Search - The Rolling Stones :: Aftermath (UK Version)

It's difficult for American listeners to remember this, but like the recordings of the Beatles and nearly all other British groups of the '60s, the Rolling Stones' first several albums did not make it across the Atlantic in one piece. Prior to ABKCO's comprehensive 2002 reissue program, the US versions of the Stones' early albums were the de facto standards on CD, but particularly in the case of 1966's AFTERMATH, the UK album was very different. The track lineup is shuffled and expanded to create a much different mood. "Paint It Black" is gone, replaced as the opening track by the snotty social commentary of "Mother's Little Helper," which--when followed by "Stupid Girl," "Lady Jane," "Under My Thumb," and "Dontcha Bother Me"--is like a pentathlon of punky misogyny capped by the grinding blues jam "Goin' Home." Side Two is more emotionally varied but just as musically far-reaching, adding the poppy "Take It Or Leave It" and "What To Do" to an already strong set of tunes centered on the stunning full-length version of "Out of Time" that for some reason had never been released in the United States before this belated reissue.