Listening in Depth to Aftermath – The First in a String of Must Own Stones Albums

Lady Jane, Under My Thumb and Mother’s Little Helper are three of the best sounding tracks on side one — all three are lively and solid here. On side two Out of Time and I Am Waiting are especially well recorded.

DAVE HASSINGER rightly deserves the credit for the best sounding early Stones album — this one.

Although some songs sound amazing, not every track is well recorded. We just have to accept that the Stones are not The Beatles when it comes to the consistent quality of the earliest recordings. That said, a strong copy like this one paired with the great music on this album will certainly deliver a lot of pleasure to audiophile Stones fans.

Although some songs sound amazing, not every track is well recorded. We just have to accept that the Stones are not The Beatles when it comes to the consistent quality of the earliest recordings. That said, a strong copy like this one paired with the great music on this album will certainly deliver a lot of pleasure to audiophile Stones fans.

In-Depth Track Commentary

Side One

Mothers Little Helper

Superb! On the best copies this track is so transparent you can feel the cool air of the studio.

Stupid Girl

Somewhat dark and compressed as a rule.

Lady Jane

Wow! On the best pressings this one is killer. You won’t hear too many better sounding Stones songs from this period.

Under My Thumb

On the best copies this song has amazing bass. It’s what makes the song work, check it out.

Doncha Bother Me
Goin’ Home

Very nice sound as a rule.

Side Two

Flight 505
High and Dry
Out Of Time

Wow — on the best copies the intro to this song is Demo Disc Quality (all things considered) but it gets compressed and harmonically distorted as they keep adding layers of tape.

It’s Not Easy

Listen to that tape hiss — if it’s correct all the highs will be there.

I Am Waiting

This track can have especially sweet guitars.

Take It Or Leave It
Think
What To Do

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