I think it would have made a very good one actually, closer to the more organic sound of 'Voodoo Lounge', but with more mojo and less bells and whistles. I could see Mick singing most of these songs, maybe leaving 'Struggle' and 'It Means a Lot' to Keith. It would also be interesting to hear Charlie and Bill and Ron play on this record.

Any thoughts? Has this already been discussed a hundred times before?

yeeh, I clearly see Mick sing You Don't Move Me.

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Amused
yeeh, I clearly see Mick sing You Don't Move Me.

Well why not? I am sure that he has sung plenty of songs over the years that may or may not have contained digs toward him.

No reason to think about that. It's the best Stones solo album and I just love the way Keith sings on the album :-)

It's funny, when the album came out I rushed to buy it, played it, expecting some kind of Undercover-style, full-on,sonic freak-out. I wasn't expecting raggedy soulfullness. And guess what? I took it back to the store, actually disappointed! fool! Needless to say I have re-appraised my initial opinion. I am drunk on wine now.

I thought it was okay when I bought it but it has definately grown on me over the years. I wonder what a Stones 87/88 album would have sounded like, considering it probably would have been a Talk Is Cheap/Primitive Cool hybrid.

phelge
It's funny, when the album came out I rushed to buy it, played it, expecting some kind of Undercover-style, full-on,sonic freak-out. I wasn't expecting raggedy soulfullness. And guess what? I took it back to the store, actually disappointed! fool! Needless to say I have re-appraised my initial opinion. I am drunk on wine now.


Cheerz, Phelge-
enjoy the asprine, later on. ><

I took me right until "Main Offender" was released to get to the bottom of "Talk is Cheap", actualy.
Absolutely LOVE the album...

Loved it from the get-go. Still do.

I liked it from the start; I was dreaming of an "Exile part II" and "Talk is Cheap" shows Keith playing different musical styles of rock and blues like on Exile. If the Stones had played those songs, it wouldn't have been as exciting and soulfull in my opinion. Keith's voice is not as good as Mick's but Keith is meaningfull, he doesn't change his voice and joke around like Mick likes to do and "Talk is Cheap" needs that sense of commitment and musical "seriousness" I believe.
Rock and Roll,
Mops

One of the major factors of greatness of this album is Keith's vocal interpretations. If jagger sang on it, it would have had a completely different feel. I like it as it is.

C

If you are looking for the "lost" Dirty Steel Works Wheels album you have to combine Talk Is Cheap with Primitive Cool!
The track listing debate is opened...

Great Album; I remember going on holiday with a friend around '89 and he played this constantly, got me totally hooked on it - I don't think I would have even given it a listen otherwise...

At the time I wasn't interested in Solo Stones at all - still haven't listened to any of Mick's solo work, other than the singles which I've generally hated - maybe time to take a listen?

Even though I'm a fan of the Stones latter day output, I have never really gotten into this one. "Talk Is Cheap" is when Keith turned into a funk band of sorts and that is the main reason why this is not my cup of tea. "Main Offender" is better but still got that funk vibe dominating things.

Yet, I'm still waiting for the great Keith solo album, but it probably won't come because he's most likely to turn it into a Stones record instead.

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billwebster
Even though I'm a fan of the Stones latter day output, I have never really gotten into this one. "Talk Is Cheap" is when Keith turned into a funk band of sorts and that is the main reason why this is not my cup of tea. "Main Offender" is better but still got that funk vibe dominating things.

Yet, I'm still waiting for the great Keith solo album, but it probably won't come because he's most likely to turn it into a Stones record instead.

Take It So Hard
Struggle
I Could Have Stood You Up
You Don't Move Me
How I Wish
Whip It Up

Can't get more rock'n'roll than these songs, can it?

Still, Big Enough and It Means A Lot are funky tunes. But when wasn't Keith a funky guitar player?

Oh, let me add the beautiful Make No Mistake and Locked Away. IMO, a classic stonesy album, but unpolished and raw.

good album; can't really see how it would have been improved had it been a stones record, either.

Yes. It's possibly the best new Stones recording of the entire 1980s.

I loved it from the first play in 1988 and still do.

It is the best solo work by a Stone combining all that rocks and all that is mellow about Keith.

Oh and it was realeased on my birthday which at the time I took to be a personal gift from Keith!

Couldnt wait for it to arrive in the shops- unfortunately I bought it on the day my grandfather died- so its always been very special to me. The reason I think it is so good, it seems Keith put aside all the BS going on with the stones ( jagger) at the time- got some mates together and played some songs.

