Rating: 
Summary: Sympathy for the drivel
Review: One wishes, after 40 years, the Stones would rate a serious history by someone who appreciates what has been a remarkable career. Certainly those of us who are more than casual fans know the true warts in the history. All of which makes this compilation of thrice told tabloid warts all the more distressing. A cut and paste history, poorly told -- not because some of the bad stuff doesn't have some basis in truth (flash: ...), but because most of it is comprised of hoary press legends without any scholarship or understanding.
Rating:
Summary: Sloppy Journalism
Review: SLOPPY, SLOPPY, SLOPPY JOURNALISM! There are too many errors in this book to point out, but one of the most absurd is the statement that Keith Richards is an atheist(?!). It appears that Mr. Davis wanted to get this book out in time for the 40th anniversary of the formation of the Stones and therefore did not want to take the time to worry about such insignicant things as facts.
Rating: 
Summary: It's only a rock and roll bio, but it's not bad
Review: Sure, the Stones' story has been told before, but Davis deserves credit for synthesizing the whole 40-year saga in one highly entertaining book. The beginning is the best: he gives us mini bios of the Stones before they were the Stones -- before they even knew each other -- and shows us the fateful paths each took that led to formation of the group. Of meeting Mick in that Dartford train station, Keith says "it was like Robert Johnson at the crossroads. An understanding was made" (or something close to that). Awesome. There is also much more detail about Brian Jones than I'd read elsewhere, probably because I haven't read the right Stones books.
The ending is also inspired -- and again features a vignette about Keith.
Rating: 
Summary: Starts out more interesting than it ends.
Review: The book is a page-turner particularly in the first half where the author seems to address the musicality of the band explaining the various music sources for appropriation and how the band made the music it's own. The contribution of Brian Jones to both the original band and to the future pulse on world music were interesting and often overlooked by writings that seem to emphasize his drug use and untimely death. The suggestion that he was murdered could have been explored in more detail. The last half of the book seems to be a chronological listing of the most famous of escapades and development of rifts between band members that lacks detail or an exploration of how it affects the music. The book is interesting enough to keep the pages turning.
Rating: 
Summary: I liked it
Review: The early reviews are overly tough, and I'll admit perhaps I'm being too liberal in my praise, but I'm sincere. At the risk of sounding uncool, I have to admit that I found this book impossible to put down. I like the readability - it's got much better flow than most rock histories. Maybe the facts are off, maybe we can take umbrage at the author's concepts, but this is the case with all star biographies (unless we're dealing with a boring star). The fact remains that I missed out on sleep for many nights because I didn't want to stop reading this, and while that doesn't absolutely mean it's a *good* book, it does speak for the book's draw. It's magnetic. While you're reading the book, take a gander at the 2000 DVD reissue of Gimme Shelter if you can - they are good companion pieces.
Rating:
Summary: Elegantly wasted, just like Keith
Review: The previous reviewers were too hard on this book. Sure, the writing is sometimes sloppy, disorganized and repetitive, yet it's also frequently brilliant, hilariously over the top, and thrilling.... which is a pretty accurate description of the Stones themselves. I mean, this isn't supposed to a scholarly analysis, unless I read the liner notes wrong. It's a down 'n dirty tell-all. Most of the major turning points in this career are detailed with impressive flair (the Redlands drug bust, Altamont, "World War III", etc.) People interested in classic rock 'n roll decadence should also check out a great new video called "Welcome to the Rainbow". It's a documentary on the history of rock on LA's notorious Sunset Strip, with interviews and performances from gods like Ozzy, Robbie Kriegerman, Lemmy of Motorhead and more. It's a must-own for the serious rock collector!
Rating:
Summary: an entertaining, easy read about a great band
Review: The Rolling Stones are indubitable a great band... their staying power is absolutely remarkable.This is a pleasant, revealing biography of their repeated rises to popularity and the frequent tragedies they've endured. There's not a lot of new material here. However, what's refreshing is the pleasantly readable prose styles. Also the scope of the biography extends to the present from the furthest point away. It's peppered with a lot of great anecdotes and researched furiously. There's a great bibliography if you are drawn further into the subject.
Rating:
Summary: "Nobody was more beautiful than they, or more doomed."
