First let me say that I do not have an SACD player but the remastering is still an improvement over the original disks. The sound is not nearly as muddy. The Rolling Stones Aftermath album ushered in the halcyon days of the band. Gone were the blues and soul covers replaced by all Jagger/Richards originals. The US version of the album contained "Paint It Black" replaced on the UK issue by another hit "Mother's Little Helper" but it omitted three other tracks "Out Of Time", "Take It Or Leave It" and "What To Do" which appeared on the UK version. It is interesting to hear the song selections as they were originally intended. The set contained "Stupid Girl" (one of my favorite underrated Stones songs) and "Under My Thumb" which led to Stones being attacked in the press for taking an anti-women stance. The set also contains the rocking "Flight 505" and "It's Not Easy". These are balanced by the haunting "I Am Waiting". The set is also known for containing the longish "Going Home" (perhaps too long). In addition it contains another hit "Lady Jane" although not one of my favorites. The three added songs are all good especially "Out Of Time" with its sing along hook. This is the album that gave the Stones their reputatations as rock and roll's bad boys and began their reign as the "greatest rock and roll band in the world".

I have few quibbles first the remasters conatain no bonus tracks and no expanded pictures or liner notes. They could have at least added "Paint It Black" as a bonus track to the UK edition.
However, having the album in remastered in its original UK format more than makes up for these drawbacks. The improved sound alone is worth the investment.

This is the original April 15, 1966 UK release, which is different from the mess the record execs made of the later July 2, 1966 American release (which has been perpetuated by the CD releases using the American track list). The original American version replaced Mothers Little Helper with what was at that time a recent hit - Paint It, Black, while cutting Out Of Time, Take It Or Leave It, and What To Do. This SACD release of the original UK version restores the album to its original form as intended by the Stones. In addition, this release includes what is known as version 1 or the long version of Out Of Time, which was never released in the U.S.

Nearly everyone knows this music and now you can enjoy it the way it was meant to be heard. For the music itself, it's hard to improve on the review done by Brian Christie on Aug 29, 2002, but here is some information he did not provide to help you understand the significance of this release.

ABCKO acquired the Stones' catalog when Allen Klein became their manager in the 70s. The resulting legal battles produced releases that the Stones opposed (they took out full page adds asking fans not to buy them), including the controversial Metamorphosis releases (which are now available on CD for the 1st time ever). But the sad fact is that the Stones lost control of their great early material. With these remastered SACD releases, we at last have some idea of what they really sounded like in the studio. I guess if we had these 40 years ago they would have ended up Greatest Rock And Roll Band in the Universe instead of just our tiny little World.

All the tracks were recorded during 2 sessions at RCA Studios in Hollywood.

Dec 3-8, 1965 at RCA Studios in Hollywood
.....Mother's Little Helper
.....Doncha Bother Me (originally titled Don't You Follow Me for the unreleased album Could You Walk On The Water)
.....Goin' Home
.....Take It Or Leave It
.....Think
Mar 6-9, 1966 at RCA Studios in Hollywood
.....Stupid Girl
.....Lady Jane
.....Under My Thumb
.....Flight 505
.....High And Dry
.....Out Of Time (version 1, the long version)
.....It's Not Easy
.....I Am Waiting
.....What To Do

The tracks recorded during these sessions that were not released on the UK version were Sittin' On A Fence, Sad Day, 19th Nervous Breakdown, Ride On Baby, Paint It, Black, Long Long While, and version 2 - the short version - of Out Of Time. In addition there were 3 tracks that have still never been released: Looking Tired, Aftermath, and Tracks Of My Tears.

This information comes from "It's Only Rock And Roll: The Ultimate Guide To The Rolling Stones" by Karnbach and Bernson and from my own collection.

