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world with "Jumpin' Jack Flash", "Street Fighting Man" and "Honky Tonk Women". I'd still love to see a definitive '60's Stones compilation of singles and album tracks...but until that happens The Singles Collection is as definitive as it gets. Which is also why I was so underwhelmed with any and all of the 2CD, 3CD and 4CD versions of GRRR! Way too short, way too many great and essential songs missing and way too many average and NON-essential songs included. You can't say that about The Singles Collection. It's all there and it's (almost) all essential. Except it doesn't have the proper single version of "Ruby Tuesday".
Actually, at the end of the We Love You single, you hear 'Blow away Dandelion, Blow away...' not 'We Love They'.
Nice review! Every time I play disc 2, I can't shut if off, it has to play all the way through. Just consistently outstanding.
Actually, the line in question is "Forget the place we're in," not "you're deader than we're in." It is a pivotal lyric in the song (which is why I used it to headline my entire write-up of the song), but there's no reason to think it was written by anyone but Mick Jagger.
Gotta love it when somebody goes out of his way to reduce the appeal of the Beatles, the Stones, or KISS in a desperate stab to try to help his argument. "KISS was a kiddy band" or "The Monkees were a kiddy band": while failing to mention that The Beatles had a Saturday morning cartoon. Baby Boomers of your selected age haven't been The Stones' only audience throughout their career nor were they the ones in charge at the record labels, green lighting "Let's Spend the Night Together" which was half of a number one 1967 single.
Great review of The London Years! Whenever I've talked to the group of people that tell me The Stones never really got it on until Mick Taylor, and that he somehow catapulted them into some real rare air, I point out that the guy came into The Rolling Stones, and that if you don't understand just how big they were and how utterly great they already were, the place to find out is that boxed set. How many other bands can you play three cd's in a row by? I've done it several times with that set, too. It's just a jaw dropping history of a band that honestly could have stopped then and there and easily been my favorite band. When they were looking to replace Brian, that had to have been the gig any guitar player would have killed to get. They were already The Rolling F'in Stones at that point. That collection just shows what it's all about. That rocket took off and was still picking up speed by the time that collection ends. That's unreal!
So I updated that mega-compilation of mine with a fifth disc, as requested. Disc six would take the story from 1983 to the present, but I've never been entirely pleased with it. ---------------------------------- DISC ONE/1963-1965: Come On/Bye Bye Johnny/I Wanna Be Your Man/You Better Move On/Not Fade Away/I Just Want To Make Love To You/Carol/Mona (I Need You Baby)/Walking The Dog/It's All Over Now/Around And Around/Down The Road Apiece/Everybody Needs Somebody To Love/You Can't Catch Me/I Can't Be Satisfied/Little Red Rooster/Heart Of Stone/Time Is On My Side/The Last Time/Play With Fire/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction/That's How Strong My Love Is/She Said Yeah/Mercy, Mercy/Get Off Of My Cloud/I'm Free/19th Nervous Breakdown track 1 - A-side of single, 1963; tracks 2, 4 - The Rolling Stones EP, 1964; track 3 - A-side of single, 1963; track 5 - A-side of single, 1964; tracks 6-9 - The Rolling Stones, 1964; track 10 - A-side of single, 1964; track 11 - Five By Five EP; tracks 12-15, 18 - The Rolling Stones No. 2, 1965; track 16 - A-side of single, 1964; tracks 19-20 - A/B-side of single, 1965; track 21 - A-side of single, 1965; tracks 17, 22-24, 26 - Out Of Our Heads, 1965; track 25 - A-side of single, 1965; track 27 - A-side of single, 1966 DISC TWO/1966-1967: Mother's Little Helper/Out Of Time (edited version)/Under My Thumb/I Am Waiting/Lady Jane/Ride On, Baby/Sittin' On A Fence/Paint It, Black/Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow?/Who's Driving Your Plane?/Let's Spend The Night Together/My Obsession/Connection/Yesterday's Papers (instrumental)/Who's Been Sleeping Here?