Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!
Introduced at the beginning of their second live album as "the greatest rock & roll band in the world," the Stones come off instead as perhaps the world's sloppiest. Recorded at Madison Square Garden on the first dates of the 1969 tour that would end at Altamont,Ya-Ya'sshows our heroes struggling manfully to get comfortable with a stadium-size PA system. Of the nine songs included here, only "Love in Vain," "Stray Cat Blues," and "Live with Me" come close to matching the fire of their studio versions; much of the time the band just sounds ragged and distracted. Still, given that it's the only official live document from the period in which Mick Taylor was the Stones' lead guitarist,Ya-Ya'sis a must-own for any die-hard Stones fan.--Dan Epstein