If you’ve got a diehard Rolling Stones fan on your holiday list or just someone who loves to strut around your living room like they’re Mick Jagger, the new Black and Blue Super Deluxe Box Set is the kind of gift that will instantly crown you the hero of the season. Nearly fifty years after its original release, The Rolling Stones’ 1976 curveball of an album resurfaces in a sprawling, lovingly assembled package that feels equal parts history lesson, treasure trove, and sonic time machine.
Let’s get real. In a year when everything feels more expensive than ever, this collection delivers major bang for your buck. It serves up hours of music, video, archival material, and a beautifully bound book, making even the most casual fan slip into full collector mode. Available in 5LP (I want this one, just in case you’re feeling generous) and 4CD versions, with a Blu-ray disc, a gorgeous 100-page hardback book, and a replica tour poster tucked inside, it’s the kind of box set that looks and feels like an art piece. There’s even a marbled black-and-blue 2LP vinyl edition for the aesthetes, and a hypnotic zoetrope pressing for the vinyl nerds who like to partake in recreational party favours while they play their records. So trippy.
Black and Blue itself marked a crucial turning point for the Stones. Recorded after Mick Taylor’s departure and during Ronnie Wood’s unofficial audition period, the sessions are legendary for the revolving door of guitar talent, with rock luminaries like Harvey Mandel, Wayne Perkins, Jeff Beck, and Robert A. Johnson all getting in the mix. Ronnie eventually stepped into the lineup full-time, sealing a partnership that’s now lasted five decades.
Musically, this was the Stones at their most eclectic and experimental. Reggae grooves, funk licks, soulful tenderness, Black and Blue is the band stretching out and throwing everything at the wall while swaggering bravely into new territory. “Hot Stuff” is as steamy as it sounds, “Hand of Fate” hits with muscular precision, “Memory Motel” remains one of their most quietly devastating deep cuts, and “Fool to Cry” still floats like a heartbroken lullaby. The Glimmer Twins were producing themselves at the time, and the album shot straight to No. 1 in the U.S., ultimately going platinum.
The 2025 reissue goes even further. Steven Wilson’s new mix cleans up and remasters the original tracks. Plus, a six-song disc of previously unreleased material, including the newly surfaced “I Love Ladies,” and a fiery take on “Shame, Shame, Shame.” Four instrumental cuts featuring the guest guitarists showcase the band’s looseness and instinctive chemistry. Then there’s the holy grail for diehard fans: a full live recording from the Stones’ 1976 Earls Court residency, plus a Blu-ray featuring their Les Abattoirs performance in Paris, complete with Atmos mixes for the true audiophiles.
It’s massive, it’s meaningful, and it’s meticulously crafted. If you want a holiday gift that lands with the impact of a Keith Richards riff, this is it. The music lover in your life will thank you.
You can pick up the 4CD or 5LP formats of the Black and Blue Super Deluxe Box Set here.
