Two Miles High Music

Remastered reissue of 1967 album, suitable for standard & 'Super Audio' CD players. Digipak.

The Stones began their transitional period, from reinvigorating R&B standards (on their early albums) to reinventing rock & roll (on the brilliant four-album streak beginning with Beggars Banquet), on this underrated 1967 collection. Even the songs that didn't become smash hits, such as the speed demon "Miss Amanda Jones" and the honky-tonking "She Smiled Sweetly," are more than curiosities despite experimental touches with organ, sitar, and kazoo. Mick Jagger proves, on the psychedelic "Yesterday's Papers" and "Ruby Tuesday," that he can sing a sexy ballad even if he's incapable of crooning. Of course, the opening piano-driven rocker "Let's Spend the Night Together" sounds as fresh and sexual as it ever did. --Steve Knopper

Once known as hard-core blues/R&B traditionalists, the Stones plunged deeper into the waters of original songwriting on BETWEEN THE BUTTONS, leading to a golden age of classic albums including LET IT BLEED, BEGGAR'S BANQUET and EXILE ON MAIN STREET. BUTTONS was also the last album produced by then-manager/svengali Andrew Loog Oldham. More importantly, the obscure songs on this tight package show the Stones coming into their own as composers. Between the melodic balladry of "Back Street Girl" and Mick Jagger's Dylanesque inflections on "She Smiled Sweetly," BUTTONS found the Stones in a strata far beyond covering Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly. Although none of these developments ranks with the Beatles' contemporaneous sonic experiments, the Fabs' bad-boy counterparts showed differing degrees of whimsy and sass, i.e. Ian Stewart's barrelhouse piano and Brian Jones' kazoo playing on "Cool, Calm & Collected" or the Dixieland-flavored "Something Happened To Me Yesterday."

The Stones began their transitional period, from reinvigorating R&B standards (on their early albums) to reinventing rock & roll (on the brilliant four-album streak beginning with Beggars Banquet), on this underrated 1967 collection. Even the songs that didn't become smash hits, such as the speed demon "Miss Amanda Jones" and the honky-tonking "She Smiled Sweetly," are more than curiosities despite experimental touches with organ, sitar, and kazoo. Mick Jagger proves, on the psychedelic "Yesterday's Papers" and "Ruby Tuesday," that he can sing a sexy ballad even if he's incapable of crooning. Of course, the opening piano-driven rocker "Let's Spend the Night Together" sounds as fresh and sexual as it ever did. --Steve Knopper

European paper sleeve pressing. Part of Abkco's `Rolling Stones Remastered Series'. Includes an `Inaugural Edition' Certificate! Universal. 2006.

European paper sleeve pressing. Part of Abkco's `Rolling Stones Remastered Series'. Includes an `Inaugural Edition' Certificate! Universal. 2006.

Japanese Limited Edition Issue of the Dsd Mastered Album Classic in a Deluxe, Miniaturized LP Sleeve Replica of the Original Vinyl Album Artwork.

The Stones began their transitional period, from reinvigorating R&B standards (on their early albums) to reinventing rock & roll (on the brilliant four-album streak beginning with Beggars Banquet), on this underrated 1967 collection. Even the songs that didn't become smash hits, such as the speed demon "Miss Amanda Jones" and the honky-tonking "She Smiled Sweetly," are more than curiosities despite experimental touches with organ, sitar, and kazoo. Mick Jagger proves, on the psychedelic "Yesterday's Papers" and "Ruby Tuesday," that he can sing a sexy ballad even if he's incapable of crooning. Of course, the opening piano-driven rocker "Let's Spend the Night Together" sounds as fresh and sexual as it ever did. --Steve Knopper