By the simple expedient of butchering the Stones' UK albums, the band's American record company managed to churn out about twice as many LPs as the Brits did. Needless to say, quality control was not concern number one. Flowers collects 12 tracks without rhyme or reason; half of these had already appeared on the US versions of Between The Buttons and Aftermath, and as for the other half ... My Girl may be the single worst thing the band ever recorded; Jagger sounds like he was reading the financial pages of The Times when he did the vocal. As a monument to record company greed and mismanagement, Flowers is of interest; otherwise avoid unless you really, really need everything the band ever did.

It is well known that London records needed some "product" for the shelves in 1967 while the Stones were busy sorting out their relationship with the police. This is somewhat of a "pot luck" album, containing miscellaneous singles and unreleased chestnuts (at least in the US). Skipping over the obvious hits (Ruby Tuesday, Let's spend the night.., etc.), there are some great tunes in this collection; Sitting on a fence, which features dual acoustic guitars (way before "unplugged" was conceived by MTV)and Mick crooning about every single male's dilemma (this song must still be relevant to him), Backstreet Girl; beautiful waltz/melody wrapped in acoustic guitar and accordion (way before John Mellencamp made it hip). Its subject matter is a little over the top. Even the strange but interesting, Please go home, which sounds as if the Stones (in a Bo Diddely mood that day) were making it up as they went along, sort of experimenting in the studio. I think Bill Wyman stayed home that day. Take it or leave it, a hit for the Searchers in the UK, Ride on baby, Out of time and My Girl are also nice honest pop oddities. I find myself listening to this CD more than I'm willing to admit. Maybe not a desert island disc, but a "good buy". How about the CD cover - understated psychedelic.

Wow.........some of the more negative reviews are harsh. 'WEEDS' is what one reviewer called 'Flowers'. First, I got to say that I'm a huge Stones fan. 'Exile' and 'Sticky Fingers' are my favorites, but it was 'Flowers', 'Between The Buttons' and 'Through The Past Darkly' that turned me on to the Stones when I was about 13 years old. I didn't know much about them before these records. What I do remember though, is how these records affected me. I would listen to 'Flowers' every morning before going to school and hum every song until I got home and then I'd put it back on the turntable again. 'Have You Seen Your Mother Baby....' is a GREAT single (although legend has it that a much better mix of the tune exists somewhere). 'Ride On Baby' is my favorite. 'Out of Time' is classic 1966 pop. 'Backstreet Girl' is very English. These songs are filled with Brian Jones colors.

This record led me to Stones. Like 'Yellow Submarine' led me to The Beatles. Buy it for your kids who are to young for 'Sister Morphine'.

Flowers is good album. It may feature songs that appear elsewhere, but it is a pivotal album in the Stones catalog. It marks an important turning point in the band, representing the band's original sound and introducing sounds that would be hallmarks of future releases.

Excellent overall, and the last two songs, "Ride On Baby" and "Sitting on a Fence", are two of the best songs the Stones ever recorded. They are much overlooked gems.