Rolled Gold

When Rolled Gold was initially released in 1975, there was no shortage of Rolling Stone compilations -- hell, there were two others released that year, the useful Decca/London-era rarities compilation Metamorphosis and the slapped-together Rolling Stones Records singles comp Made in the Shade, containing the American singles released on Rolling Stones Records in the early '70s, along with assorted album tracks. Designed for the U.K. market and never released in America, Rolled Gold split the difference between the two, rounding up all the big hits they had on Decca/London. At 28 tracks and two LPs, the collection offered a lot of bang for the buck and it was an enormous hit in the U.K., yet it never made it onto CD -- and, in a way, it didn't really need to, as the CD era brought lots of excellent compilations, ranging from reissues of the Hot Rocks sets to the three-disc 1989 box The Singles Collection: The London Years to 2002's Forty Licks, which offered a double-disc overview of their entire career. In light of these, a reissued Rolled Gold didn't quite seem necessary, but it eventually did surface, making it into stores just in time for the 2007 holiday season. This edition of Rolled Gold is pumped up with 12 tracks, making it 18 tracks shorter than The Singles Collection -- about a disc shorter, which is appropriate -- and it largely fills in the gaps with American singles like "Tell Me" and album cuts that have become Stones staples, along with extending the running length into 1971 with "Brown Sugar" and "Wild Horses," the two early Rolling Stones Records singles that wind up on every ABKCO comp. Although it's hard to imagine who doesn't have this music in their collection already, this expanded Rolled Gold is nevertheless a good compromise between the original early singles set Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) and the box The Singles Collection, an album that provides almost all of the Stones' early classics in a very entertaining -- if not quite necessary -- package.