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Sucking Since the '70s

The Rolling Stones released Tattoo You on this day in 1981. 

It was their last good album. Their last great album was probably Exile, maybe Some Girls. Sandwiched between the two, Emotional Rescue is almost as good.

It wasn't even really recorded as an album. Its core is mostly comprised of outtakes stretching back to 1972.  The band needed a new album to tour, but the Twins weren't getting along, so associate producer, Chris Kimsey, went through the archives and found the best bits for the band to finish off in 1980-81. 

"Little T&A" comes from a basic track cut during the Emotional Rescue sessions. "Start Me Up" originated during the Some Girls. The band worked on "Hang Fire" during both. 

It's a bit like Physical Graffiti, except that most of that album's tracks were new, whereas most of Tattoo consists of outtakes. It's a bit like Odds & Sods except that the tunes were worked on and finished off in the run up to release, giving the album a consistent sound. 

The next three albums, eh. I can vaguely recall reviews lauding new albums (Undercover, Steel Wheels,  Keith's first solo album) as "their best since Exile on Main Street. Unlikely, best since Some Girls or Tattoo You, maybe, but it would be silly to call Undercover their best since Tattoo You. Better to say nothing.

That is not to say that the later albums didn't have some good songs, they did, there's easily an album's worth of solid tunes from their 80's output. A mix of the best coheres the way that the tunes from the Jimmy Miller albums do. 

A lot of the tunes feature minimal input from sidemen and the band managed to update their sound in a manner that rings true. The snare is up front in the mix and the guitars have a compressed, trebly skinny tie sound. 

If missteps like the Emotional Rescue and Undercover title tracks were primarily Mick's doing, maybe the better tracks were a result of the Twins' ability to collaborate.


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Comments

  1. BogeyAugust 24, 2021 at 10:31 AM

    I recall the title track to Undercover as a total mess. Almost unlistenable.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Guy FawkesAugust 24, 2021 at 12:03 PM

    Great analysis. As a Stones fan I was consistently burned by buying into the hype surrounding their latest album (Trust us, Steel Wheels is really good!). What was the one with all of them lounging on the cover wearing pastels? The one with Harlem Shuffle? Ghastly.

    ReplyDelete
  3. DadAugust 24, 2021 at 8:07 PM

    I think you mean "Dirty Work". Most distasteful, indeed. Yet somehow marginally better than "Steel Wheelchairs".

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownSeptember 3, 2021 at 11:44 AM

    funny

    ReplyDelete

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