Stones Aftermath

The Complete Show from December 19, 1989 Convention Center Atlantic City, New Jersey.
By the time the Rolling Stones began calling themselves the World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band in the late '60s, they had already staked out an impressive claim on the title. As the self-consciously dangerous alternative to the bouncy Merseybeat of the Beatles in the British Invasion, the Stones had pioneered the gritty, hard-driving blues-based rock & roll that came to define hard rock.

This legendary Rolling Stones concert filmed during their Japanese tour (Tokyo February 1990) features outstanding performances of classic Stones tracks.
By the time the Rolling Stones began calling themselves the World's Greatest Rock & Roll Band in the late '60s, they had already staked out an impressive claim on the title. As the self-consciously dangerous alternative to the bouncy Merseybeat of the Beatles in the British Invasion, the Stones had pioneered the gritty, hard-driving blues-based rock & roll that came to define hard rock.

They recorded it, toured behind it and then moved on creating Goats Head Soup, It's Only Rock 'n' Roll, Black and Blue and Some Girls without ever giving Exile a second thought. Fortunately for them, the rest of the world did. At eighteen songs, four sides and a battery of genres and styles embraced, it's not an easy album to love on first listen. A newcomer to the Stones isn't going to get it, neither will someone who doesn't understand country music, the blues or Chuck Berry. However, these eclectic torrent of influences all helped permeate and give birth to what many consider the greatest rock n' roll record ever. If we only ever had the music, which in itself would be enough, but the legacy behind Exile On Main Street is so much more.

As Brian Jones' time with the Stones (and with the rest of this world) was drawing to a close, the band was becoming both more progressive in its conception and more adept in its musicianship. Though the studio recordings from this golden period are impeccable, nowhere is the band's growth more evident than on GOT LIVE IF YOU WANT IT. Recorded by Glyn Johns at London's Royal Albert Hall, this album shows the Stones as a powerful live unit, now capable of subtle emotional shadings as well as rock & roll raveups…