Review: The Rolling Stones are, though not the best rock band of the 20th century, then certainly one of the the most colorful. And people looking for the basic history of the Stones (up until the year 2001) will find a basic, but well-researched and often insightful book. Not perfect, but pretty good. It chronicles the Stones' rapid ascent into superstardom, and their many problems once they got up there (mostly related to -- I'm sorry, I have to say this -- sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll). There was the doomed Brian Jones and his suspicious death, the beautiful convent-girl-turned-pop-star Marianne Faithfull, the romantic intrigues spurred by the beautiful Anita Pallenberg, the shocking and/or unsuccessful movies, the marriages that didn't last, the legal battles, and so on. It's a long and messy story, and the "old gods" sure haven't come out of it unscathed. It's undeniable that the Rolling Stones lived a pretty hedonistic life for a long time (the last section of the book is rather plain vanilla, once they clean themselves up), and did some pretty despicable things. However, Stephen Davis fortunately doesn't just show them as rock animals -- they do awful things and good things. He shows a lot of restraint when it comes to the copious tabloid-y material and seedy rumors, and analyzes Stones lyrics for their meanings. In fact, this is one of the more tasteful rock-related books I've read. He also presents the various stones as actual people, good and bad, very flawed but still human. Using quotes from the Stones, their lovers and ex-lovers and friends, he presents them probably much as they are/were. There's Brian Jones, abuser and "breaker of women" who is still very pitiful and downward-spiralling (Davis also deals head-on with what seems to be Jones' murder), as well as the wild Mick Jagger and gravelly Keith Richards, and their girlfriends and wives (almost as important to the group as the guys themsevles) the innocent-looking Marianne Faithfull, the tough and brainy Anita Pallenberg, icy Bianca Jagger and Texan Jerry Hall. Even if you don't LIKE them (such as Jones), you see a lot of stuff that gives insight to them. And Davis challenges some of the long-held opinions about the Stones, insisting that Mick and Keith were incredibly understanding towards Brian, but that Brian was such a mess that nobody could help him. One of the things that did bug me a little was that he seemed to pay too little attention to some of the women, like Jerry Hall, Bianca Jagger, and Patti Hansen. However, he does get kudos for giving the eerily fascinating Anita Pallenberg sufficient attention, especially since (unlike most biographers) he tells us what happened to Anita after she overcame her addictions. Nothing sordid there, and it's very nice to read what she does now. Ditto with Marianne Faithfull, whose chaotic life became even worse over time, only to take an upturn many years later. One of the big flaws with this book is the writing. Most of the time it's quite good, but I got tired of the mini-chapters, and being told repeatedly "This was Brian Jones' last American concert/last significant contribution/last public performance/last meal/last audible burp/last song-and-dance-routine"... I got a little tired of that. And the prose occasionally becomes a little too flowery for my taste -- this is a rock memoir! The pictures are quite good, mostly focusing on the stones but also including a few shots of their friends and girlfriends. I did wish they'd included a few pictures of the kids, though. It's a pretty good summing-up of the Rolling Stones, taking in almost all of the stretch of their time as a band and their personal AND professional lives. A must-read for the classic rock fan, and possibly an interesting read for anyone who wants to know what was going on then. (Like me -- Mick Jagger is old enough to be my grandpa)
Rating:
Summary: extremely detailed
Review: This book is basically a blow by blow account of the Rolling Stones' career, starting back before any of the current members of the band were in the band. (The late Brian Jones was in an early version of the band before Keith and Mick got involved. I had a hard time finishing the book.) I enjoyed reading about the band's 1960's adventures, but once I got past Brian's mysterious death, my interest waned. This was not because the book got more boring at that point; it was just because I already knew the story from being a fan of the band and reading about them in Rolling Stone and similar magazines. (The author wrote many of the magazine stories about the Stones which I enjoyed as a younger person.) The book does get a lot more boring near the end, because the band's music got a lot less interesting about 20 years ago. (Somewhere around "Tattoo You" Mick and Keith pretty much ran out of ideas and since then they have been coasting.) Speaking of boring, one of the more amusing revelations in this book is that Mick is actually a rather boring person offstage. Onstage, he is rock and roll's answer to the Greek god Dionysius, offstage he is a rather quiet London School of Economics alumnus. Davis provides us with an incredibly detailed index: it is fun to look up your favorite song or favorite incident and read about it in the book.
Rating:
Summary: Great Band, Average Book
Review: This book reads very much like a history book. Just the facts and not a lot of detail. There is so much to write about the Stones. This tells you what happened, but in most cases without insight. Keith did drugs? Yes. Mick is a [jerk]? Yes. We know that, but where's the real insight. I couldn't help but get the feeling that to some extent, the author didn't want to anger the band. Perhaps he's looking forward to "The 60 Year Odyssey" edition. The book is entertaining enough but just leaves you wanting more. One last thing. I am very suspect, (as should you), of any author who would write the following line; " U2's Achtung Baby and Aerosmith's Pump, both released in 1990, can arguably be called the last great rock albums". It's right there on page 517! You have got to be kidding me. Does the author even listen to rock music? With a statement like that, is he even qualified to author a book about a rock band? Perhaps that is the problem. It would seem to be difficult to conjur up some insight if there is no passion for the music.
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