One can’t say that the Stones “lost the plot” in this decade, despite the well documented, less than amicable, estrangement between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, because the band still rolled on inexorably like the commercial juggernaut it had become, released studio albums and, eventually, returned to touring. For me the first two and final studio albums of the decade represent the best work the Stones did but even so, the main impression is that neither Jagger or Richards wrote inspirational songs anymore and had become professional song craftsmen, with nothing much to say but a contractual burden to write and record new material. Arrangements and production values seem to drive the records, all of which sound good, but none of these records are classics and hardly any songs are memorable anymore.
Despite the young Jagger’s misgivings, the Stones had lasted well beyond his 30th birthday, had become a brand and an enormously successful commercial venture, mostly from touring, and the records seem ancillary, merely necessary evils.
EMOTIONAL RESCUE (1980)
The Stones ended the Seventies on a high with Some Girls, a roaring response to punk and New Wave, and then lost the plot some with this album of sprightly, supremely light weight rock, and the throwaway funky opener “Dance Pt 1” that could be an outtake from Black and Blue. The production is bright and shiny yet can’t completely redeem the vapid tunes that may have been better served if performed by a skinny tied power pop band.
Some Girls showcased a rejuvenated band with what seemed new purpose to stake a claim as greatest rock and roll band in the world, and then they almost regressed and produced songs, regardless of how well played they are, that just sound silly.
“Down in the Hole,” an ominous blues, is the closest this record comes to vintage Stones swagger and the title track is arguably the highlight of the set. It’s not a good sign when only two tracks out of 10 on an album are worth putting in a Stones playlist.
TATTOO YOU (1981)
“Start Me Up” was the greatest hit from this album and about the only Stones classic of the Eighties, bearing in mind that it was originally conceived in the Seventies, and became entrenched as a show opener over the next 30 years. “Waiting on a Friend” is the other best-known track. “Black Limousine” is another highlight.
The album is divided into a fast and a slow side and the fast tracks rock hard enough, but the slower songs tend to drag and can’t sustain interest for more than a minute at a time. In the same way the rockers tend to become insubstantial from Emotional Rescue onwards, Jagger-Richards may continue to write technically well-crafted slow songs, but they just seem crafted songs, written by professional song writers, rather than heartfelt or with sincere emotions. The songs are carried by their arrangements and the proficiency of the musicians and not by intrinsic value.
The best one can say for Tattoo You is that it has at least one side of listenable material but “Start Me Up” is understandably the only truly standout track on the record.
STILL LIFE (1982)
Culled from the Tattoo You tour, this is a very enjoyable, single album of highlights, one of which is anointment of “Start Me Up” as perennial set opener. This tour was probably the first proper stadium tour the Stones undertook in the USA and somehow they still sound human-sized, like the club band of the Seventies and without the bluster and bombast of the tours from Nineties and beyond when the Stones became much more of a Big Brand Band than they are here.
I think of it as a fun live set, not as deeply satisfying as its two predecessors from the Seventies but a good listening experience, nonetheless.
UNDERCOVER (1983)
The last album in a series of annual releases. From here on in the Stones released studio albums more infrequently (only two more studio efforts in the Eighties), tour less and release regular live album souvenirs of the tours.
The term “Stonesy swagger” characterises, for me, an insouciant, bravura style of blues-infused rock and typifies the best Stones songs until the Eighties, particularly over the period between Beggars Banquet (1968) and Exile on Main Street (1972) there are examples from the preceding and subsequent years, but from the start of the Eighties the band seemed to lose, or to forego, that loose yet tight swagger
The Stones became just another rock band, albeit with the recognisable voice of Mick Jagger up front and Keith Richards’ riffs and Charlie Watts’ drumming in the engine room. The problem is that the ineffable qualities that made great Stones songs are mostly absent from the mid-Seventies onward. As an NME writer put it: the Stones were capable of writing some good songs and releasing half decent albums but were no longer capable of making great albums.
As is usual by now, the production values are high and the band sounds good but is where the typical big, overworked Eighties sound that overtakes the Stones characteristic rock ‘n roll swagger, kicks in and reduces the band to just another anodyne AOR rock act.
“Undercover of the Night” and “Too Much Blood” (both the Stones’ take on funk / dance) are the best known tunes, and “Wanna Hold You” (Keith’s vocal), “Pretty Beat Up,” “Too Tough,” “All the Way Down” and “It Must Be Hell” are the simpler, enjoyable, `Stonesy’ rockers that end off the record nicely. Even so, one still feels that these are just jumped up throwaways tarted up by production to make them feel more important. The fact is that none of these songs, however ephemerally pleasurable, are worthwhile compiling on a “best of” playlist.
DIRTY WORK (1986)
The album born in the period of strife and estrangement between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and the vaunted struggle for control of the soul of the Stones, with Jagger choosing to follow a solo career, as did Richards in riposte, as Eighties pop-rock musician.
A cover of “Harlem Shuffle” was the underwhelming leadoff single from the album and “One Hit (to the Body)” also received airplay. The production values are high, and the album sounds great but once again it’s sound and fury signifying nothing. Some will argue that it’s the worst Stones album ever but for me it’s not even a question of being bad, it’s just so non-essential and pointless. One can imagine that it was the result of contractual obligations rather than creative need and that it was professionally written and put together by professionals who did a job of work and took no pleasure from it other than from the completion of the project.
“Too Rude” (Keith Richards’ vocal) is a Stones reggae and sounds least like the rest and is therefore intriguingly enjoyable. and the title track and “Had It With You” are the best rockers on the record. The latter sounds like an outtake from Exile on Main Street. And that’s a compliment. ‘Sleep Tonight” (another Richards vocal) is a good slow one.
I suppose it’s no coincidence that Keith Richards contributes the best tunes on the record.
STEEL WHEELS (1989)
Bill Wyman’s last album as Rolling Stone.
I loved this album when I heard it for the first time, possibly because it just seemed so much more organic and, well, more “Stonesy”, than the previous two. “Sad, sad, sad” seemed almost old-school in its tough bluster and was the best album opener since “Start Me Up.”
Of course, the loose bluesiness of the best mid-Seventies material has been banished permanently and the mega hard rock sheen is firmly fixed in place but, for all that polish, there’s a limber toughness with solid riffs and some of Charlie Watts’ best playing, and, incredibly, the best songs the Stones have managed to pull off in a while, certainly since Some Girls. The rockers aren’t exactly classics, but they rock satisfactorily hard and there’s plenty of innovation of sound, groove and mood.
“Hearts for Sale,” the ‘experimental,’ virtually electronic, “Continental Drift,” the twelve bar blues strut of “Break the Spell” and “Slipping Away,” the Richards set closer, are particularly impressive.
Steel Wheels was an apt way to close the Eighties for the Stones. They, like so many of their Sixties and Seventies contemporaries, seemed to lose their way, turning forty, finally beginning to slip out of the hip pinnacle and into mainstream adult oriented tock, and trying to remain relevant to the younger generation of rock fans by adopting all manner of contemporary, faddish production techniques and ways of expressing oneself. The Stones had become established professionals and journeymen; they were no longer dangerous and were no longer at the vanguard of rock. From here on, specifically, they ambled into the twilight of their career, with infrequent studio releases and mega tours, effectively as much of a “classic rock” act as their peers but with the unparalleled cachet of being ‘the Stones” drawing an audience that comes for the spectacle and the bucket list ticking attendance of a gig by one of the greatest of all rock bands, even as the musicians were as old as the parents or grand-parents of those cheering them on.
No comments:
Post a Comment