This is very much a Stones collectors album. Although it has few big hits, it completes the bulk of their well known early catalog for collectors. None of the songs on More Hot Rocks appear on the first Hot Rocks 1964-1971 album. In Addition, there are no songs on the first set of compilation albums [Big Hits (High Tide & Green Grass) and Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2)] that are not included on the second set of compilation albums (Hot Rocks and More Hot Rocks).

This is the version of More Hot Rocks (Big Hits And Fazed Cookies) that was originally released in the U.S. on Dec 1, 1972 but was withheld from the UK until 1990 due to a lawsuit. The early Stones London Records catalog (which was their old American record company) issued both Hot Rocks and More Hot Rocks during 1972 while at the same time the British company (Decca) released a series of compilation albums in the UK (Gimme Shelter, Milestones, Rock `n' Rolling Stones, and No Stone Unturned). None of the UK albums were released on CD. The Stones former manager Allen Klein's company ABCKO acquired the Stones' catalog after Klein became their manager in 1965. 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.

The album includes 6 songs that had not appeared on an American album before (Come On, Bye Bye Johnny, I Can't Be Satisfied, Long Long While, Money, What To Do, and Poision Ivy. In addition a remix of Child Of The Moon (the B side of Jumpin' Jack Flash) was released for the first time on any album.

This US version collects the well known songs from their singles, albums, and the songs not previously released in the US or only as single B sides from 1964-1967. The songs are not on the album in the order they were released in the U.S. Those that were only released as album cuts are noted. Those that had not previously been released are marked with #.
#6-7-63 Come On (UK single - their 1st release)
#1-10-64 Money (from the UK EP The Rolling Stones)
#1-10-64 Poison Ivy (from the UK EP The Rolling Stones)
#1-10-64 Bye Bye Johnny (from the UK EP The Rolling Stones)
3-6-64 Not Fade Away (also on Big Hits (High Tide & Green Grass)))
6-12-64 Tell Me (also on Big Hits (High Tide & Green Grass))
7-24-64 It's All Over Now (also on Big Hits (High Tide & Green Grass))
7-24-64 Good Times, Bad Times (B side of It's All Over Now) (also on Big Hits (High Tide & Green Grass))
#1-15-65 I Can't Be Satisfied (from the UK album Rolling Stones No. 2)
3-12-65 The Last Time (also on Big Hits (High Tide & Green Grass)
7-14-65 Sittin' On A Fence (from the album Flowers)
7-24-65 I'm Free (B side of Get Off Of My Cloud)
#5-13-66 Long Long While (from the UK B side of Paint It, Black)
7-1-66 Lady Jane (from the album Aftermath)
7-1-66 What To Do (from the album Aftermath)
9-23-66 Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow? (also on Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2))
12-9-66 Fortune Teller (from the album Got Live If You Want It! - with live overdub removed)
7-14-67 Out Of Time (from the album Flowers)
8-18-67 Dandelion (also on Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2))
8-18-67 We Love You (single released as A side, B side was Dandelion)
12-22-67 She's A Rainbow (also on Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2))
12-22-67 2000 Light Years From Home (B side of She's A Rainbow) (also on Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2))
5-24-68 Child Of The Moon (B side of Jumpin' Jack Flash)
8-30-68 No Expectations (B side of Street Fighting Man)
12-5-69 Let It Bleed (from the album Let It Bleed)

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.

"More Hot Rocks" contains many of the hits not contained on the first 2 cd set but also includes somes rare material and is newly remastered with 3 bonus tracks. Even if you have the first volume or are planning on picking up the new "Forty Licks" compilation this is still a necessary purchase. The set contains 5 tracks which also appear on the first disk of "Forty Licks". However, there are still many great and interesting cuts which do not appear on that set which appear here. Among these are the underrated "I'm Free" and favorites like "Dandelion" and "2000 Light Years From Home". The set also contains rarities such as "Out Of Time", "Child Of The Moon", and great covers like "Poison Ivy", "Fortune Teller", "Bye Bye Johnny" and the Muddy Water's classic "I Can't Be Satisfied" with some great slide guitar by Brian Jones. It also contains their first single a cover of Chuck Berry's "Come On". The newly remastered set also contains 3 bonus tracks, alternate takes of "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love", "Poison Ivy" and the non audience overdubbed version of "I've Been Loving You Too Long" which originally appeared in a fake live version on the "Got Live If You Want It" lp. This set ranges from blues and r&b covers from the early days, through more folkish numbers like "Sittin' On A Fence" to the psychedelia of "2000 Light Years From Home" and "She's A Rainbow". While the new remastering is great and the 3 bonus tracks are welcome the set is still somewhat pricey considering you only get about 90 minutes worth of (great) music (disk one is only about 38 minutes). A number of cuts could have been added such as the singles "Little Red Rooster" "I Wanna Be Your Man" and "You Better Move On" from the British version of "Through The Past Darkly". Great album tracks like the concert favorites "Stray Cat Blues" and "Live With Me" are absent as well as great cuts like the covers "Down The Road Apiece" "Carol" "Mona" and "Around And Around". Personal favorites like "The Spider And The Fly", "Stupid Girl" and "Connection" could also have been added. Being a fanatic I tend to be somewhat picky about what is included. The set does provide a number of classic cuts from the "Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World" not included on the first volume or "Forty Licks" and enough rare cuts not available elsewhere to make this an essential purchase!

