Consumer Guide Album

The Rolling Stones: Metamorphosis [Abkco, 1975]
Flowers it ain't, but Jamming With Edward it ain't either. The second side holds up better than the first, the sound and musicianship are rough and thin throughout, and most of the arrangements were obviously given up in the middle (remember One Plus One?), sometimes because the songs were worth giving up on. But Bill Wyman's "Downtown Suzie" and Oldham-Richards's "I'd Much Rather Be With the Boys," to choose two previously unheard for all too obvious reasons, rank with all but the greatest Stones originals, and at its worst this still represents the world's greatest rock and roll band during the period when they were earning the title. B+