Don't forget the live EP + the IBC-recordings on the Super Deluxe-edition, either..

Masterpiece! I bought the single with Highwire and I Just Want to Make Love to You - Play by fire live versions, fantastic!

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Testify
Masterpiece! I bought the single with Highwire and I Just Want to Make Love to You - Play by fire live versions, fantastic!

The EP? My single had 2000 LYFH (live) as the B-side..

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DandelionPowderman

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Testify
Masterpiece! I bought the single with Highwire and I Just Want to Make Love to You - Play by fire live versions, fantastic!

The EP? My single had 2000 LYFH (live) as the B-side..

There were a lot of CD singles with non Flashpoint live cuts at the time….

I like that this thread keeps popping up to the top...It puts this great song back in my head...We walk the highwire
Putting the world on a deadline
Catching the bite on the prime time
With hot guns on cold, cold nights

Highwire is a great track. One of the few post81-songs that really belong to my personal favorites! And indeed, the live-tracks on the Maxi-CDs are outstanding as well!

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Testify
Masterpiece! I bought the single with Highwire and I Just Want to Make Love to You - Play by fire live versions, fantastic!

Agree that those live tracks were fantastic. Reminded me of the old days when the band did not simply try to replicate the studio arrangements on stage. And these new arrangements were simply great.

Wired all night has some similarities.

I just wanted to BUMP this thread because I am listening to "Highwire" right now and realizing just how perfect it is.

Those rhythms. That interplay between the core band members. The sustained chords on Keith's guitar ... and Charlie's drumming, I want to cry it's so good.

The specific moment after Mick growls "Our jobs at risk" when Charlie whacks out those 4 drum strokes ... pure Stones magic, baby.

That this song totally flopped completely mystifies me. It is as great a Stones track as any other track they've ever recorded. ANY OTHER. (I know I'm going to get crucified for saying that!!

Drew

Yeah.love Highwire. Good n vibrant song.hope they will do it live .
Jeroen

Doom And Gloom is similar to Highwire - Mick starts it, it has the in and out guitars. Doom And Gloom is better, weirdly enough, maybe because Highwire is kind of typical.

Highwire has more room in it though, some of those pauses, a bit like how Honky Tonk Women was played in 1978 and 1981-82.

If only STEEL WHEELS had the sound of Highwire...

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runrudolph
Yeah.love Highwire. Good n vibrant song.hope they will do it live .
Jeroen

It would have been perfect on 'Steel Wheels' as second single after "Mixed Emotions".

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KRiffhard

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runrudolph
Yeah.love Highwire. Good n vibrant song.hope they will do it live .
Jeroen

It would have been perfect on 'Steel Wheels' as second single after "Mixed Emotions".

TRUE.
jeroen

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GasLightStreet
Doom And Gloom is similar to Highwire - Mick starts it, it has the in and out guitars.

Totally agree and love both tracks!!

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GasLightStreet
Doom And Gloom is better, weirdly enough, maybe because Highwire is kind of typical.

What do you mean by "typical"?

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GasLightStreet
Highwire has more room in it though, some of those pauses, a bit like how Honky Tonk Women was played in 1978 and 1981-82.

If only STEEL WHEELS had the sound of Highwire...

YES!

Drew

I detest dng .horrible song. It sounds the same but Highwire has more quality imo.
Jeroen

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Doxa
Nothing earth-breaking in it at all

Who cares??? It is Stones PERFECTION, BABY. I don't need my Stones to break any earth.

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Doxa
it has a bit muddy sounds that reminds me more of TALK IS CHEAP than any Stones album.

YES!!

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Doxa
it doesn't stand repeated listenings. It's charm vanishes quite rapidly, unlike a gem like "Plundered My Soul" that gets better and better by each listening.

Totally opposite for me. I can groove and shimmy to Highwire all day. PMS doesn't move me.

Drew

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drewmaster

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GasLightStreet
Doom And Gloom is better, weirdly enough, maybe because Highwire is kind of typical.

What do you mean by "typical"?

The choruses were a bit bland, a bit too smooth, hence the "typical" aspect to it. I dunno. Doom And Gloom has a similar style chorus but has a bit more oomph to it. Maybe that's what I meant.

I still love this song and think it's a shame they've never played it live. The break with three interweaving rhythm guitars is similar to the ones in "When the Whip Comes Down" and "Just My Imagination."

It was a bit invigorating when released as a single and hearing it on the radio, along with Start Me Up from the live album. It had an intensity to it that the singles from STEEL WHEELS were missing. Although Mixed Emotions was sweet at the time when it was on the radio, it's essence faded. Regarding its time, after the disaster of 1986, it was a shot in the arm they needed badly.

Highwire seemed to be the bookend of that timeline, especially when compared to Love Is Strong, YGMR and I Go Wild being released as singles a few years later, more like The Rumbling Stones than anything tight and rocking like Highwire.

In a way it provides a nice contrast between STEEL WHEELS and VOODOO LOUNGE as far as a sound they achieved. So in that sense, it's good they didn't finish it for SW.

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GasLightStreet
The choruses were a bit bland, a bit too smooth, hence the "typical" aspect to it.

I could see that if we talking about Rock and a Hard Place, or Don't Stop. Mega super-blandness. But not Highwire.

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GasLightStreet
Doom And Gloom has a similar style chorus but has a bit more oomph to it.

I LOVE oomph!!! And I get as much oomph out of Highwire as any of the greatest Stones tracks.

Drew

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Rocky Dijon
I still love this song and think it's a shame they've never played it live. The break with three interweaving rhythm guitars is similar to the ones in "When the Whip Comes Down" and "Just My Imagination."

Add Crazy Mama to that list. Classic Ronnie.

I'm glad it was included in the GRRR collection, at least in the extended edition, it is a way not to lose this track, since it is at the end of a live album.

Highwire- Official Promo [vk.com]

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KRiffhard

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runrudolph
Yeah.love Highwire. Good n vibrant song.hope they will do it live .
Jeroen

It would have been perfect on 'Steel Wheels' as second single after "Mixed Emotions".

I think the war started later than the SW release date...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-01-26 22:46 by JJHMick.

Great track! Typical Stonesriff, catchy chorus, a lot of «air» in it. A little dated productionwise, but as mentioned by others, better than Steel Wheels. Still too thin sounding. Love the crisp guitars, though.

[www.reverbnation.com]

Fantastic tune. It’s got it all.

I love this song! ;-)

i’m on the highwire to hell.

I remember Mick talking about this track when Wandering Spirit came out. He was saying he actually played more guitar on Stones albums than on his solo records. Appropriately modest about his chops, he said he shows riffs to Keith: “That’s how it goes; you can do it better.” But then Keith would say, “That sounds perfectly okay to me.”

A gracious Mick/Keith interaction, for a change!

In any case, this is a great Mick creation all the way. One of the “tells,” other than Mick playing the riff himself, is how far it travels up and down the neck. Keith is typically far more economical (witness the great “Nothing on Me,” not so much a riff as a gesture).

Reminds me of something John Mellencamp or Huey Lewis might have released - a bit too clean and poppy - nice sound to the guitars though.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......