AFTERMATH

The Rolling Stones: Mick Jagger (vocals, percussion); Keith Richards (vocals, guitar); Brian Jones (guitar, dulcimer, sitar, marimba, bells); Bill Wyman (marimba, bass, bells); Charlie Watts (marimba, drums, percussion). Additional personnel: Jack Nitzsche, Ian Stewart (piano, organ, harpsichord). Recorded at RCA Studios, Hollywood, California. Includes liner notes by Dave Hassinger. The Rolling Stones' first set of all-original material--a full two years after the Beatles had passed that milestone with A HARD DAY'S NIGHT--1966's AFTERMATH is arguably the Stones' first truly great album, as opposed to a selection of killer singles padded out with some forgettable filler. Not that the singles aren't killers; "Paint It Black" and "Under My Thumb" are two of the Stones' most inventive chart successes, their sitar and marimba touches showing that at least through 1966, the Stones were just as likely as the Beatles, Kinks or Who to release a single that sounded like nothing else on the radio. Of the album tracks, "Lady Jane" and "Stupid Girl" are standouts, the former another of the boys' Elizabethan oddities and the latter a stomping, snotty garage rocker. Even better, though, are formal experiments like "I Am Waiting," a spooky acoustic tune that sounds like the boys had been listening to George Harrison's Indian excursions. Several of the more blues-based tracks press the five-minute barrier, culminating in the nearly 12-minute blues-rock rave-up "Goin' Home," one of the few extended jams that's actually worth the extra minutes.