The Rolling Stones Through the Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) (UK)

The Rolling Stones: Mick Jagger (vocals); Keith Richards (guitar, background vocals); Brian Jones (guitar, various instruments); Bill Wyman (bass); Charlie Watts (drums).
Producers: The Rolling Stones, Andrew Loog Oldham, Jimmy Miller.
Recorded between March 1966 and May 1969 at Olympic Studios, London, England and RCA Studios, Hollywood, California.
THROUGH THE PAST, DARKLY is a 1969 compilation that documents the transitional period during which the Stones--with Brian Jones still on hand-- went from being a great R&B band to the world's greatest rock & roll band. These were the songs that not only defined Mick and Keith's reputation as songwriters, but set much of the musical tone for the rest of the '60s rock world. "Paint it Black" is a dark, Eastern-tinged song fully as influential as any of the Beatles' similar efforts. Though somewhat atypical, "Dandelion" and "She's a Rainbow" are baroque-pop classics on par with anything from PET SOUNDS. And of course, "Jumping Jack Flash," "Honky Tonk Woman," and "Street Fighting Man," with their locomotive rhythms and updated Chuck Berry riffs, were the standard against which all straight-up rock & roll would be measured well into the next century.

• Format: Vinyl