Out Of Our Heads (US)[180g Translucent Teal LP]

This one turned out to be a total winner. Flat, quiet (amazingly so on my MR stylus) and dynamic. Bass really stands out but not obtrusively so. Some of my favorite early Stones material too (might be influenced by listening to this record as a teenager). Pretty much perfect and this specific record was not included in the mono color vinyl set so its double worth it. Seems to me ABKCO is hitting it out of the park lately with nice records that are affordable esp if you wait for them to go on sale. Even at list price, it is a piece of quality you are buying with this one. Came well packed in factory mailer, although it was then just put loose into a big box with a bunch of other stuff. Good thing for factory protection being adequate because the big A is really slipping in this regard.

As soon as this album arrived today, I played it through, both sides. I'd forgotten what a fantadtic sound the early Stones had. It's great and sounds just like when I was listening in my teens. The vinyl itself is fine. Has a bit of weight to it as compared with some other recent pressings which felt rather flimsy. It's also a nice dark teal color, not that that has anything at all to do with music! Buy this album and you'll be listening to authentic 60's Rolling Stones.

While this review pertains to the 2023 Abkco vinyl re-issue of U.S. London Record’s “Out of Our Heads”, it also pertains to all of Abkco’s London label Stones’ re-mastered reissues up to “Aftermath”… Abkco has also shrewdly re-released the U.K. Decca counterparts to these albums, so you have your pick; but like the Beatles’ Capital releases, the red London label catalog is how we (of a certain age) here in the U.S. know the Rolling Stones - by these albums, by these track-orders, and in MONO. And while both groups had their original United Kingdom albums sliced up by their American labels, the Stones’ output didn’t get quite as reconfigured as their Liverpool counterparts did. Before commencing, a word about the re-mastering of these records: Impeccable! Clean, crisp and clear. As I’ve said in other reviews, there’s just something about a super-clean mono mix that drills you right in the chest - and these releases don’t disappoint... “Aftermath” is the lone stereo re-issue here, and while a bit quiet, once turned up everything’s great. THE ALBUMS… ENGLAND’S NEWEST HIT MAKERS: The first U.S. release is kinda for completists, but you really ought to have it (Oldham told them right off the bat, “You’ll never get anywhere making albums of blues covers…”, and this record proves he was half right/half wrong). 12X5: Although a “composite” album that U.S. London made out of existing odds and ends, things really pick up steam here… This record contains the original, organ-dominated, echo-laden rendition of “Time Is On My Side”, which I prefer to the single version we so often hear. Notable Cuts: Chuck Berry’s “Around and Around” “Confessin’ the Blues” “Good Times, Bad Times” ROLLING STONES NOW!: This is the weakest of the early 60’s U.S. LP’s - but even the weakest is worth having. Things of note here are the two surprisingly self-assured Jagger/Richards’ compositions “Heart of Stone” and “What a Shame”, plus a bang-up version of Bo Diddley’s “Mona (I Need You Baby)” OUT OF OUR HEADS: IMHO a high point of the first third of their career… Notable Cuts: “Mercy Mercy” (my favorite!) “The Under Assistant West Coast Promo Man” (fantastic harmonica from Jones) DECEMBER’S CHILDREN: Another composite album… Notable Cuts: “Look What You’ve Done” (more amazing harmonica!) AFTERMATH: Like the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds”, “Aftermath” is the Rolling Stone’s response to the Beatles’ “Rubber Soul”, ushering in a higher caliber of writing and production. But it’s also (somewhat) the closing chapter of the first 3rd of their career; Jones would start doing a slow fade, and the band began transitioning into the darker Stones of the late 60’s. I pretty much stop at “Aftermath”. Notable Cuts: “Doncha Bother Me” (great slide guitar & harmonica) “Think” (intriguing; this is - lyrically - their version of “Ticket to Ride”) …and the whole ‘darn second side (which all seems to “fit” together in an airtight manner): “Flight 505” “High and Dry” (they’re stab at country!) “It’s Not Easy” “I Am Waiting” (enigmatic) and the 12 minute, essentially live magnus opus “Going Home” Random Thought 1: Although Jones may not have had a hand in the actual writing of a lot of Jagger/Richards’ compositions, he probably should have been given a writer’s credit for what he brought to the songs production-wise… “Under My Thumb”, “Ruby Tuesday”, “Paint It Black” and many others would not sound the way they do without his input (while we’re on the subject, guiding-hand engineer Dave Hassinger should’ve gotten a lot more credit than he did). Random Thought 2: The Beatles wrote love songs (and boy/girl type stuff)… But Jagger and Richards are writing to a specific kind of lyrical template that they themselves seem to have invented… and that template is this: The Singer approaches us, and through the song’s lyrics, tells us “This is my situation, and here’s what I think about it”, or, just as often, “This is my situation, and here’s what I’m gonna DO about it”. Never is this template more on display than in “Satisfaction”… but it’s in just about ALL the compositions: “Last Time”, “Get Off My Cloud”, “Sittin’ on a Fence”, “Yesterday’s Papers”, “Lady Jane”, and on and on… Now, a love song can certainly be fitted into this template, but this is an incredibly free-ranging format that can accommodate MANY situations and idioms. Random Thought 3: The Rolling Stones were just as influenced by their contemporaries as the Beatles: “When Blue Turns to Grey” and “It’s the Singer, Not the Song” is the Stones trying to be The Byrds… “As Tears Go By” is their version of “Yesterday” (it’s all there: the string quintet, the oboes, the flutes & horns). Random Thought 4: I want to shine a light on “As Tears Go By”. Although its unclear if it was written especially for Marianne Faithfull (I DO like her version better), Jagger and Richards convey an unnerving nakedness of emotion here… Consider: The singer of the song is obviously very sad, but never once do they reveal WHY they’re so sad - It could be an affair of the heart, the loss of a loved one, their situation in general… we just don’t know; what we DO know is that we’ve all sat on the edge of a playground, absentmindedly watching children play and wishing we could be that carefree and untroubled again - and THIS is what makes the song SO universally relatable. I’m probably gonna get some flack here, but I don’t think Lennon and McCartney could have written this. Random Thought 5: Admittedly I’ve mentioned the Beatles quite a bit in this review, but actually, this whole “Beatles/Stones thing” that’s raged on for decades is really kinda apples and oranges… At the end of the day, they’re just two groups who happen to have come from the same country at the same time. That’s about it… CONSENSUS: These albums are SO worth it! Don’t wait!!

Great album by the greatest RnR band ever. Nice , clean sounding vinyl. If only they would pack records properly. Arrived in a box way to big along with a blu ray. No padding or anything. All four corners were bent. Blu ray case was shattered.

Buy it

I love the Rolling Stones This album in mono is As the stones intended . The color is wonderful sound quality is perfect love it.

Cut at Abbey Road by Sean Magee. This is not the same cutting as the mono box. Cover is done decently. Not a lot of dead wax and not cut conservatively. Has punch.

The music says it all. Shows the stones evolution from a great blues cover band to an original rock and roll band. I was worried about the weird color of the vinyl, but it looks almost black so not so bad.