Hot Rocks Volume Two is billed as more of the band's greatest hitsm, but it does not really live up to that stature because most of it is made up of minor hits, b-sides, and album tracks. But it is still worth a listen.

Disc 1 kicks off with the eastermn acoustic strums of Tell Me
( You're Coming Back ), their first smash hit in America. This is a very tender love song. Next up is the only tune that can be considered an popular and endearing Stones classic featured on this album. The Last Time, with its familliar blues riff and stinging Mick vocal, should've been included on Hot Rocls Volume One, which features all the classics. I guess It's All Over Now
is also considered a classic by some people, but it's not a famous one. Not Fade Away, that too is considered a classic, mainly because it was their first American single. Good Times, Bad Times and I'm Free are b-sides, and Out Of Time is an album track. I kinda like it, but the version on Metamorphosis is better. Lady Jane is a b-side, and it's the most pretty, most romantic love song they ever recorded. Featuring a lovely harpsichord and Mick's best recorded vocal. Sittin' On A Fence is a Bob Dylan-style folk tune. Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby is basically their first nervous breakdown. Closing out the album are Dandelion and We Love You, their two failed physcadellic effort. Most peoplehate these tunes, but I like both, especially the cheery Dandelion.

Disc 2 kicks off with the physcadellic mistrelsy of She's A Rainbow, which now includes some muffled screaming before Nicky Hopkins' signature piano tickiling. Next up is the terrifying space odyssey 2000 Light Years From Home. Kicking with a chilling sounds of Brian's mellotron and some stinging piano work. It ends with the morbid sounds of Brian's mellotron and strings. Child Of The Moon is a b-side, and it's Mick's gentle rocker about Marianne Faithfull. Next up is the brilliant No Expectations, featuring Brian's simmering bottleneck slide guitar.Brian weaves his magic one last time. Let It Bleed is an album track from the 1969 album of the same name, featuring Stu's marvelous barellhouse piano pounding. What To Do is another album track. The last few tracks. Their first single, Come On, is great, while Bye Bye Johnny sounds much better. I Can't Be Satisfied features the amazing slide guitar work of Brian. Closing the album is the magnificent soul ballad, Long Long While. Mick gives one of his most soulful vocals ever, sounding like Otis Redding.

This album is definitely amazing.

What a disorganized collection. At first you can follow the Stones' progression in time, then you get a dash of cold water in the form of mostly half-baked covers. I guess no two people will agree on their favorites here, but here goes my opinion anyway.

"Tell Me" ranks as rank: sloppy, unoriginal and close to unlistenable. "Not Fade Away" doesn't add anything to the Buddy Holly version. Suddenly, we get the Jagger-Richards original "The Last Time," which may have been the first song they wrote together (others claim that was "As Tears Go By"). This is remarkable as an early effort, and as a contrast to the first two songs here. The energy jumps upwards again in "It's All Over Now." How about that marathon solo? You can feel the band having a whale of a session.

Then we get two more sluggish, disposable tunes in "Good Times" and "I'm Free" before entering the red-hot zone of eight varied and beautiful tracks -- minus "We Love You," which is worth a couple novelty listens, but can't compare with its company here. Why was this the single, and "Dandelion" the flipside? "Dandelion" is one of my all-time favorite Stones tunes, just in terms of sound, and because it's fun to play on guitar. Of course it's not typical Stones, and they haven't produced anything like it since '67, but I think it's unjustly overlooked.

"Lady Jane," "Out of Time" and "What to Do" (stuck on Disc Two here, who knows why?) can all be found on the album "Aftermath," which is worth having on its own. I do appreciate "Sittin' on a Fence" here, saving the trouble of locating the pastiche "Flowers" album for a romping acoustic ballad. It's another blast to play yourself. "Have You Seen Your Mother" is as gloriously wasted as rock gets, though I wonder what Keith meant when he said the wrong mix was released. What are we missing?

The streak of greatness sputters a little with "Child of the Moon." Since it's hard to find elsewhere, maybe it would be best on a "Metamorphosis"-type collection of oddities. We get another couple of album tracks, then a descent into early, primitive blues stylings, which you either love, hate, or confront with indifference. "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" is a bonus track for the CD, and it's interminable. But then you get gems like "Bye Bye Johnny" and "I Can't Be Satisfied," so the feeling emerges again of total anarchy in quality. Sadly, the final track is a letdown: "Long Long While." If the Stones had always sounded this dreary, they'd never have made it out of seedy clubs.

As with Hot Rocks 1, I think the music would have fit onto one CD alone -- maybe by eliminating the more regrettable tracks here. Because of the sheer brilliance of the best songs here, I think it's worth between 2 and 3 stars. Three, just because some listeners will find the rarer songs attractive.

When I first heard that ABKCO was re-issuing the Decca/London albums of the sixties, I was a bit peeved that there would be no bonus tracks, no frills, just straight album versions. I decided to buy just the discs I didn't have, which included the original Hot Rocks and the live albums. Upon checking out Hot Rocks II, I found that it in fact included some bonus tracks. One in particular, the classic Otis Redding standard, I've Been Loving You Too Long, was among them. Anxious to hear this without the audience clutter on "Got Live", I was pleasantly surprised that it was in glorious stereo! E.P. version of Poison Ivy is on disc for the first time and the "harmonica" version of Fortune Teller never sounded so stellar! Hey, I'm sold--I will eventually replace the whole series! Allen Klein, I take it back.