/Dandelion/Ruby Tuesday (instrumental)/2,000 Light Years From Home/We Love You/The Lantern/In Another Land (single edit)/She's A Rainbow (single edit)/Child Of The Moon tracks 1-5 - Aftermath, 1966; tracks 6-7 - Flowers, 1967; track 8 - A-side of single, 1966; tracks 9-10 - A & B-side of single, 1966; tracks 11, 17 - A & B-side of single, 1967; tracks 12-15 - Between The Buttons, 1967; tracks 16, 19 - A & B-side of single, 1967; tracks 18, 20-22 - Their Satanic Majesties Request, 1967; track 23 - B-side of "Jumpin' Jack Flash," 1968 DISC THREE/1968-1971: Honky Tonk Women/Monkey Man/Prodigal Son/Jumpin' Jack Flash/Dead Flowers/Let It Bleed/Stray Cat Blues/Gimme Shelter/Sympathy For The Devil/No Expectations/Can't You Hear Me Knocking/Street Fighting Man/Bitch/Midnight Rambler/Brown Sugar/Moonlight Mile/You Can't Always Get What You Want track 4 - A-side of single, 1968; tracks 3, 7, 9-10, 12 - Beggars Banquet, 1968; track 1 - A-side of single, 1969; tracks 2, 6, 8, 14, 17 - Let It Bleed, 1969; tracks 5, 11, 13, 15-16 - Sticky Fingers, 1971 DISC FOUR/1972-1974: Rocks Off/Criss Cross/All Down The Line/Time Waits For No One/Angie/Happy/Loving Cup/It's Only Rock 'N Roll (But I Like It) (single edit)/Let It Loose/Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)/Sweet Virginia/If You Can't Rock Me/Rip This Joint/I Just Want To See His Face/100 Years Ago/Tumbling Dice/Shine A Light/Fingerprint File/Soul Survivor tracks 1, 3, 6-7, 9, 11, 13-14, 16-17, 19 - Exile On Main Street, 1972; tracks 5, 10, 15 - Goat's Head Soup, 1973; track 2 - outtake from Goat's Head Soup, 1973; tracks 4, 8, 12, 18 - It's Only Rock 'N Roll, 1974 DISC FIVE/1975-1981: Start Me Up/Hot Stuff/If I Was A Dancer (Dance, Pt. 2)/Miss You/Hang Fire/Respectable/Everything Is Turning To Gold/Emotional Rescue (single edit)/Memory Motel/Waiting On A Friend/Beast Of Burden/Worried About You/Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)/Hand Of Fate/Before The Make Me Run/Fool To Cry (edited version)/Shattered/All About You tracks 2, 9, 14, 16 - Black And Blue, 1976; tracks 4, 6, 11, 13, 15, 17 - Some Girls, 1978; track 7 - B-side of "Shattered," 1978; tracks 8, 19 - Emotional Rescue, 1980; track 3 - outtake from Emotional Rescue, 1980; tracks 1, 5, 10, 12 - Tattoo You, 1982
Interesting. I would have included tracks like Crazy Mama, Let Me Go, Slave, Black Limousine, She's So Cold, So Young & Claudine.
I think I disagree on this part--or, at least, it doesn't match my own personal sense of the Rolling Stones' catalog. I think that the Rolling Stones' material changes markedly from 1965 to 1966. There's a really obvious transition from "Satisfaction" to "Get Off Of My Cloud" to "19th Nervous Breakdown" to "Paint It, Black". It's a transition from a style based on blues, R&B, and Chuck Berry-style rock-and-roll to a style based more on post-Dylan rock music, and it's critical. The Rolling Stones would never have gotten to "Beggars Banquet" or "Let It Bleed" without moving out of the tightness of R&B and into an approach that allowed a little bit more space to stretch out. But 1967 still seems more like a digression. Some of the material in 1967 seems to build toward what is coming in 1968, but most of it seems to go in a direction that stops at itself. The material associated with "Between the Buttons" is so pop, and that associated with "Their Satanic Majesties Request" is so psychedelic, and those particular aspects of the Stones' material of the time don't seem to persist forward. I don't think you really "need" 1967 to get from 1966 to 1968. I think you can go right from "Paint It, Black" to "Jumpin' Jack Flash" to "Street Fighting Man"--in fact, I think the first two have more in common than the second two. Both "Black" and "Flash" are demonic, theatrical-sounding rock songs, and when I use the term "theatrical", I mean it both ways--on one hand, they're both quite dramatic, but on the other hand, they're also both kind of a put on. It's not until "Street Fighting Man" that you get the Rolling Stones taking their subject matter so seriously, and it's not until that same single's B-side, "No Expectations", that you get the Rolling Stones engaging pre-war acoustic blues music. And it's those two things--more serious themes and an engagement with pre-war blues--that I think are the defining characteristics of the "classic" run of albums from "Beggars Banquet" to "Exile on Main Street".