Easily the best stones-related material of the 80's. The album rocks. I saw Keith at the Beacon Theatre in NY on the tour and it was special. Sarah Dash was awesome, the backing band was loose and having a great time. The crowd was all about loving what Keith was doing! When the Wino's ripped into Connection the whole place rocked.

Mixing this great record with Primitive Cool would be criminal. PC is the worst of Jagger's solo material and close to the worst Stones related material realease period. ( I don't think I ever got thru Bill's catalog )

The 90's are a different story. Wandering Voodoo Offender: the sum of the parts is greater than any of the three albums. Wandering Spirit is the best Stones material of the 90's. Whenever I put this on people ask what it is and I have burned more than a few copies for freinds. Great lst material that you never hear anywhere.

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normanplace
Easily the best stones-related material of the 80's. The album rocks. I saw Keith at the Beacon Theatre in NY on the tour and it was special. Sarah Dash was awesome, the backing band was loose and having a great time. The crowd was all about loving what Keith was doing! When the Wino's ripped into Connection the whole place rocked.

Mixing this great record with Primitive Cool would be criminal. PC is the worst of Jagger's solo material and close to the worst Stones related material realease period. ( I don't think I ever got thru Bill's catalog )

The 90's are a different story. Wandering Voodoo Offender: the sum of the parts is greater than any of the three albums. Wandering Spirit is the best Stones material of the 90's. Whenever I put this on people ask what it is and I have burned more than a few copies for freinds. Great lst material that you never hear anywhere.

I completely agree with you. I didn't know what to expect from Talk is Cheap. I suspected it might be crap, after Dirty Work and She's The Boss, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Big Enough blindsided me. I was expecting a rock opener, not a slice of lithe funk. Take It So Hard is a corker, and Make No Mistake is a beauty. But the album as a whole is just great. I still listen to it today from time to time. I've got the MFSL CD, which sounds pretty good.

all i know is that it put shes the boss and primitive cool to shame

BTW, what about reissues with bonus tracks (or added live bonus cd) of Mick and keith's solo long players?!

Keith is a great vocalist. It's amazing how you can take the exact same backing track like e.g. "Love is Strong", "Almost Hear You Sigh", "Gimme Shelter", and have Jagger sing it, then Keith sing it. When Keith sings it the song rolls a lot more. It feels like the Bss all of the sudden has some extra bop added, that the snare hits different - but it is the same. The song however feels totally different.

It was the best solo album of any member, until 1993.

[thepowergoats.com]

I would have like Mick's touches on the Talk Is Cheap album and Keith's on Wandering Spirit and we would have two GREAT modern era Stones albums!!

Charlie has stated that he was offended that he didn't get to play on 'Take It So Hard'. I think this album has more feel than any Stones record for a long time before it. I would love to hear all of these with Charlie drumming, and a lot of them with Mick singing. Problem is, it would have been even close to what it is with Mick on it. Mick seems to bring polish and structure to the Stones's sound, and that, for me, would have killed the loose swagger of this record. Don't get me wrong. I love what Mick does and think he can sing the loose swagger better than anybody, but he gets it all too slick in the end, like he's trying to make them into radio hits. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not the songs on 'Talk Is Cheap' that make it as much as the feel. It feels like very talented friends hanging out making music that they love. By all accounts, that's what Exile was, and that Mick, love his heart, was not wholeheartedly into it. He was busy with his new wife. This is not a one-sided Mick vs. Keith thing I'm trying to start. It takes both of them to achieve the Stone's sound. And Charlie Watts. The verses of Honky Tonk Women, just Keith's guitar, Charlie's drums, and Mick's vocal are the quintessential Rolling Stone's sound. Wandering Spirit would have had it with The Stones. Almost did anyway. Talk Is Cheap would have if Mick had just sang the songs his way without changing the production or playing guitar or extra editing. I never hear too much good about Bridges To Babylon on here and I don't know why.

[www.non-filters.com]

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T&A
good album; can't really see how it would have been improved had it been a stones record, either.

I think if Charlie had played drums on it it would have been an even better album than it was (nothing against Steve Jordan), and closer to a Stones album, obviously.

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slew
I would have like Mick's touches on the Talk Is Cheap album and Keith's on Wandering Spirit and we would have two GREAT modern era Stones albums!!

mick is to blame , the last thing keith wanted to do is a solo album

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melillo
mick is to blame , the last thing keith wanted to do is a solo album

"Blaming" is the wrong expression here. You have to thank Mick that you are able to enjoy this wonderful album. Our boys tend to work (= write songs) only when required, and without Micks solo ambitions I doubt that any of the songs on Talk Is Cheap would have been written, not to speak of being recorded and released.