When I first read the song list for this 2 disc set, I thought, great idea and excellent song selection! One cd of hits and the other of lesser played stuff - something for everybody, right? Wrong. Unfortunately, the boys have let us down. Most, if not all of the tracks here have been abruptly edited and/or shortened. And for no good reason. They could have actually fit more songs on to this collection, even with all of the editing. Brown Sugar and It's Only Rock&Roll have obviously been tampered with and the guitar solo is missing completely from Worried About You. Missing verses and badly mixed guitars plague this could-have-been classic. Not recommended.

Although this set contains too many of the same old songs, the Stones play them quite well. However, botched editing marred what could have been a memorable live album. "Rocks Off" is a prime example: Jagger badly muffs the lyrics, and the problem is compounded by the amateurish editing. It seems that it would have been better to have eliminated this cut, if a better version could not be found. Also, do we really need Sheryl Crow on "Honky Tonk Women"? I don't buy Stones albums to hear Sheryl Crow. Further, why is Keith Richards singing "The Nearness of You"? This song just doesn't fit in a Stones set. Aside from the less-than-careful song selection and dreadful editing, there are a few worthy moments here; unfortunately, there just aren't enough of them to justify buying this album. There are bootlegs which are far superior to this.

This is a pretty good live album. I've seen some people complain about the sound, but it's not that bad, it's just not truly great, and that goes for the album itself as well I suppose.

If you don't own any live Stones, you won't mind the fact that songs like "Start Me Up", "Street Fighting Man", "Honky Tonk Women" and "Satisfaction" have been available live for a long time and on several different albums. And if you do, well, then you're probably considering to buy this album because of disc two, which features a dozen rarely heard songs which have never appeared live before.

Now, I don't know why these rarities have to be compiled on a disc of their own...I would have preferred them to be mixed in with the old warhorses on disc one. But that's the way things are, and it's nice to have them.
Disc one is highlighted by powerful renditions of "Paint It Black" and "Street Fighting Man", and disc two features a really good, bluesy "Monkey Man" and a wonderful take on the classic blues "Rock Me Baby". "Brown Sugar" is alright, too, and I'm sure it was very provocative and exciting thirty years ago when Jagger first changed the line "like a young girl should" into "like a young man should". I'm kinda tired of it by now, though.

Sir Michael Jagger is actually the main reason why I've given this album only three stars. His vocals are frequently sloppy and unfocused, and while I expect that from Keith Richards, Jagger used to be a better singer than this. Perhaps he still is, but "Live Licks" is not his finest hour. He is not terrible, but he is also very rarely great, and I hate that annoying faux-country slur of his.

Still, it's good to hear the 60s soul cover "That's How Strong My Love Is" and the driving (if slightly ragged) "Rocks Off". And of course one of my personal "cult" favorites, Keith Richards' swinging reggae-number "You Don't Have To Mean It".
The band is really good, too, as tight as a 13-man combo can be. "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out" and "Love You Live" remain the best live Stones albums in my book, but dedicated fans should find something to like here as well. One hour and fifty minutes of music on a double live album from a 43-year-old band is a bit stingy, though...they could've found room for another ten songs.

"Live Licks" is a decent album, but if you really want the taste of the Stones' "Licks" tour, go for the DVD set "Four Flicks". Yeah, it's kinda expensive, but it is so much better...and it has Keith Richards' wonderful performance of "Slipping Away" from London's Twickenham Stadium, one of the highlights of the entire tour.

One listen to "Live Licks" will instantly wipe away any memory of "Get Yer Ya - Ya's Out", "Love You Live", "Flashpoint" and "Stripped - and not in a good way. "Live Licks" is a blah document of easily the Stones' best tour in history.

This two disc set contains of 23 tracks. Given the wealth of material performed on this tour (and the amount of room left on both discs), this album could have included 45 tracks. But we're stuck with these forgettable moments of sound.

Disc one has the band basically sleepwalking their way through big hits like "Brown Sugar" and "Start Me Up". Honestly, there are times on this record where their performances recall the drugged out 1980 and 1981 tours, arguably their worst. Keith is still the guitar wizard he is known to be, but he wastes his talents here. The rest of the band isn't much better, either. Mick stumbles through half the songs. The only salvagable performances on the record are "Street Fighting Man" and "Happy".

Disc two is little better. However, I will admit that the producers made excellent choices by including "When The Whip Comes Down" and "Can't You Hear Me Knocking". However, the rest of this disc averages about the same as the first disc.

This is really a sad representation. It doesn't feel like a real concert. The worst thing is that neither "Sympathy For The Devil" or "Jumpin' Jack Flash" - easily the two most exciting songs in any Stones concert - are included. Also, "Tumblin' Dice", "Miss You" and "You Got Me Rocking", three big hits and concert highlights, are absent, as well as the many little known gems revived during the tour - "Star Star", "Let It Bleed", "Bitch", "Live With Me" and especially "Midnight Rambler" should have all been included. In my opinion, what they should have done was release a concert of the January 18th, 2003 concert at Madison Square Garden that was on HBO - I was there - on cd. That would have made for a great live album. That show was one of their best ever.

This is a dirty shame. Hopefully, their next live album will be better.

While I agree with some of the criticim regarding the editing of this double disk, the sound is excellent and the performances are very solid. This CD is very representative of the Stones live sound and is a good listen. I've been a Stones fan all my life, I have every one of their albums, and I'm happy to add this CD to my collection. The first disk covers a lot of ground that's already been covered on other Stones live disks but the second disk especially will make a nice addition to any Stones/music collection.