Originally Posted by luxinterior
I quite obviously don't agree with your assessment of the 40 Licks package, but I do have to say that their greatest hits don't do them justice. Most people have heard every song about 10 billion times, and not by choice. I don't consider it trash, I just think it's overplayed, which may be just as bad as trash. So how could it possibly be enjoyable for you to sit down and listen to 40 Licks? You're just asking to be disappointed, and you know it.
I mean every popular rock band that has been around long enough has had their same big hits repackaged in various forms. I really don't know why people gravitate toward these. They're boring. Basically I think Bruce McCulloch was right when he said, "Greatest hits albums are for housewives and little girls."
Concerning the Rolling Stones in particular, I also don't understand how their longevity can irritate so many people to such a great degree. When's the last time anyone has been forced to listen to any of their output from the past 20 years or so? Or attend an overpriced concert? Yet this is what people choose to complain about--usually people who don't even like the band, period, so go figure. Is it the fans? I can sort of understand that. They're all a bunch of raging alcoholics.
It doesn't bother me when people say they don't like the Rolling Stones, given that they've actually listened to the band beyond 40 Licks. I mean it's no substitute for Beggar's Banquet or Exile, is all I'm saying. And if you don't like either of those records or any of the others, that's fine, at least you have something to base your opinion on. An opinion I don't agree with, I might add, but at least one that is informed. I think my overall point is that I consider myself to be a fan of theirs, however none of my most favorite songs can be found on 40 Licks. It's just been exhausted, kind of like the talk of the albums from Beggar's through Exile has been exhausted. Still, I don't think that the little songs that I like have ever really gotten their due, even though a lot of them are on Exile, and people can't seem to shut up about Exile. Those songs are why I like them. You can have 40 Licks for all I care.
I know it sounds silly to defend them, of all bands, because they are rich and have everything they could ever want, but they also seem to attract so many opinions (good and bad) from people who really don't know what they're talking about.
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