''On Air'' is a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

released on 1 December 2017. The standard versions of the album contain 18 live and studio recordings of the band aired on the

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in 1963–1965. Deluxe editions of the album contain an additional 14 tracks. It emerged 20 years after initial newspaper reports that such an album could be forthcoming.

Background

''On Air'' is a compilation album containing live in the studio performances by the Rolling Stones that were broadcast on various

radio shows from 1963 to 1965, including blues and rock 'n' roll covers and early Jagger/Richards hits such as " The Last Time" and "

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. A product of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' songwriting partnership, it features a guitar riff by Richards that opens and drives the song. The riff ...

". The album was released in multiple formats, including CD, double-CD deluxe edition, heavyweight vinyl and special limited-edition coloured vinyl. The release follows that of a coffee table book by

Richard Havers Richard John Havers (1 April 1951 – 31 December 2017) was a British music author, journalist, consultant and broadcaster. Life and career Born in Carshalton, Surrey, he attended Reigate Grammar School and then worked for British United Airw ...

, which shares the same title. The standard versions of the album contain 18 tracks, while the deluxe editions contain 32 tracks. Eight of the tracks have never been recorded or released commercially by the band. The quality of the individual recordings varies considerably, with some being recorded in mono, and others in stereo. Despite this, the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' considered many of the tracks to be "crisp, clean and potent".

Critical reception

The album received a favourable

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

score of 84, with ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'' calling it a "essentially sequel" to the band's previous album, '' Blue & Lonesome'', which was released in December 2016. ''Uncut'' also stated that ''On Air'' captures the "full flowering" of the Jagger/Richards songwriting relationship. The ''Los Angeles Times'' considered the album to be comparable to similar, previously released BBC recordings made by the Beatles during the period.

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

wrote in ''

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'': "Billed 'R&B' as they started playing out in 1963, the Stones were catchier and quicker than blues, and on these 32 radio transcriptions they sound like the premier bar band of their time if not ever. Where '' Blue & Lonesome'' is a sodden thing – many old rockers have recorded sharper, spunkier, wiser music – this collection proves what world-beaters they were even before they got serious about songwriting."

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians *

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

– vocals, harmonica * Keith Richards – guitar, backing vocals * Brian Jones – guitar, harmonica *

Bill Wyman William George Wyman (né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who achieved international fame as the bassist for the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1993. In 1989, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member ...

– bass, backing vocals *

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who achieved international fame as the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a graphic artist, Watts developed an i ...

– drums * Ian Stewart – piano on "Down the Road a Piece", "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" Production *Engineering: Chris Bolster, Lewis Jones, John Barrett, Paul Pritchard *Demixing: James Clarke *Mastering: Alex Wharton *Text: Richard Havers *Design: Studio Fury *Cover image: Hulton Archive

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rolling Stones On Air 2017 compilation albums The Rolling Stones compilation albums BBC Radio recordings