You mean that they never did such a fantastically bright and awful cover that reflects what's inside as well!

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hot stuff
Zero---is without question a ZERO..ha....I loved what was said about Jagger's singing----"Barking". That is spot on.
Jaggers singing makes this the worst ever Stones album.. There is many things very cool about it and i still like it better then most of the music from that year..Only if Jagger put more time into it AND SANG...NO BARKING.

I've never heard a good explanation as to why he was singing like that. It's painful to listen to. I recall some reviewer said it sounded like Mick was gargling with cooking oil (Crisco, I believe). There are some decent songs on Dirty Work. All BARK and no bite?

???? Oh dear, Am i the only one that really likes this album? I think Back to Zero is a bloody good one, would have loved to have heared them play it live.

The LP was good but I really wish it had different production.
Still, "Sleep Tonight" is one of my all time favorites and is played at the old ranch about 1 a week.

Also semi Stones fans really seem to like "Had It With You".
I've run across that more than once.

The only good thing about Dirty Work is One hit and Harlem Shuffle - Can't take the rest!

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Elmo Lewis
........ lots of venom that's been missing ever since.



Love the title song - maybe THE lost classic (other then "Winter").

I know "Zero" sucks, but love the bad attitude all over this album.

Forced venom. Unfortunately all that attitude did not inspire even one excellent song.

The more I think about it and have gotten deeper into the band over the years, the more I think that Dirty Work is really the gravestone on the rolling stones AS A BAND. After that it's been more business than real musicianship.

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KeefintheNight82
The more I think about it and have gotten deeper into the band over the years, the more I think that Dirty Work is really the gravestone on the rolling stones AS A BAND. After that it's been more business than real musicianship.

Well, you're right. There is a natural dividing line at DW and the layoff between that and Steel Wheels, when it was decided to put the pieces back together and animosity aside for business' sake. The next dividing line was the exit of Bill Wyman - all business after that.

The most frustrating part of it as Gazza said before, for the past 20 years they have been healthy and more than capable, until maybe very recently. They should have made a LOT more albums, more good ones. Time has been squandered.

It's not like wishing the Beatles were still around. Our guys have always been here, they have been too busy earning money to make great music though.

They still have managed to have a couple gems on each album though, even Dirty Work. If they tour again, they really should do a song or two from it and maybe revist some Steel Wheels too.

Played dirty work for the first time for years.Am i crazy or is it not that bad.I know its not the greatest album but for a band that has been around at the time for 20 years+ its okay.

theres no doubt that its a good album. I love it. many people find it terrifying, but I disagree

Since the turkey was almost made the national bird of the United States I would not degrade a turkeys place in the world by using the name of it and the Stones' Dirty Work in the same sentence - it's an insult to ALL turkeys.

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Pelle
theres no doubt that its a good album.

Nah - doubt definitely exists.

Well, in a way, he's right - there is no doubt - we just KNOW it's a horrible album.

A big, steaming, foul-smelling turd. It should be called "Keith & Ronnie Goof Off In The Studio and Mick joins in Reluctantly". I guess that title was too long. Jamming With Edward was a more interesting album.

If Skip says so it must be correct

Good Album! Undercover is the turkey!

.....Dirty Work before turkey any day ...



ROCKMAN

An album with Harlem Shuffle on it and this one? Good, very good in fact.

What is good is Stones-Quality-Good. Which means it's phenomenal. "One Hit", Harlem Shuffle", "Had It With You" and "Dirty Work" are as good as any Stones. By adding "Hold Back" and "Back to Zero" it taints the album in a major way. Also the mediocre stuff, the left overs are all pretty lame. "Fight" is a pure man's "Hang Fire", "Too Rude" is one of Keith's weaker Reggae workouts,"Shlepp" is a personal un-favorite, and "Winning Ugly"...I don't mind it that much, although I know it is widely hated.

Yes but tastes differ you see for example Back to Zero, i think it's a great song and i would have loved to have seen them play it live.

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Palace Revolution 2000
What is good is Stones-Quality-Good. Which means it's phenomenal. "One Hit", Harlem Shuffle", "Had It With You" and "Dirty Work" are as good as any Stones. By adding "Hold Back" and "Back to Zero" it taints the album in a major way. Also the mediocre stuff, the left overs are all pretty lame. "Fight" is a pure man's "Hang Fire", "Too Rude" is one of Keith's weaker Reggae workouts,"Shlepp" is a personal un-favorite, and "Winning Ugly"...I don't mind it that much, although I know it is widely hated.

