ALBUM REVIEW / POP : A Mainly Acoustic Effort Showcases Stones’ Warmth : THE ROLLING STONES “Stripped”; <i> Virgin</i> ***

Get yer wallets out.

The Rolling Stones can’t have many of those “who’d-have-thought-they-still-had-it?” surprises left in them, so this sort-of-live, mainly acoustic collection is all the more refreshing. Its warmth, personality and musical engagement are a welcome antidote to last year’s sterile “Voodoo Lounge.”

The ballyhooed version of Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” is a self-conscious “event” recording marred by careless or arbitrary changes in the lyric. Mick Jagger is much more attentive to the words and spirit of some of the non-classics--minor Stones gems such as “The Spider and the Fly” and “I’m Free,” whose revival is one of the album’s great rewards.

With several of the tracks recorded in rehearsal settings, “Stripped” lacks the atmosphere of a conventional live album, relying instead on an intimacy the Stones haven’t captured since they started trying to live up to their legend. Who’d have thought they still had it?

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).