I do not think DW is the greatest effort by the Stones either, but it still puzzles me the fact that it is doomed here on this forum. A lot of people here seems to hate Jaggers solo stuff and his contributions to Stones albums. Still, when they get an album where Keith was in charge of a lot of the work, they say that it's still not good enough. A big contradiction to me. Or, is it as simple as that it's not the same people bashing DW and Jagger?

I love most of Dirty Work, & still consider it their best post-Tattoo You album (I even love the BIG drum sound!). Jagger was especially good vocally around this time.

Dirty Work is an excellent album I like everything about it..and what a cool looking album cover im into bright colours..

It's not a question of unfair bashing. It's just that there are no decent songs on it save for One Hit borne out by the fact that they have hardly ever played anything off the album on tour. The only other good song I really like on there is a cover of Half Pint's Too Rude.

The whole thing sounds rushed and half-baked. There are seeds of decent songs there but they lack hooks and bridges to lift them to a higher level. Dynamically it's one of their least impressive offerings.

I enjoy it except Back To Zero - it's not EOMS or LIB though.

I love the album...I mean...you have your ups and downs in life...and this record happend to come around at a time when I needed it...so to speak...A true friend of mine...

This is Keith all the way - everybodys favorite Stone - and still many consider it an album of half decent songs. I just find it interesting, since most people hate Jaggers songs.... :-)

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Silver Dagger
...borne out by the fact that they have hardly ever played anything off the album on tour.

We could say the same thing about the Emotional Rescue & Undercover albums. The main reason all of these haven't been performed live much is simply because there were no tours to coincide with their releases.

Mick performed 'Harlem Shuffle' & 'Winning Ugly' in 1988, & Keith performed 'Too Rude' the same year; then both 'Harlem Shuffle' & 'One Hit' were performed during the 1989 reunion.

It has the energy that previous efforts don't have and some songs are ok (One hit, Harlem Shuffle, Hold back, Keith's numbers...) but I've always thought that Jagger vocals ruin everything anyway...

I don't understand the bashing of DW, too. There are great guitar duets Keith/Ronnie, the title track is one of the best rock efforts of the band, dirty and irresistible, the Keith song, I can't remember the title in the moment, is a melodious gospel-like track, weakest song is Harlem Shuffle in my opinion, in general I like the aggressive momentum of the album, some punk tracks on it, simply great.

IMO Dirty Work was the beginning of the Stones not working as a unit in the studio anymore. Jagger was more into solo work and having chart success with the Jacksons and David Bowie. I believe this lack of cohesion shows up in the songs. Some are ok, some I cannot even listen to. I think the group connected again for VL, but the mid-'80's was not a good era for quality Stones music.

i think all the guitarlayers and the guitar sounds are amazing!
weaving at its best. the main problem is that the production sucks and jaggers singing on like half the tracks is too forced.
plus with back to zero and winning ugly they have 2 really BAD eighty flavoured shit songs that kinda pull everything down. but then again one hit, dirty work and sleep tonight are 3 fantastic songs!!!
with another producer minus the 2 shit songs plus 2 or 3 better songs, it could be a classic!
and waht i still rate positive about the album: it stands for a period in their career. it ha s a certain energy. whereas albums like ABB or BTB have better songs but lack of character. ABB and BTB are just a collection of songs but dont work as an album. DW does (in its good and bad way)

I Like it.
It Rocks.
\m/

I always catch hell every time I say this on here but I like Dirty Work better than Undercover which to this day I can only listen to "Wanna Hold You"!

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guitarbastard
plus with back to zero and winning ugly they have 2 really BAD eighty flavoured shit songs that kinda pull everything down.

It's probably the last time Jagger sounded contemporary on a Rolling Stones record. Since then they have been content in revamping the past.

It's basically a Keith and Ronnie "solo" album with lots of mediocre songs, "phoned in" contributions from Jagger, and trendy 80s studio sounds which have not aged well. Add to that the horrible cover and the rancor within the band at the time and you have an album I would rather forget.

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71Tele
Add to that the horrible cover...

Nice to actually see a photo of the band on the cover, something that very rarely happened after TSMR.

Because it was terrible (imho).

It is a Stones album... 4-5 great songs.... several throw aways...
I am sure many will disagree, but I always enjoyed "Winning Ugly"

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Max'sKansasCity
It is a Stones album... 4-5 great songs.... several throw aways...
I am sure many will disagree, but I always enjoyed "Winning Ugly"

A particularly egregious one, sorry...

