England's Newest Hit Makers [Remaster] by Rolling Stones (The) (CD, Aug-2002, ABKCO Records)

The Rolling Stones debut album isn't flashy, it isn't heavy, but it's cool. I enjoyed hearing this because they show us what influenced them and what they were comfortable playing when they were first formed, which is mainly blues. It's also cool to compare what they did on this album, and the next, and so on and watch how they've grown as a band. A lot of their earlier albums are a lot like this one, covering their blues favorites and mixing in an original or two.

Highlights of the album are Not Fade Away, Route 66 (sound familiar? well if you have a kid and he made you buy Disney's Cars, it's in that movie, just not by the Stones), I Just Want To Make Love To You (sound familiar again? Foghat remade this one), Walking The Dog (Aerosmith remade this one on their debut album, I don't know who originally did this one, I know the Yardbirds did it also), and Chuck Berry's Carol. Actually there are no highlights on this album. No low points either. They're all equally good, I just pointed out some of the most heard of tunes on the album.

Die hard fans will love this album, but I think most casual fans will too (even though a lot of the songs are similar), just because the songs are pretty good and it shows where the Stones came from, and what they were comfortable with at the time. Plus there are songs that have been redone and they're obviously different from the remake. That's always kind of cool to compare.