Always the UK Decca versions of the early albums for me. They are much better. I was playing No 2 this morning and it hit me how good it is. easy as strong as the first one, and way better than 12X 5.
The opening Everybody needs somebody - Down Home Girl-You can't catch me, and then into one of their early soul covers "Time is on my side". It's tops.
The next two originals don't get near enough respect. I have always loved these two cuts What a Shame" - those guitars! the sound; and the combo of those two. the volume swell when Brian takes a solo. Stu's hammered piano tinkering.
And the ending verses are surely one of Bill Wyman's overlooked stellar moments. He starts playing these octaves and also walking, really lifts the song up a notch. Maybe Bill's best days were the very early days.
Grown Up Wrong" has that great gallop-ing beat that Charlie does. And it's a killer riff.
Into "Down the Road Apiece" - it just won't let up.
One of the weak spots IMO is "Boardwalk".
But right back with I Can't be Satisfied" one of the best early Blues they did.
"Pain in My heart" the other soul cover; very similar arrangement as "Time" and/or "If you Need me".
"Off the Hook" great original.
"Suzie Q" is the other weak number. Could have ended with "Surprise Surprise" maybe..
This album is now up there with Hitmakers.

I always look for the UK versions first too.
Bill and Charlie the best.
I believe Bills best days are the Taylor years.
Boardwlk is part of the Stones
authenic soul
The Austalians loved it.

A great, great album and very underrated by a lot of people. I love the early country soul vibe of Down Home Girl, Suzie Q and the sneering proto punk attitude on What A Shame and Grown Up Wrong. Vintage Brian. The last album before the band began to show their poppier side. You Can't Catch Me is one of their best Chuck covers. Superb.

I'm a Brit, but am saddened to admit that I've have never listened to The Rolling Stones No.2. My father never owned the LP and being from the CD/Digital age, I purchased the U.S. albums like 12x5 and The Rolling Stones Now! The UK debut - which I did manage to track down on CD, second-hand - is still an absolute favourite.

12 x 5 is good though and "Now" is good too, so I'm not so sure about this thread

Well, at least we can now buy it digitally on iTunes

great post, Palace... agreed about the originals "What a Shame" and "Grown Up Wrong." I'm going to listen for that bass line next time I play the LP.

2 1 2 0

Yes, I prefer the British leg of the Stones albums, too. Unfortunately only the American versions of the first two albums are on CD. Further here in Germany there was a third, great album, very blues oriented, in 64 or 65, named "Around and Around", between "No. 2" and "Out of our Heads". Unfortunately this seems to be out of print today.

Off The Hook



2 1 2 0

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RobertJohnson
Yes, I prefer the British leg of the Stones albums, too. Unfortunately only the American versions of the first two albums are on CD. Further here in Germany there was a third, great album, very blues oriented, in 64 or 65, named "Around and Around", between "No. 2" and "Out of our Heads". Unfortunately this seems to be out of print today.

Not out of print according to Amazon Germany: [www.amazon.de]

But there is no CD version.

Set list of "Around and Around":

1. Around And Around 3:04
2. Good Times, Bad Times 2:30
3. It's All Over Now 3:26
4. Empty Heart 2:33
5. Confessin' The Blues 2:46
6. Not Fade Away 1:46
7. Bye Bye Johnny 2:05
8. You Better Move On 2:38
9. I Wanna Be Your Man 1:44
10. 2120 South Michigan Avenue 2:06
11. If You Need Me 2:03
12. Poison Ivy 2:02

I Love 12 x 5 , but on that proverbial desert island I would take No 2, for Down Home Girl alone. Down the road Apeice goes down almost as well.

As a European, I do have the vinyl (red label) of No 2 and when I was visiting Hong Kong in the mid 80s I purchased the poor quality ABKCO CD version. Luckily ABKCO much later released a SACD version, which sounds great. I frequently enjoy listening to those 1964/1965 albums (incl. Now and 12x5). They were the basis for me to become a timeless Rolling Stones fan. My favorite of No 2 is Down The Road Apiece. A great swinger.



