MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: THE ROLLING STONES - HONK

This compilation was supposed to compliment the group's No Filter tour, but Mick's heart surgery cancelled those plans. But since it was in the pipeline already, it's arrived anyway. I'm sure you know how these work by now. Since the Stones don't own their '60's catalog (Allen Klein walked away with that), the "very best" of the band doesn't include Satisfaction, Jumpin' Jack Flash, 19th Nervous Breakdown, Paint It Black and a bunch of other classics.

Of course, there's more than enough to amply cram this collection, starting at Brown Sugar. Every album from Sticky Fingers on has at least one cut featured, for better or worse, but of course they give extra to the real hits, the '70's and into the '80's. It feels odd to see all these brilliant numbers, such as Wild Horses, It's Only Rock 'N' Roll and Happy broken up by numbers that most of us can't remember. Quick, what album was Don't Stop on? How about Streets Of Love?

There are some decent later cuts included, and I think Rock And A Hard Place and You Got Me Rocking have earned a spot in the hits package. Plus, I'm glad that the group's most recent album, the all-blues covers Blue and Lonesome gets four cuts, because it's the best studio disc they've done in decades. And to add some extras for fans who already have two or three or seven Stones' hits albums, there's a generous bonus disc if you get the deluxe version, featuring 10 live tracks from the last decade. This helps get them around the '60's problem, with versions of Under My Thumb and Get Off My Cloud, and features some guest stars, including Florence Welch, Brad Paisley and Ed Sheeran. None of it is must-own, especially since the Stones have released tons of live albums from all over their career, but if you feel the need of Stones collection, this works as well as most of them.