01.) "One Hit (To the Body)" - Great song, should be on Jump Back and maybe even 40 Licks
02.) "Fight" - Album tack, not a stand out in a bad or good way
03.) "Harlem Shuffle" - Great Cover, Debatable as to wether or not it's better than the original.
04.) "Hold Back" - Good song under-rated
05.) "Too Rude" - Mellow nice track, okay cover-wise
06.) "Winning Ugly" - Great 80's track, Okay Stones song, Not a Stones hit, I love it
07.) "Back to Zero" - embarrassing
08.) "Dirty Work" - Album track, not a stand out in a bad or good way
09.) "Had It with You" - awesome gritty track
10.) "Sleep Tonight" - I think it's okay, though I think it's a bit of a sleeper

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tatters
Good Album! Undercover is the turkey!

I have to agree here!(But thats just an opinion)

It is the album I listen to least - It is a bad album for the Stones.

Poor mix, too 80's. Trash can snare sound. Mick was mad and yelled instead of sung. Some great guitar work. Dirty work, the song is the last best dual guitars from Ron/Keith on an album. They recorded playing twice live with each other. The louder guitars are genius.

Re-mix could make it better, some songs too 80's, some are great.

It's a ron/keith album and so love it.

Some solid riffs and raw tones from Keef and Wood. But Jagger was barely involved and thus left a lot of potentially good ideas undeveloped.

The worst Rolling Stones album of the 80s, yes, but not their worst ever. Those honours go to Bridges to Babylon.

I respectfully disagree Nikolai. I think that B2B has 4-5 very good moments. I can't say the same for Dirty Work. Any time i've tried to revisit Dirty Work I get that 'ick' feeling. Not pleasant at all. If I revisit B2B at least I know there's a few songs that outshine all post Tattoo moments (especially Saint of Me and Out of Control). Dirty Work and A Bigger Bang are on my list of least-listened-to Stones albums.

[thepowergoats.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-02-14 11:02 by jamesfdouglas.

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Nikolai
The worst Rolling Stones album of the 80s, yes, but not their worst ever. Those honours go to Bridges to Babylon.

I agree with you my friend. There are some gems in both albums, but as a whole work, i do not like either

01.) "One Hit (To the Body)" - a potential classic, full of nice ideas, but somehow they don't sound convincing. Sounds artificial and forced. Doesn't sound like the Stones. The famous "roll" element missing.
02.) "Fight" - a filler; the anger in song and lyrics sounds artificial.
03.) "Harlem Shuffle" - a nice song and a fine performance, but don't add anything substantive to the original. A safe choice for a single; they knew they would have a hit with it, but not having original one good enough speaks volumes of how they rate their creativity then.
04.) "Hold Back" - probably the worst Stones rocker ever. Mick's vocals and lyrics hit the all-time low. If he wasn't MIck Jagger, those vocals - with their lyrics would be laughed out of court.
05.) "Too Rude" - children's song melody (as many reggae songs have) and Keith and Ronnie having fun fooling around, but no right to exist in an official Rolling Stones record. That's what we have bootlegs for. "Cherry Oh Baby" vol. 2.
06.) "Winning Ugly" - The Stones without the roll element, once more. So the 80's so 80's music-and soundwise and that is never a good thing. I couldn't like it in 1986 and even less now. They considered this as the first single. The best and most common-sensical decision of the whole album to not accomplish that.
07.) "Back to Zero" - this is so awful that there is something so pervert in it that makes it intersting...
08.) "Dirty Work" - My personal favourite - okay rocker; Jagger's vocals have true spark in them (the only song that deserves somehow the comparison to EXILE what was so popular at the time; weren't we stupid?)
09.) "Had It with You" - well, here we do have the roll element but I consider the song as a funny filler - more a joke than a real effort. If this is considered about a highlight that says of a lot of the album over-all.
10.) "Sleep Tonight" - the first Keith ballad that started to sound like using formula than having a muse. Too obvious.

11.) Stu's piano: absolutely the most touching moment! One of their finest production ideas ever.

Over-all: from the base of those observations it is very difficult to rate this album a "good" one... The good thing to be noticed is quite catchy and strong guitar work all over the album. But a great, even a good Stones album needs much more than that. One could say that a great guitar department is a foundation that always needs to exist, as it usually does. But this time the guitar work seems to take the central attention because all the rest elements are so weak. Remember: Keith once said that he shines as a guitar player when the whole band shines. This is not the case with DIRTY WORK.

- Doxa



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2010-02-14 12:08 by Doxa.