It was so exciting to see EsotericCD write up "Singles Collection"! This thread was the most fun I've had on this message board, and it was so great to see another great write-up just appear like that. The write-up also motivated me to listen to "Singles Collection" all the way through for once. I was home sick from work today, so it helped me get through recovering in bed this morning. It is a great tracklisting. I think it's really hard to go wrong with a chronological list of singles, both A and B sides. It lets you hear, in a reasonable amount of time, the degree to which a performer's sound and approach evolves over the course of a career. Including every single is a bulwark against retroactive editing and curating to make an artist's back catalog sound more relevant or timely--instead, you are sure to get how they sounded in their time. You typically get good material in the A-sides, and on the B-sides, you often get interesting material--an artist playing more casually and relaxed, and music that's closer to the performer's "essence"--what they sound like when they just play. I wasn't surprised to find that I like the 1963-65 material ("Come On" to "Gotta Get Away") more than the 1966-67 material ("19th Nervous Breakdown" to "The Lantern")--I knew I had this preference even before I started on this thread. It's not like the 1966-67 material isn't good--I think the Stones were very good at pop (though compared to excellent at blues, R&B, and Berry-Presley-Holly rock-and-roll). And I agree that much of this material (particularly that in 1966--see my post just above) is an important transition to the outstanding later material in 1968-72. But there were times that I had to resist thinking I was hearing a band in decline once I got to the 1966-67 middle period. I couldn't help it-- during "Mother's Little Helper" or "Let's Spend the Night Together", I would miss the material like "It's All Over Now" or "Heart of Stone" that I had been hearing an hour before. Odds and ends: - I really like hearing the mono mix of virtually anything, so I was happy to see that this collection had a lot of mono mixes. The track that benefits the most in the mono mix is "Ruby Tuesday"--there's some "movement" in the chorus that isn't on the stereo album version. I'm less sure about the mono single mix of "Street Fighting Man", which sounded thin to me. - I posted above that I think that the material from 1967 is for the most part a digression, but "The Lantern" might be an exception. I was surprised to hear some gospel in the piano and guitar, which does seem to anticipate "Beggars Banquet" and "Let It Bleed". - "I'm Free" also surprised me as forward-looking. It's just a little bit folkier and poppier, and seems to look ahead to "Between the Buttons". - "Lady Jane", on the other hand, was the most digressive-sounding of all the tracks. It's a little unusual when you hear it on the eclectic "Aftermath" album, but it's really strange to hear in the more characteristic chronology of singles. - "Stoned" cracked me up. It's junk, but it's hilarious junk. It reminds me a little of John Lee Hooker. - I was amused to find out that I liked "I Don't Know Why" and "Try a Little Harder", which I hadn't heard and which, given the reputation of "Metamorphosis", I entirely expected to be terrible. The string version of "Out of Time", on the other hand, seems entirely unnecessary. - An incomplete list of songs that I retroactively wish had been singles, so they could have been on this collection: "Empty Heart"; "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love"; "You Better Move On".
Great compilation. Mine sadly doesn't have this beautiful Decca label--it has a much less attractive Nova label instead.
Haven't heard the Nova one myself, but they say it is from the same mono tapes with remaining good audio. Can that be confirmed?
I just want to, at the chronological end of this thread, recognize all the other people who made it possible. First of all, while it was (nominally, at least) a one-man show for the "Come On" to Some Girls period, let's be clear here: this thread could have EASILY collapsed into sh1te after I had to leave had it not been for botley and Croidler, who each took over stewardship of the U.S.S. Rolling Stone and made sure it lived up to the standard I originally hoped to establish for it. I'm blown away by their contributions -- they didn't just "maintain" the quality of this epic thread, they innovated, impressed, exceeded. I would check in periodically to read about allbums I honestly could never have mustered the personal enthusiasm to discuss, like Undercover or A Bigger Bang, and just be floored by the insight and thought they brought to them. Dammit, it feels like Washington handing off to Adams handing off to Jefferson. Second of all, you'll notice I used the word "nominally" in the preceding paragraph's reference to a "one-man show." That's because, honestly, it really wasn't. This mega-thread would have been little more than an echo of that classic Grandpa Simpson joke "OLD MAN YELLS AT CLOUD" without the immense collaborative input of everyone who commented and brought their thoughts to the table. It's actually a little terrifying to try and list them because I'm mortified at the thought of leaving anyone out, but clearly GetRhythm, mschrist, pinstripedclips, RTW, cc--, bonus, reb, old school, Rose River Bear, Aftermath, John Fell, and so many others that currently escape my mind need to be recognized. Those are only the names I can pull off the top of my head after nearly a year's absence, which tells you something. Hell, just go back from Part 1 onwards, and you'll see the give-and-take. You all weren't just some "Greek Chorus." You were real creative contributors. I took cues from you all, and I'm sure botley and Croidler did as well. I learned more than I could have ever imagined about one of the greatest bands in popular music history -- and I obviously knew a lot already! -- by absorbing the deeply felt reminiscences, critiques, analyses, and factual corrections everyone offered. I really do think that this thread, all fourteen (to date) parts of it, is the single greatest thing to ever come out of the Steve Hoffman Music Forums. That would come off as insufferable self-regard were it not for the fact that its quality owes far more to everyone reading and speaking out in it than anything its authors might have contributed to it. That is all.
That is a good point @mschrist. If you dig deeper into the Stones catalog there are a number of songs that were good enough that they could have been issued as singles at the time and were not. Discovering these tracks is part of the fun of being a Stones fan.