I'm a GHOST living in a ghost town

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georgie48
As a European, I do have the vinyl (red label) of No 2 and when I was visiting Hong Kong in the mid 80s I purchased the poor quality ABKCO CD version. Luckily ABKCO much later released a SACD version, which sounds great. I frequently enjoy listening to those 1964/1965 albums (incl. Now and 12x5). They were the basis for me to become a timeless Rolling Stones fan. My favorite of No 2 is Down The Road Apiece. A great swinger.

I am a bit puzzled.
What do you mean by 'poor quality ABKCO CD version'? ABKCO never issued No.2 on CD by ABKCO. It was issued on London in Japan three times, though, P33L-25015 (1987), P25L-25033 (1989) and POCD-1913 (1995). But those were Japanese only products. I would not call it poor.
What do you mean by 'ABKCO much later released a SACD version'? There was no SACD for No.2 as a physical media. Although it was released in mono as Hi-Res download.
[www.hdtracks.com]
Also, for very short period No.2 in mono was available in form of DSD for purchase in the USA. But there was no physical product.

Rolling Stones No2, a brilliant album.

Probably my favourite early years album.

12x5 runs it close tho.....

Am I alone in finding The Rolling Stones No.2 to be a little inferior to the U.K. debut? In my opinion, the latter is a near-perfect blend of rhythm-and-blues and rock n roll. With no dud tracks. From the lift-off of an opener (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66, through to the final, magnificent rendition of Rufus Thomas’ Walking the Dog, it’s a tight and concise set, that few of their contemporaries managed to equal with their debut long-player. The Rolling Stones No.2 doesn’t flow quite as well in comparison. I do wonder what young fans felt about a five-minute long, absolute plodder of an opener, Everybody Needs Somebody to Love. It hardly reels you in as the debut’s opener does, does it? You Can’t Catch Me doesn’t match Carol, and Under the Boardwalk is a misstep. I find Suzie Q to be a tad anticlimactic, also. Then again: the debut doesn’t contain Dow the Road Apiece; in my opinion, Keith’s finest ‘moment’ from this period. I do like The Rolling Stones No. 2 - and it was an absolute monster of a hit -, it’s just, for me, the weaker of the two.

More thoughts and discussions about No 2 in the ALBUM TALK.

No 2 is the record I almost never listened to in my teens...I think I had it on vinyl, but in those days I thought it was boring. After all, I was a young man back in 1983, and was spoiled with fresh music like Undercover...But I just had to have all those strange compilations...Collector´s Only, Around and Around, No stone unturned...

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Big Al
Am I alone in finding The Rolling Stones No.2 to be a little inferior to the U.K. debut?

Yes, and I think this is partly why...

Part one: [www.facebook.com]

Part two: [www.facebook.com]


Aside from I Can't Be Satisfied there are no Brian stand outs which in turn affects the over all clout of a number of recordings which make up the album.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-10-19 17:34 by His Majesty.

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His Majesty

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Big Al
Am I alone in finding The Rolling Stones No.2 to be a little inferior to the U.K. debut?

Yes, and I think this is partly why...

Part one: [www.facebook.com]

Part two: [www.facebook.com]


Aside from I Can't Be Satisfied there are no Brian stand outs which in turn affects the over all clout of a number of recordings which make up the album.

Great finds! One thing I got from the first link was Ambulance ride, $25.

IN 1964!

Good lord I think you could have bought a small car for that price in 1964,

The RS No. 2 Album was also re-released on 2-Dec-2020 as Japanese SHM-CD (UICY-79333) - [www.Universal-Music.co.jp] , [www.Amazon.co.jp] , [www.CDJapan.co.jp] , [www.jpc.de] .

I did find it peculiar that Rolling Stones No.2 was overlooked for the 2002 SACD/DSD remaster releases. After all, ABCKO did decide to release both the DECCA and London editions of Out of Our Heads, Aftermath and Between the Buttons. It was a missed opportunity, in my opinion. I know it's been released more recently digitally and on CD and streaming, but these are relatively lowkey in comparison to 2002.

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Big Al
Am I alone in finding The Rolling Stones No.2 to be a little inferior to the U.K. debut?

No, I agree. No.2 is very good but has its weak points. No. 1 is perfect from start to finish, with no dud tracks as you say. It is also the Stones' biggest success chartwise.

