Grrr! 3CD

Graced with cover art of a grotesque gorilla sporting the Stones' trademark leering lips, GRRR! doesn't quite have the classy veneer usually associated with a 50th anniversary collection. Frankly, that's a good sign for the Rolling Stones: they're celebrating their half-century together but refusing to take themselves too seriously, even when they're assembling a mammoth retrospective that's available in two wildly different incarnations. Each chronicles the Stones' story beginning with their first single, a cover of Chuck Berry's "Come On," to a pair of good new recordings (a loose-limbed rocker called "Doom & Gloom" and the poppier "One More Shot"). Neither the standard triple-disc version nor the super deluxe four-disc set -- which has the added bonus of a disc of the band's Chess Records-heavy demos for IBC in 1963, a significant enticement to make the investment (there's also a bonus 7" EP of a 1964 BBC session) -- has all of the singles or significant songs the Stones have released over the course of five decades, but both do an excellent job of providing a thorough overview of a monumental career. Of these, three-CD set offers fewer surprises, marching steadily through the years and serving up the songs you know by heart, supplemented by just enough of the best latter-day material to make a convincing argument that the Stones retained their power. As it has more room to roam, the four-disc Super Deluxe is quirkier and offers a better illustration of the band's range, digging deeper into the band's late-'60s psychedelia ("Dandelion," "Child of the Moon"), emphasizing country-rock ("You Got the Silver," "Salt of the Earth"), disco ("Dance, Pt. 1"), and does a tremendous job in editing the band's third act so their enduring craftsmanship shines through. Again, it's easy to name great songs that are missing, but what's here is sublime, some of the best rock & roll ever made, and the best overall Stones comp to date. (www.allmusic.com)

CD 1:
01 Come On 1:51
02 Not Fade Away 1:52
03 It's All Over Now 3:30
04 Little Red Rooster 3:06
05 The Last Time 3:43
06 (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 3:46
07 Time Is On My Side (Stereo Version 2 / Guitar Intro) 3:00
08 Get Off Of My Cloud 2:59
09 Heart Of Stone 2:46
10 19th Nervous Breakdown 3:59
11 As Tears Go By 2:47
12 Paint It, Black 3:22
13 Under My Thumb 3:43
14 Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The ShadowUpdate 2:31
15 Ruby Tuesday 3:13
16 Let's Spend The Night Together 3:36
17 We Love You 4:21

CD 2:
01 Jumpin' Jack Flash 3:44
02 Honky Tonk Women (Stereo) 3:04
03 Sympathy For The Devil 6:18
04 You Can't Always Get What You Want (Single Version) 4:52
05 Gimme Shelter 4:36
06 Street Fighting Man (Stereo Version) 3:18
07 Wild Horses 5:40
08 She's A Rainbow (Stereo Full Version / With Intro) 4:13
09 Brown Sugar (Remastered) 3:49
10 Happy 3:04
11 Tumbling Dice 3:45
12 Angie (Remastered) 4:31
13 Rocks Off 4:31
14 Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) 3:26
15 It's Only Rock 'N' Roll 4:08
16 Fool To Cry (Edit-Remastered) 4:07

CD 3:
01 Miss You (Remastered) 3:34
02 Respectable (Remastered) 3:06
03 Beast Of Burden (Remastered) 3:27
04 Emotional Rescue 3:41
05 Start Me Up (Remastered) 3:31
06 Waiting On A Friend (Remastered) 4:35
07 Undercover (Of The Night) (Remastered) 4:13
08 She Was Hot 4:40
09 Streets Of Love 5:10
10 Harlem Shuffle (Remastered) 3:24
11 Mixed Emotions (Remastered) 4:00
12 Highwire (7" version) 3:41
13 Love Is Strong 3:48
14 Anybody Seen My BabyUpdate 4:06
15 Don't Stop (Edit) 3:29
16 Doom And Gloom 3:58
17 One More Shot