The 2002 uses a fold of an alternate stereo mix (underdub) for "Ruby Tuesday". That isn't an original mono mix.
The "single greatest thing to ever come out of the Steve Hoffman Forum?"...after my "Basement Tapes" thread of course...lol Seriously, it's been a pleasure - and all credit to EsotericCD for his initiative, enthusiasm, insight, writing and research abilities, and perhaps above all - people skills - for making it such a fun and enriching ride through the career of either my favorite or co-favorite (dead heat with Mr. Dylan) artist of all time. My own participation fell off around the same time as Esoteric's did - though not at all due to the excellent efforts of botley and Croidler in keeping things afloat - I made sure to check out each of their contributions as well as they became available. It's just that while I can appreciate the professionalism, songcraft and necessary evolution of their sound that went into producing such efforts as Bridges to Babylon and Voodoo Lounge, these will never resonate with me in the same way as the earlier efforts did when they were still earning the title of "world's greatest rock and roll band"... So in closing, I just want to add that I still think It's Only Rock and Roll sucks ass...(just kidding Mick Taylor fans...lol)
Believe it or not, I've read through all 14 parts of this discussion over the past couple of weeks and this is my first post! Kudos to the reviewers and participants for all of the thoughts and insights. It certainly has made me interested in giving all periods of the Stones' career a new listen with fresh ears. Warning, random thoughts to follow.... I first really heard the Stones in the Some Girls through Undercover period, which coincided with my middle and high school years. Like many, Hot Rocks was my late-80s entree into their earlier work (on the horrible sounding original ABKCO fat-boy CD). Even though they formed part of the soundtrack to my youth, the 1978-1983 Stones never did all that much for me. Even at that age, I tended to find their lyrical obsessions with young women creepy and somewhat distasteful, as well as their seeming penchant for chasing the latest musical trend. It wasn't until I first heard the 1968-1974 albums (around 1989-90) that I truly fell in love with the band, even though those records had been made and released years before my musical awareness of the Stones. To me, that period had a rootsiness and a flavor of rural America that their earlier and later music never captured. There was a hazy, dreary vibe to those albums, even the lesser ones such as Goats Head Soup and It's Only Rock and Roll, that I don't think they have ever achieved since that period. I don't know if it was the drugs, the sheer exhaustion of their hamster-on-a-treadmill pace, the personal losses, or just the times they were living in, but there was a magic there, especially in the slower, more contemplative material on those albums, which for me represents the zenith of the Stones' recorded legacy. Maybe it was Mick Taylor -- I do find his guitar fills and tones vastly superior to those of the other Stones' guitarists. The songs were a bit longer and more ornately structured as well, which I prefer to the later simplistic jams and genre excursions. The lyrics were also more eloquent and thoughtful -- really more artistic, to my ears -- than they generally would be later (with a few notable exceptions, of course!). It was interesting to read the passionate perspectives on the band's 1990s and 2000s albums as well. I have them all and much prefer Voodoo Lounge to the album-by-committee that is Bridges To Babylon, but I should probably give them another listen to see if those impressions are still accurate. I remember enjoying A Bigger Bang to a degree, but feeling that they really did not record it very well and questioned the way it was recorded and mixed. A band that has access to the lushest recording studios in the world shouldn't have foisted such a sonically challenged product onto its fanbase. Albums shouldn't be designed to be heard on iTunes and iPods. The live release discussions are also interesting. I've never seen the Stones in concert (I did see Keith on his second solo tour), primarily because I had the impression that they tended to just play their hits in concert, didn't change up their setlists from night to night, and played rather perfunctory shows where the stadium stages and artifice got in the way of the music. To what degree this impression is on target or wildly off the mark, I don't know. I did always think that the Stones would have been better served artistically by approaching their concerts more like Springsteen -- just the music, no frills; play 3-4 hour shows; change the songs nightly; play deep and obscure songs; ignore most of the hits; include slower acoustic material; avoid stadiums (mostly). No spectacle, just songs. If that had been their live approach, I surely would have seen them many times by now. And I do agree with EsotericCD that "Moonlight Mile" is the Stones' greatest single recorded achievement. Sheer perfection.
The Stones really do change their shows up about as much as they can. They've got a lot of songs that people just find obligatory. They've done tours where they haven't played Satisfaction, or Sympathy for the Devil, and they've done tours where they've played songs like Sister Morphine, Monkey Man and Can't You Hear Me Knocking. No one could live through a three or four hour Stones show. People would be dropping like flies. Mick doesn't take breaks and tell stories like Bruce. They blast through the upper echelon of the Rock canon and if you've never seen them, it's definitely your loss. Unfortunately they're doing stadiums this time around, and that's certainly not the best way to see a show, but if I'd never seen them, I wouldn't miss it. Every time I've ever seen them they've been fantastic, and you don't see anyone leaving that disagrees with that.