The Rolling Stones beat Some Girls chart-wise?

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DandelionPowderman
The Rolling Stones beat Some Girls chart-wise?

Not globally, of course. Some Girls is their biggest-seller overall, and it certainly is in the U.S.A. I think, however, that Rolling Stones No.2 could be their biggest-selling in the U.K. it did spend an incredible 10 weeks at #1 in early 1965.

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Big Al

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DandelionPowderman
The Rolling Stones beat Some Girls chart-wise?

Not globally, of course. Some Girls is their biggest-seller overall, and it certainly is in the U.S.A. I think, however, that Rolling Stones No.2 could be their biggest-selling in the U.K. it did spend an incredible 10 weeks at #1 in early 1965.

Their debut spend even 12 weeks at #1 in UK . It is also their best selling studio album in their home country (NO 2 being second - they really peaked in popularity there then, so it's downhill ever since.. ). SOME GIRLS sold only about half of its sales there, reaching #2 at best. Interestingly, decades later, when the album market was already suffering terribly, BLUE & LONESOME managed to sell almost the same amount of copies as the big album era hit album SOME GIRLS in UK. The British love the Stones playing the blues! Cool!

- Doxa



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2022-10-20 00:13 by Doxa.

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Blueranger
Well, at least we can now buy it digitally on iTunes

? You really pay extra money for albums that you already own? ... And can easily rip?

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Doxa

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Big Al

Quote
DandelionPowderman
The Rolling Stones beat Some Girls chart-wise?

Not globally, of course. Some Girls is their biggest-seller overall, and it certainly is in the U.S.A. I think, however, that Rolling Stones No.2 could be their biggest-selling in the U.K. it did spend an incredible 10 weeks at #1 in early 1965.

Their debut spend even 12 weeks at #1 in UK . It is also their best selling studio album in their home country (NO 2 being second - they really peaked in popularity there then, so it's downhill ever since.. ). SOME GIRLS sold only about half of its sales there, reaching #2 at best. Interestingly, decades later, when the album market was already suffering terribly, BLUE & LONESOME managed to sell almost the same amount of copies as the big album era hit album SOME GIRLS in UK. The British love the Stones playing the blues! Cool!

- Doxa

That is trez interesting. I had no idea albums like LIB, Sticky, Exile, Some Girls, Tattoo You couldn't outsell their debut album in the UK.

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treaclefingers

Quote
Doxa

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Big Al

Quote
DandelionPowderman
The Rolling Stones beat Some Girls chart-wise?

Not globally, of course. Some Girls is their biggest-seller overall, and it certainly is in the U.S.A. I think, however, that Rolling Stones No.2 could be their biggest-selling in the U.K. it did spend an incredible 10 weeks at #1 in early 1965.

Their debut spend even 12 weeks at #1 in UK . It is also their best selling studio album in their home country (NO 2 being second - they really peaked in popularity there then, so it's downhill ever since.. ). SOME GIRLS sold only about half of its sales there, reaching #2 at best. Interestingly, decades later, when the album market was already suffering terribly, BLUE & LONESOME managed to sell almost the same amount of copies as the big album era hit album SOME GIRLS in UK. The British love the Stones playing the blues! Cool!

- Doxa

That is trez interesting. I had no idea albums like LIB, Sticky, Exile, Some Girls, Tattoo You couldn't outsell their debut album in the UK.

It is interesting, considering that the single and EP formats were the most popular amongst the Stones’ European demographic in the 60’s. LP’s were very expensive. I’ve read elsewhere, they in terms of sheer fandom, 1965 was their peak in the U.K. yes, for five-minutes, they really were bigger than the Beatles! Regarding Some Girls: I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: it was a U.S. phenomenon. I was surprised by its unwavering popularity amongst so many of the American posters on these message boards, as I genuinely didn’t see it as being one of their ‘BIG’ releases. Perhaps not globally, but Americans surely gobbled it up. It was a popular album in the U.K. (#2) and Miss You charted in the same position, but there’s definitely not the same kind of nostalgia for it across the pond amongst that age-group who’d have purchased it in 1978.