Aftermath by The Rolling Stones -- UK Version or US?

Yes, well, debatable.

I had the cassette version when I was a kid, which led off with 'Paint it Black.' Now that I have the UK version on CD it just doesn't feel right leading off w/ "Mother's Little Helper."

Just listened to the mono uk version for the first time. A lot of these songs I was never in love with on an individual level but sound really good in this sequence + mix. Like “out of time”. Maybe it’s just my mood.

It probably is my mood because the lustre of even the fucking Rushmore song has returned to me

Advantages of UK version:
- putting "I'm Going Home" at the end of side 1 instead of 2 makes it more of a low-key experiment instead of "here's our big statement"
- the weaker songs like "It's Not Easy" blend in better with the longer sequence
- "What to Do" is the only weak track among the four removed for the US version

Advantages of US version:
- "Paint It Black" is a more striking opener
- "Think" stands out a lot better at the end of side 1 instead of track 7 on side 2
- possibly, the shorter version of "Out of Time" is an improvement and fits better on Flowers

Prefer the UK version because "Paint It Black" is too striking and distinctive an opener which then leads to an immediate downshift in inspiration ("Stupid Girl"). Also I agree that "Goin' Home" shouldn't be the closer (I'd rather it not be on the album at all). "Paint It Black" really makes more sense as a separate single.

UK

Seem to remember Greil Marcus stanning for “Goin’ Home” in Stranded

UK, and agree with Josefa's point about "Paint It Black" if it opened the album.

Yeah, although I never actually listened to the US version.

I'd have replaced two of the tracks with the two from the sessions that ended up on Flowers:

"Ride On Baby" over "Stupid Girl"
"Sittin’ On A Fence" over "What To Do"

The U.K. version turned sixty years old just a few days ago. (The American release was delayed a few months after the British edition.) Played the mono edition a few times on a stereo system where the bass parts can be heard best, and Bill Wyman's contributions really stand out. From what I can tell, Keith sometimes added a fuzz bass, but otherwise the bass parts were all Wyman's and they're a key part of every song, as another melody or as a driving pulse.

Accounts of Brian's contributions are strange. While there's no doubt what he contributed (which was a lot) and he clearly showed a genius for learning instruments fast and coming up with endless ideas that made each track - either a riff or a tune - it's weird reading that he was often lying on the floor, incapacitated by drugs (with the other Stones usually cruel to him and just waiting for him to leave) or being absent altogether due to drugs. I'm trying to picture a really intense, see-sawing work ethic where half the time he's checked out and then half the time he's just ON. Just crazy.