Artist:     The Rolling Stones

Album:     Honk CD/Vinyl/DeLuxe option

Label:     Universal/Polydor Records

Release Date:     4.15.2019

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Honk is yet another of those “Best of” releases from one of the world’s most loved outfits. While many will already have much of the material included here in other formats, whether original vinyl or CD, what genuinely lifts this collection out of the ordinary is the time period covered: a full half century. If that’s not a remarkable achievement, then it’s hard to imagine what else is in the hard-nosed music business.

The deluxe package features a track from each album delivered by the Stones between 1971 and 2016. With three discs, we have two with 18 tracks from their huge back catalog, together with a third disc featuring ten live performances from recent gigs, ranging from Cardiff to London and Paris featuring guest artists, a format the Stones are known to favor. Whether this adds anything to the band or the discs is a moot point; at times the raw quality of a Stones’ performance is lost in a watered-down or overblown feel and sound.

Surprisingly, there are a few omissions from the selection here, which is otherwise enjoyable and even includes a few tracks from the bands widely-lauded 2016 Grammy-winning release Blue & Lonesome. As a “Best of” offering, Honk is pretty impressive, but what about a bit more from Exile on Main Street (other than “Happy”) to represent a particularly wild and inventive era in the band’s development.

Overall, Honk is a worthy addition to the living legacy that the Rolling Stones represent. Maybe best to close with Mister Jagger’s own thinking: I know it’s only rock ’n’ roll, but I like it.

—Iain Patience