Shady Deal
David V. Hale | 08/10/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Please bear with me as I may ramble a bit- I have been a Stones fan forever, and Made in the Shade is the best of the Stones "best ofs" this side of Hot Rocks. The song selection defines the Mick Taylor era and how they are arranged really gives this disk great punch (Angie right into Bitch is great). This album was a favorite for all of my rowdy years and I wore out my LP. I was very excited to see the remastered release and just picked it up. I must say, despite what some other reviewers said, I picked up a wicked hiss on a couple of songs- Pretty disappointing; otherwise the mix is bright and crisp. Heartbreaker is amazing.
Now for the rant. Previous reviewers have mentioned this in a softer tone. These remastered disks have no oomph or extra anything. The Stones have repackaged everything to death to wring one last dime out of their fans. I wish that when they undertook the last remastering that they at least gave us liner notes. The thought of a couple of live cuts or rarities from the time of each album is much too much to expect. Rhino Records work with re-release and remastering is the benchmark- great liner notes, disks stuffed with extras. Heck, even the notoriously money grubbing Who put a few extras on their countless re-releases.
I know we will never get this with the Stones and I knew what I was getting with Made in the Shade, and sadly I got nothing more. So... It is a great disk with a great line-up of songs from a great time in the bands career. Find it cheap, it's worth it!"