'You Can't Always Get What You Want'... but close

The Rolling Stones' Forty Licks, much like Elvis' recent ELV1S: 30 #1 Hits and the Beatles' Beatles 1, which in essence re-spawned the greatest hits album in 2000, is a fairly comprehensive listen into the almost 40-year career of Britain's reigning rock titans.\nForty Licks is packed to the gills with two discs each containing 20 songs -- the first boasting much of the Stones' finest catalogue work of the '60s and early '70s, and the second containing efforts from throughout the '70s, '80s and '90s as well as four new tracks. As the first CD includes mostly older, classic material produced in the Stones' fruitful heyday, it's better by default, but the second disc (and surprisingly enough, the new efforts) are strong as well.\nFar and away the highlight of these new tracks is "Losing My Touch," in which Mick Jagger eschews singing duties and is replaced by the gravely, almost Tom Waits/pseudo-Dylan-esque voice of Keith Richards. The song is a sad, mellow, stripped-down ballad held together through a lilting piano melody. Another new highlight is "Don't Stop," the infectiously romantic and slightly twangy rocker that's currently receiving frequent radio airplay.\nSadly enough, omissions are made; classic tracks such as "Heart of Stone," "Time Is On My Side" and "Waiting on a Friend" are unrightfully excised. But with the literal smorgasbord of Stones' classics included (the first disc alone will astound even the most ardent of Stones' fans oscillating between the snarling rock of "Street Fighting Man" and the beautiful balladry of "Wild Horses"), omitted tracks are soon forgotten, and the collection comes together as a cohesive whole. Also, it's easy to be forgiving when classics are remastered as crisply as they are here. \nInitially, the not-entirely-chronological placement of the tracks is somewhat jarring. Sure, disc one is primarily classics and disc two is mostly newer stuff, but it's irrelevant -- tunes seem ordered in a thematic fashion, as if they were placed there by a meticulous, music-loving friend on a mix tape. Honestly, the non-traditional sequencing of Forty Licks adds a sense of intimacy to the proceedings, and it holds true to the very nature of the Stones -- a bunch of cads who honed their reputation by upturning middle fingers to convention.