Nearly 40 years after The Beatles called it quits, the Fab Four and their occasionally still-active arch rivals, The Rolling Stones [ tickets ], are still battling it out for the hearts and discretionary dollars of classic-rock fans and gift buyers. The Beatles struck first this year with remasters of all of their studio albums. Less than two months later, the Stones strike back.

Having already reissued remasters of their studio catalog, the Stones and their first label, ABKCO, dug into the vaults to unearth a 40th anniversary of edition of their classic live set "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out," which includes a remastered version of the original album, plus a disc of five previously unreleased tracks culled from the same Madison Square Garden concerts that spawned the set, as well as a third disc featuring opening acts B.B King and Ike & Tina Turner.

While all of this material is likely floating around cyberspace, ABKCO makes a compelling argument for the physical package by housing it in a handsome box and including a DVD shot by Albert and David Maysles featuring five songs from the concerts, as well as a 56-page book that includes an essay and photos by Ethan Russell, and a reprint of Lester Bangs' review that was originally published in Rolling Stone. (Also included is a replica of David Byrd's "Stones '69" tour poster and a code for fans to download "I'm Free" for "Guitar Hero 5." Take that, Rock Band! For vinyl-loving audiophiles, the whole shebang is also available in a "super deluxe" edition that includes all the contents of the "deluxe edition," plus three vinyl LPs, with the book and poster blown up to 12 x 12 size.)

While the bells and whistles are certainly attractive, it's the actual recordings that made "Ya-Ya's" worthy of such treatment to begin with, and that certainly doesn't disappoint. Following a montage of introductions, the Stones tear into "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and don't let up for a minute through the original album's 10 tracks that clock in at nearly 48 minutes, nor the bonus disc's five-song, 18-minutes' worth of unearthed treasures.

For the sake of perspective, this is the Stones post-Brian Jones--with Mick Taylor joining Keith Richards on guitar--and pre-Altamont. In the three years since the band's previous US tour in 1966, the Stones had stretched out and grown artistically, occasionally side-stepping potential three-minute hit singles for epic tracks such as "Midnight Rambler" and "Sympathy for the Devil." On "Ya-Ya's," you get those songs back-to-back, with "Rambler" stretched past the nine-minute mark with a harp-spiked guitar jam, and "Sympathy" seemingly delivered on cue in response to a fan/heckler's request, "'Paint It Black' you devil!"

The previously unreleased recordings are so good, one wonders why they were left off the original release. Disc openers "Prodigal Son" and "You Gotta Move" have the Glimmer Twins intimately going the acoustic-blues route, while warhorse "Under My Thumb" is given new life thanks to Bill Wyman's funky bass line and cutting Richards/Taylor guitar riffs. It segues brilliantly into "I'm Free," a track younger fans may know best from the Soup Dragon's hit 1990 cover. Throughout both discs, Jagger's vocals are strong and expressive, flying in the face of complaints of the Stones' hit-and-miss live performances.

So, in the end, is it Beatles or Stones? That, of course, depends on your personal taste, but if you have the funds, I say go for both. As essential as the Beatles remasters are, "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!" is also a vital document of rock history, capturing (one of) the world's greatest rock-'n'-roll bands at the height of its powers.