Anyone here have an opinion on the "London" CD's released by The Stones? Especially versus the Abcko issues? Also, how can you tell the difference in the sound and also the packaging? Many thanks in advance and best to the (new) board! Ben
Ben, I've had these Hot Rocks CD's you're asking about for over 16 years. The easiest way to find the difference between the superior sounding 1985 pressings and the ABCKO ones is to look at the fine print on the back of the jewel box. It will indicate that the pressings were mastered by none other than Mobile Fidelity, right around the time that they remastered the Stones' original London albums for their half-speed mastered LP box set. Hot Rocks 1 also contains several hard-to-find true stereo rarities that are mislabelled as mono, such as "Satisfaction", "Time Is On My Side" and "Heart Of Stone". Given the dismal state of most mid-80's CD remasters, these are several notches above the typical CD sound of the time and well worth finding. [ September 14, 2001: Message edited by: luke j chung ]
Very Interesting! So, these CD's were mastered at the same time as the 1/2 speed LP's for the box set.....hmmmmmm.... How about "More Hot Rocks?" Also worth grabbing? Thanks so much for your valuable info! Ben
"More Hot Rocks" 1&2 along with Hot Rocks 1&2 are very worth hunting down. But don't forget "Aftermath" German London and the American "Now!"(yes, Abkco) CD that all have lots of true stereo stuff.
Keep in mind that most releases actually *don't* have the MoFi mastering credit - they asked that it be taken off. All four of the Hot Rocks discs are worth having, as are Aftermath, Between The Buttons, and Got Live If You Want It.
So, how do you guys think the SACDs compare with these early CD releases? (this is neat, it's like having a time machine...)
