Forty Licks is the first career spanning collection from the Stones. The first disc covers their 60's material and the second disc covers some of their 70's, 80's and 90's work. I would recommend this collection if you are just starting to get into the Stones. Otherwise, the double disc Hot Rocks gives an excellent collection of their 60's, early 70's material and the Jump Back: 1971-1993 album is a superb collection of that era. Also beware, some of the songs have been edited and cut down!!! 40 licks is missing such classics as "Midnight Rambler", "Hand of Fate" and "Stray Cat Blues". None of the new songs are anything amazing but "Don't Stop" is a great rocker. Overall, 40 Licks is a decent collection but has major flaws. Buy Hot Rocks and Jump Back.

The Hot Rocks double cd, an excellent Best of their first decade, has been available on CD, and other hits collections are out there too, but this is the first time that the Stones have compiled hits from their entire career, spanning the years 1963-2002.

The essentials are here from the Sixties: "Satisfaction", "Gimme Shelter", "Jumpin' Jack Flash", "Let's Spend the Night Together", "Honkey Tonk Woman", "Sympathy for the Devil", "Under My Thumb", "Get Off Of My Cloud", "Ruby Tuesday", "You Can't Always Get What You Want", "Street Fighting Man", "19th Nervous Breakdown", "She's a Rainbow", "Mother's Little Helper", and the all time coolest Stones song, "Paint It, Black". Very little was left off of the original Hot Rocks collection. Also included from that decade are "It's All Over Now", "Have You Seen Your Mother Baby?", "Not Fade Away", and "The Last Time".

The Stones don't stop there. The Seventies are represented nearly as well: "Wild Horses", "Brown Sugar", "Angie", "Tumbling Dice", "Beast of Burden", "Shattered", "It's Only Rock n Roll", "Fool to Cry", "Happy", and "Miss You".

The Eighties were somewhat slower for hit production, but never died off: "Undercover of the Night", "Start Me Up", "Emotional Rescue", "Mixed Emotions".

The Nineties were yet another successful decade for the Stones: "Love Is Strong," "You Got Me Rocking", "Anybody Seen My Baby?"

This collection also includes four new tracks, recorded in 2002: "Stealing My Heart", "Don't Stop", "Losing My Touch", and "Keys To Your Love".

Released on two CD's, this collection could only really be improved by adding more CD's to fill with even more songs. Covering almost 40 years, of course there are several great songs left off this collection. There aren't many truly essentials left off here, however. This is about as good as it gets when limited to two discs.

For someone just starting out a Rolling Stones CD collection, this is the perfect first buy. They can sample the best of each era, and take the many paths from there to add to their collection. This collection is great for a long-time fan as well, providing more than two hours of awesome tracks for just under twenty dollars. Even the true collector that has most of the Stones CD's will get something from this one: having the songs all in one place, and the new tracks.

The new songs are not spectacular, but they sound good, and fit right in on this set. If nothing else, it shows that even as long in the tooth as they've gotten, The Stones haven't lost a thing. The songwriting, the musicianship, the tradition is all still there.

Some have hailed the Stones as the greatest rock and roll band of all time. Listening to this collection, it's very difficult to dispute that. Personally, I've had other bands which I've liked better at times, but which of these favorites can demonstrate the longevity and consistency of the Rolling Stones? None of them can even come close. Years, even decades, after their contemporaries have faded to memory, Mick and Keith and the boys are still putting out quality music and building their fan base.

Here was an opportunity to present the definitive collection, but it doesn't quite cut it. What's on offer is two discs with 36 songs picked by who, I would like to know. Disc 1 is easily the better one as it captures the early years, but it has to be said, that so many good songs are left off this Disc (eg. Out of Time, As Tears go by) which could have fitted if they hadn't put other less important songs (such as "It's All Over Now").

Disc 2 is the real problem overall. This disc mostly focusses on the later stuff but once again misses some great songs in order to put less important songs. CAn you believe they have put four then brand new songs (of which none ever went on to be the great "new" singles they expected). These fillers have prevented great songs (and chart toppers too) such as "Waiting for a friend", "Hot Stuff", "Heartbreaker", and 1986's top ten single "Harlem Shuffle" from being included. "Rock and a Hard Place" is also missing.

As other reviewers have pointed out, there are several edited versions of songs on Disc 2 including "Fool to Cry", and "Emotional Rescue". There are a couple of others too.

Overall, this is a failed attempt at presenting the definitive collection of Rolling Stones classic songs. The best advice (as also suggested by other reviewers) is to purchase "Hot Rocks" and "Jump Back". "Hot Rocks is an excellent coverage of hit songs from the 1960's while "Jump Back" delivers great songs from the 1970 to 1993 (although does not contain two edited songs).

Skip Forty Licks, it is a poor compilation prepared by a record company employee who has no idea.