(yes, this is speculation -- reasoned speculation)

"Fully Finished Studio Outtakes" kicks off the 60th anniversary celebrations

Vols 1-2-3 is a wonderful gift from the Stones to their hardcore fans

Well-connected sources say there will be two more such gifts,
Vols 4-5-6 and vols 7-8-9

If you were the cynical sort, you could call these albums bribes to
keep the hardcore fans onside during the inevitable "60 greatest songs"
hype coming this Christmas.

So yes, I think that the decision has been made that an official new
studio album will NOT be part of what is planned for the 60th.

And I think it is a fair exchange. Nine albums of raw Stones that we
all can enjoy instead of one album of polished Stones that many if
not most of us would have been largely indifferent to. 

Brilliant way to handle this situation.

I'm thinking: keep the original thread for the music, and use this one for
the things that seem a bit strange...

1) I had been googling "fully finished studio outtakes" and the hits had been steadily growing,
but now, although google says 4770 results, it actually only gives 34 results, ending on page 4

2) an ebay listing sold 102 copies of the digipack (out of a total run supposedly of 500),
but if you search the item number, it now shows no such item, even under "sold" listings.
(i'm not sure how i found it -- it was probably one of the now-purged google results)

https://eixk3lpgincvrghp4mynr2lxb4-jj2cvlaia66be-www-ebay-ca.translate.goog/itm/...

so it does qualify as a bit strange when both google and ebay are disappearing this thing...

almost but not quite shoving it down the memory hole

so perhaps it really is contraband?

PS I see that the "Mayflower" label has issued quite a few Stones boots over the years

So is this just a boot of a boot? Or is something else going on?

Without any proof, but knowing Jagger, I've always thought that at least some
Stones boots were surreptitiously part of the Stones business model. But these new
"finished outtakes" might be taking this concept to a whole new level

2) the swedish seller (previously sold 102) is getting more
and selling them now.
says you can buy now but not pay until he has them ready to ship.
free international shippng

3) i suppose this bit of circumstantial evidence should be noted:

bv/iorr is allowing substantial discussion of buying and sharing this item
and pinning it on his main forum, not just restricting it to his trader pages.
would he do that if he didnt have some kind of go-ahead from the stones org?

Ya know what would be hilarious?

If the orig "made in japan" ones turn out to be mp3-derived, while these
new more-expensive "made in europe" ones are revealed to be the true flacs

i'm not predicting that, i'm just saying thats the kind of joke mick and
keith love to pull on us

"they who have ears, let them hear" Matthew 13:43

"there's lots of things in the vault we're working on
that are going to come out" mick jagger sep 2020

"new music on the horizon" keith richards feb 2021


1) I promise this is the last time I push this passion project
of mine. Sadly, your only compensation for being patient with me
is a couple of download links at the end.

2) At the very least, we can agree that the "finished outtakes"
can be divided into "substantially new" and "not".

3) A further breakdown could be "artifacts" versus "fresh tracks".
Primary amongst the "artifacts" is of course the bowie demo of "iorr".
Nobody can argue against its historical importance. But it is
not "fresh" in the sense i'm using the word. It hasn't been
updated or worked on.

4) Other reasons for non-inclusion of various "outtakes"
include "too mick", "too keith","too been-there-done-that",
or simply because the track does not have enough of the
ragged private-stash vibe that characterizes this collection.

5) Generally speaking, the bonus outtakes on the deluxe albums
have mostly been Mick Jagger products, where he's completed the
lyrics and re-done the vocals in an approximation of his vocal
style at the time of the original session. I appreciate his efforts,
but I don't think the results heretofore have been particularly great.
The deluxe bonus tracks generally sound like what they are. Concoctions.
Imitations.

6) So the first thing i noticed after my first few listens of
"fully finished outtakes" was how many tracks sounded not at all
like concoctions. Mostly because of the very different way Jagger's
vocals and lyrics were handled.

7) But neither did these new tracks sound "raw". Not talking just
about the sound quality. Rather it was clear SOMEBODY had recently
put in a LOT of post-production work on the music.

8) Specifically (in my opinion) four SOMEBODIES, working in two
teams: Keith and Don Was, Mick and Matt Clifford, with Don and
Matt handling the negotiations between the teams. A) Keith got
the time to layer and color with his guitars, to his heart's
content. That's the biggest reason these "Love" tracks have
so much classic-Stones depth. B) Another reason is that Don has
augmented the bass and Matt the keyboards on many of the tracks.
C) And Mick has (happily) agreed that his vocals, whether original
or new, be buried somewhat, that is, be used more as an instrument
than as a hook.

9) Another important division that has persisted throughout the
Stones career is "classic blues rock/big hits/in your face numbers"
versus "groove tracks/mood pieces". The "blues rock" and "big hits"
categories are obvious. But don't forget the "in your face" tracks have
also been key to their huge fame. Stuff like "star fucker",
"doom and gloom", "under my thumb", "sister morphine" etc,
songs where the theme captures a great deal of the attention.

However, for a significant fraction of hardcore fans, including me,
the groove tracks and mood pieces are also very important: lyrics
minimal or buried, choruses and bridges minimal. Stuff like "turd
on the run", "heaven", "pretty beat up", "parachute woman",
"just wanna see his face" etc...

8) So that's my contention basically, that out of the 50 tracks
we were gifted, there are about 28 that more or less meet these
"fresh" criteria, and more or less flow into each other as easily
as, for example, the very dissimilar tracks of "sticky fingers" do.
Or perhaps a better parallel would be "Tattoo you" with its various
recording dates (although the average track on these "Love" albums
is far superior to the average track on "Tattoo"). Also: amazingly
these new tracks flow without me at all changing the playing order.
That's because none of the 28 are "in your face" tracks needing to
be placed and spaced carefully.

9) in summary, these two "Love" compilations are strictly a musical
journey for we, the few, the proud, the Stones cognizati.

I hear these two volumes as a validictory statement by the band,
consisting of what they most like about themselves. Not the fame, not
the money, not the controversy, not even the hit songs. But rather
the MUSIC, both spontaneous and crafted. Commerce for once be damned.

And that's why the Stones needed to make these tracks free. Today's market
just would never fucking understand.

(download links good for 7 days)