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retired_dogQuote
HMS
Very good album, almost as good as glorious DW. Undercover has a lot of goodies and not really a weak spot. The trademark rockers Too Tough, Wanna Hold You, It Must Be Hell, All The Way Down are no masterpieces, but very enjoyable, imo.
Too Much Blood? Well... At least I´ve grown accustomed to it over the years...
Everything else is excellent: Undercover, She Was Hot, Tie You Up, Feel On Baby, Pretty Beat Up, great songs.
Because you mention DW (again...), what strikes me is the thought that getting rid of the mediocre stuff on both Undercover and DW and compiling their best tracks one would get a pretty good album, maybe even glorious...
Looks like their creative well was not yet entirely dry at that point, it just was not fruitful enough to produce top notch albums every two years.
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Mathijs
Undercover of the Night – Utterly fantastic. I love everything about this one, and its the kind of Stones love: dangerous, sleazy, sexy, violent. And fantastic lyrics. 5 out of 5 stars.
She Was Hot – Might be Jagger's best vocals ever, especially how he does the backups. Fantastic groove, great piano by Stu. 5 stars.
Tie You Up – Could be my favorite of the album. Great drive and groove, great lyrics and vocals. Based on a Keith riff we've all heard a thousand times, but still new, fresh, and impossible to copy. 5 stars.
Wanna Hold You – Hate it. Stones by the numbers. Terrible vocals, terrible production. 1 star.
Feel On Baby – Listen to that bass line! Great vocals, great production. But, the long outtakes and dub versions are better. 3 stars.
Too Much Blood – Love this song, especially in conjunction with the video. Great lyrics, great bass, great very un-stonesy guitars. 4 stars.
Pretty Beat Up – As with Undercover, I love it. It's not a song, its a groove. Listen to Charlie's drumming and Keith's bass lines. It's not sexy, it's a violent rape. 5 stars.
Too Tough – Nice rocker, just turn it up loud. Great vocals. 3.5 stars.
All The Way Down – Another great little rocker, carried by Jagger's great vocals, which save the song a bit. 3 stars.
It Must Be Hell – And suddenly the album runs out of steam. Funnily enough, with a riff from Soul Survivor, a song that does exactly the same on Exile: it's just one song too many. It's tired, it's a bit fake. But again Jagger's vocals are great. 2 stars.
Mathijs
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retired_dogQuote
HMS
Very good album, almost as good as glorious DW. Undercover has a lot of goodies and not really a weak spot. The trademark rockers Too Tough, Wanna Hold You, It Must Be Hell, All The Way Down are no masterpieces, but very enjoyable, imo.
Too Much Blood? Well... At least I´ve grown accustomed to it over the years...
Everything else is excellent: Undercover, She Was Hot, Tie You Up, Feel On Baby, Pretty Beat Up, great songs.
Because you mention DW (again...), what strikes me is the thought that getting rid of the mediocre stuff on both Undercover and DW and compiling their best tracks one would get a pretty good album, maybe even glorious...
Looks like their creative well was not yet entirely dry at that point, it just was not fruitful enough to produce top notch albums every two years.
So you'd drop Wanna Hold You to include Had It With You? That's hilarious.
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SomeGuy
In my recollection, Undercover was considered to be a disappointment after the excellent Tattoo You. It didn't sell well either, obviously.
These days I probably would be thankful if they could make an album like it, but that doesn't say much, really. But at least it was one of the last albums that had a familiar Stones sound to it. A sound that not even Chris Kimsey, let alone Don Was, could bring back later on.
Fav's of mine: Undercover Of The Night, She was Hot, Tie You Up (The Pain Of Love), Pretty Beat Up, It Must Be Hell.
Bummer ones: Feel On Baby, Too Much Blood
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DandelionPowderman
Why did Emotional Rescue have «a bad reputation»? Never heard that before. It usually is among every Stones fan's top 8-10 albums.
In the U.S. In the 80s and 90s it was considered an awful mistake amongst reviewers and most stones fans I talked to. I don't know if that has changed.
Its good sales were chalked up to demand generated from some girls success.
On the radio ever since you can hear deep cuts from some girls but never emotional rescue.
Tattoo You was considered a "comeback" album.
Spot on.