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71Tele

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Max'sKansasCity
It is a Stones album... 4-5 great songs.... several throw aways...
I am sure many will disagree, but I always enjoyed "Winning Ugly"

A particularly egregious one, sorry...

Of course you feel that way.

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withaheadfullofsnow
IMO Dirty Work was the beginning of the Stones not working as a unit in the studio anymore. Jagger was more into solo work and having chart success with the Jacksons and David Bowie. I believe this lack of cohesion shows up in the songs. Some are ok, some I cannot even listen to. I think the group connected again for VL, but the mid-'80's was not a good era for quality Stones music.

mick solo caused it? a blast from the past.. aww, how cute.this is how little future hardcore fans start out.look a little closer now and dig into the past using some of these keywords-guitar player,drummer,drug addict,alcoholic,incoherent,hostile work enviroment,nonfunctioning

I still don't think they've ever done an album that didn't have at least five good-to-excellent tracks.

On Dirty Work:

"One Hit (to The Body)"
"Harlem Shuffle"
"Too Rude"
"Sleep Tonight"

and one of my all-time down 'n dirty favorites:

"Had It With You."

Not bad at all for a bad in total disarray trying to make its way through a mid-life crisis in the 1980s. Also important in laying the groundwork for Talk Is Cheap.

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NedKelly
I do not think DW is the greatest effort by the Stones either, but it still puzzles me the fact that it is doomed here on this forum. A lot of people here seems to hate Jaggers solo stuff and his contributions to Stones albums. Still, when they get an album where Keith was in charge of a lot of the work, they say that it's still not good enough. A big contradiction to me. Or, is it as simple as that it's not the same people bashing DW and Jagger?

I think they just should have called it "Bad Work, or "Shitty Work" or "Our Worst Work", the possibilities are endless. IDK, I don't think those mid 80's CD's were very good - Undercover wasn't as bad but definitely not a stellar work either.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-07-13 20:54 by Lynd8.

Remembering when the record appeared, it seemed strange at that point in their career to be leading off with a cover, 'Harlem Shuffle', no matter how much I liked the result. And in the end, although 'One Hit' is good, there is no great Jagger/Richards song. You can almost hear the seams not quite coming together on some cuts, as if someone in the control room couldn't figure out how to use the new digital equipment.

Also remember they were coming off their worst album since Between the Buttons, the infamous Undercover. It was expected that they would bounce back from that album with a great showing, as they always had in the past. They didn't bounce very high. They could still pull off a single, but personally I'd had it (pun intended) with throwaway crap like 'Had It With You'.

They don't sound like a band on the album. That's why Steel Wheels was so refreshing, and sadly, their swan song in the studio. 'Slipping Away', to me, is the end of the golden age of the Stones on record. Everything afterward is fading echoes.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-07-13 21:14 by 24FPS.

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NedKelly
I do not think DW is the greatest effort by the Stones either, but it still puzzles me the fact that it is doomed here on this forum. A lot of people here seems to hate Jaggers solo stuff and his contributions to Stones albums. Still, when they get an album where Keith was in charge of a lot of the work, they say that it's still not good enough. A big contradiction to me. Or, is it as simple as that it's not the same people bashing DW and Jagger?

I am really hard pressed to find any Stones album I do not like something about it. Even ABB has started to grow on me. I really love Black and Blue, however, it rarely gets mentioned around here, or at least it seems that way. I like DW.

dear lem motlow... my point is that Mick cared more about his solo career than the stones at that point. That definitely affected the finished product... DW.

As far as your "little future hard core fans" comment goes, I've been collecting stones bootlegs for 15 yrs, have about 500 of them. I have nothing to prove to you and if you do not like my comments you don't have to be a douchebag about it. Try that keyword... douchebag.

At the time when DW was released (march 1986) it was a huge disappointment for me. Had always very high expectations concerning The Stones...

But after 25 years (unbelievable, how time flies), I really do enjoy it.

Give me another 20 years and I will probably say the same about ABB.

It is about time that The Stones do re-invent themselves, just the way Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan did....

Harlem Shuffle and Sleep Tonight are the only things I can stand to listen to now - and barely. Too Rude would have been an ok track on Talk Is Cheap, but hardly qualifies as a Rolling Stones song.

I like it as much as Streets of love...