Why 'Metamorphosis' – the Stones' 1975 official bootleg – gets dismissed as a proper album despite killer outtakes

Here’s the weird thing about Metamorphosis: it’s an official release that feels like a shady back-alley deal. Allen Klein, the band’s former manager, cobbled it together from Decca vaults to cash in while the Stones were on their own label, and he didn’t bother with liner notes or context. It’s basically a legalized bootleg, and fans sense the bad blood.

The songs themselves are incredible – early takes of “I’d Much Rather Be With the Boys” (a Tune We knew from the Aftermath sessions), the psychedelic “Memo from Turner” (with Ry Cooder on guitar, not Keith), and a bunch of 1964–1968 cast-offs that show the band experimenting. But because Klein released it without the Stones’ blessing and with a hodgepodge sequencing, it never got treated like a real album.

Hardcore fans dig it for the alternate versions and rarities, but most casual listeners skip it. It also doesn’t help that the sound quality varies wildly between tracks – some are rough demos, others are fully mixed – so it lacks the cohesive spine of a proper LP. In the end, Metamorphosis is a fascinating time capsule, but it wears its “don’t call me an album” badge too honestly.