The group's second British album actually appeared after their second U.S. LP, mostly owing to the fact that the British
rock & roll audience wasn't focused on the long-player as a medium (singles and EPs were the driving force of the business in England then). It uses the same
David Bailey cover shot that had graced the U.S.-issued
12 X 5 album two and a half months earlier, but only four songs --
"Under the Boardwalk," "Suzie Q," "Grown Up Wrong," and
"Time Is on My Side" -- overlap on the two albums. Rather,
Rolling Stones No. 2 offered seven songs that weren't to make it out in America until four months later on
The Rolling Stones Now!, and they're all solid numbers:
"Off the Hook," "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love," "Down Home Girl," "You Can't Catch Me," "What a Shame," "Pain in My Heart," and
"Down the Road Apiece," plus one of the group's best
blues covers, their version of
Muddy Waters'
"I Can't Be Satisfied," which wasn't released in America until 1973 and features some killer slide playing by
Brian Jones. The U.K. LP also had the advantage of only being released in mono, so there are no "rechanneled stereo" copies with which to concern oneself. ~ Bruce Eder