On April 15, 1966, Decca Records in England issued The Rolling Stones' fourth UK album - AFTERMATH. Featuring 14 tracks - for the first time all composed by Mick Jagger & Keith Richard, it was a # 1 smash and showed that The Stones were up to the challenge of The Beatles and RUBBER SOUL. What ultimately made it out in America that June was a very different version of this OFFICIAL and AUTHORITATIVE album. "Paint It Black" - just a single in the UK, was shoved on in the place of "Mother's Little Helper" and then the US album was whittled down to a mere 11 tracks. DO NOT buy the US version - the music is great, of course, but it is not how The Rolling Stones and producer Andrew Loog Oldham intended it to be. THIS, finally, is the real article. For the time (1966), at 53 minutes, AFTERMATH was a very long album. The first half of it is like a greatest hits album ("Mother's Little Helper", "Stupid Girl", "Lady Jane", "Under My Thumb" and the outstanding 11-minute blues work-out "Goin' Home". Brian Jones, picking up on George Harrison's use of the sitar, began exploring exotic instruments and AFTERMATH benefited enormously from them. Sitars, marimbas and dulcimers abound here and Mick & Keith made a real breakthrough songwriting-wise. "Out Of Time" (in the second half) is also a compositional highlight, though it is a bit long. However the last half does have its somewhat average moments with mediocre tracks like "Take It Or Leave It", though they are still pleasant songs. But the majority of the winners are to be found in the first half of AFTERMATH and those tracks are the ones which has secured the album's enduring legacy. Even with the odd moment of weakness, the overall effect of the album is so strong that a 5 star rating is justified. Not THE best Rolling Stones album, but a classic and their best THUS far. As songwriters, Mick & Keith never looked back after AFTERMATH.

Like my friends, I really like the very long, eleven minutes long, "Goin Home." I actually have this song coming right after "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" by Bob Dylan, another eleven minute song, burning onto a CD that I play often when I have a long drive. Just two songs and twenty two minutes have flown by, I feel like I arrived in no time at all, almost like I got there before I left. Somehow I just seem to float along with these two songs, Mick's voice works so well with Mr. Dylan's.

Then there is the rocking and a bit strange "It's Not Easy," which tells us that it's not easy to live on your own, how true. "Lady Jane" is a bit strange, but I like it a lot. "Think," well all I can say about that song is "Wow!" "High and Dry" has such great guitar work on it, kind of reminds me of the guitar work on Bob Dylan's "Desolation Row." Maybe that harmonica is in that song on purpose. And I'd be remiss if I didn't say how much I loved "I Am Waiting" and "Goin" Home." How can anyone not love those songs." Like every record by this band, the Greatest Group on Earth, this record is a keeper.

Aftermath represents the first time Jagger/Richards wrote a whole album worth of songs on their own, and the result is a classic. Their inexperience still shows on a few of the lesser tracks, but those results are still interesting. And where they hit their stride the results are phenomenal.

Unfortunately, in the original US release 2 classic tracks on the British version of Aftermath (Mother's Little Helper & Out of Time), plus 2 lesser tracks (What To Do & Take It Or Leave It) were left off. Instead, one classic track (Paint It Black) was added. As great a song as Paint It Black is, it cannot make up for the losses. For years, the only version of Aftermath avaiable on CD was this butchered US version. But now - finally - the UK version is avaiable as well.

So what do we have? Under My Thumb, Out of Time and Stupid Girl show the Stones at their misogynistic best. Lady Jane and I Am Waiting are excellent examples of the Stones' softer side. Mother's Little Helper well deserves its classic status. Flight 505, Dotcha Bother Me and What To Do are solid, as is Goin' Home before it starts goin' on for about 5 minutes too long.

Of course, an ideal solution to the US/UK version issues would have been to merge the two - release the UK version with Paint It Black (which after all was recorded in the same sessions) as a bonus track. A similar solution would have been ideal for the same situation regarding Between the Buttons. But, still, this a long overdue release, a great album, and the Stones' best before Beggar's Banquet.