As it turns out, time really is on their side for the Rolling Stones

Maybe they are the greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world.

Of course the Rolling Stones can afford top quality in all things, so it may not be totally surprising that "The Biggest Bang" (CPI), their new four-DVD box set (available at Best Buy, and next month at other retailers), is one of the best live-concert videos ever released.

The graphics, camera work, editing, sound, special features, etc. are all magnificent. The visuals and sound just blow you away.

But what is most satisfying, and surprising, is that the wrinkly old Stones are still making great music. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and company display amazingly youthful energy, sexuality and sass onstage, four decades into their career. They're still at the top of their game.

The incredible free concert in Rio, which drew an estimated 2 million fans to Copacabana Beach, makes a spectacular backdrop for a powerful performance. Documentary footage about the historic event is fascinating.

But the set's other full concert, in Austin, is even better. The frisky Jagger seems to be having a grand time, especially while singing, in a Southern accent, "Bob Wills Is Still the King," which name-checks Austin (driving the crowd wild). The Super Bowl halftime show is super-cool, too. Concert footage from China, Japan and Argentina shows that the Stones are an international phenom.

Local boys Eddie Vedder and Dave Matthews make brief appearances, each singing duets with Jagger. Both are nervous and overwhelmed, as shown by pre-show interviews and footage of them meeting the Stones (Vedder has his little daughter in his arms).

Speaking of Eddie Vedder ...

Listening to Pearl Jam's new "Live at the Gorge 05/06" (Warner/Rhino) seven-CD boxed set, to be released Tuesday (music only; no DVD, unfortunately), you notice how the lead singer seems to get looser, and sound better, as the shows go on. Must be the premium French wines he likes to swig onstage.

"We got the two-bottle show tonight," he tells the screaming capacity crowd at the start of the long, spectacular encore on the second of two CDs recorded at the band's notable July 22, 2006, concert at the Gorge Amphitheatre. It includes a cover of Mother Love Bone's "Crown of Thorns" and the first performance in 12 years of an early PJ obscurity, a Red Hot Chili Peppers soundalike called "Dirty Frank," which the boisterous crowd lustily sings along with Vedder.

The whole side is impressive, highlighted by the nervous intensity of "Once," the celebratory, enormously crowd-pleasing "Alive," spirited covers of "Baba O'Riley" and "Rockin' in the Free World," and, in closing, a spectacular Jimi Hendrix tribute by guitarist Mike McCready.

Actually, McCready is amazing throughout the whole 7 ½ hours of music in the set. He's endlessly versatile and creative, although I wish his guitar-playing had more presence in the mix (the drums, as fine as they are in the hands of consummate pro Matt Cameron, sometimes drown out the other instruments).

The longest of the three Gorge shows was on Sept. 5, 2005 — it takes up three CDs. It starts slow, with an acoustic set but, true to form, heats up as it goes along.

Pearl Jam and the Gorge are a perfect match — big sound, big space — and this set provides perfect souvenirs of their shows. Like the Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam should make multiple Gorge dates a part of every summer.

Another seven-CD set, "Sly & the Family Stone: A Collection" (Sony BMG), a reissue of the band's albums (all with bonus tracks), is alternately uplifting and depressing. On the first two albums, as the teenage Sly finds his own style, the songs get tighter and funkier. Then comes his masterpiece, 1969's "Stand!," in which he hits pay dirt with the title tune, "I Want to Take You Higher," "Everyday People" and "You Can Make It If You Try." Those bracing songs still make your feet move.

Then comes the decline, as heard on the next three unfocused, rambling discs. You can hear Sly's talent and originality slipping away, and it's not pretty.

There are some gems among the bonus tracks, most notably a couple of slow songs from the early years, "Let Me Hear It From You" and "Only One Way Out of This Mess."

Patrick MacDonald: 206-464-2312 or pmacdonald@seattletimes.com