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retired_dogQuote
SomeGuy
In my recollection, Undercover was considered to be a disappointment after the excellent Tattoo You. It didn't sell well either, obviously.
These days I probably would be thankful if they could make an album like it, but that doesn't say much, really. But at least it was one of the last albums that had a familiar Stones sound to it. A sound that not even Chris Kimsey, let alone Don Was, could bring back later on.
Fav's of mine: Undercover Of The Night, She was Hot, Tie You Up (The Pain Of Love), Pretty Beat Up, It Must Be Hell.
Bummer ones: Feel On Baby, Too Much Blood
My recollection is exactly the same. While Undercover had interesting sounds, it simply lacked in the songwriting department. My favourites more or less exactly reflect your list, I would only replace It Must Be Hell with Wanna Hold You! Everything else is just "nice" but ultimately forgettable.
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Elmo LewisQuote
RedhotcarpetQuote
Turner68Quote
DandelionPowderman
Why did Emotional Rescue have «a bad reputation»? Never heard that before. It usually is among every Stones fan's top 8-10 albums.
In the U.S. In the 80s and 90s it was considered an awful mistake amongst reviewers and most stones fans I talked to. I don't know if that has changed.
Its good sales were chalked up to demand generated from some girls success.
On the radio ever since you can hear deep cuts from some girls but never emotional rescue.
Tattoo You was considered a "comeback" album.
Spot on.
ER's sales were boosted by SG being so good. Also, the ER single was very popular in the US that summer (1980).
That said, it was a let down after SG.
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SomeGuyQuote
retired_dogQuote
SomeGuy
In my recollection, Undercover was considered to be a disappointment after the excellent Tattoo You. It didn't sell well either, obviously.
These days I probably would be thankful if they could make an album like it, but that doesn't say much, really. But at least it was one of the last albums that had a familiar Stones sound to it. A sound that not even Chris Kimsey, let alone Don Was, could bring back later on.
Fav's of mine: Undercover Of The Night, She was Hot, Tie You Up (The Pain Of Love), Pretty Beat Up, It Must Be Hell.
Bummer ones: Feel On Baby, Too Much Blood
My recollection is exactly the same. While Undercover had interesting sounds, it simply lacked in the songwriting department. My favourites more or less exactly reflect your list, I would only replace It Must Be Hell with Wanna Hold You! Everything else is just "nice" but ultimately forgettable.
From what I gather, no one here likes It Must Be Hell. True, the riff is 'stolen' from Soul Survivor (a song I never really liked), but at least it's their own song, not nicked from somebody else. What I find particularly attractive about it is the guitar solo/harmony part, which is rather unique for The Stones. I think this is what Mick J. was referring to when he said that The Stones would have ended up being a heavy metal band, had they gone on in the direction of 1983.
I Wanna Hold You is, indeed a charming little ditty, I like it but I do think it is rather a silly song, but perhaps that only adds to the charm
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retired_dogQuote
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retired_dogQuote
HMS
Very good album, almost as good as glorious DW. Undercover has a lot of goodies and not really a weak spot. The trademark rockers Too Tough, Wanna Hold You, It Must Be Hell, All The Way Down are no masterpieces, but very enjoyable, imo.
Too Much Blood? Well... At least I´ve grown accustomed to it over the years...
Everything else is excellent: Undercover, She Was Hot, Tie You Up, Feel On Baby, Pretty Beat Up, great songs.
Because you mention DW (again...), what strikes me is the thought that getting rid of the mediocre stuff on both Undercover and DW and compiling their best tracks one would get a pretty good album, maybe even glorious...
Looks like their creative well was not yet entirely dry at that point, it just was not fruitful enough to produce top notch albums every two years.
So you'd drop Wanna Hold You to include Had It With You? That's hilarious.
No, because I love both!
Both albums consist of nothing more than an EP's worth of good material by Stones standarts. If one combines both EP's one gets at least an album that lets forget the "skip button" for a while.
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24FPS
Take Undercover of the Night off the Undercover album, throw the rest away.
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retired_dogQuote
24FPS
Take Undercover of the Night off the Undercover album, throw the rest away.
Isn't that a bit Too Tough?
Please don't judge this album too harshly, there's at least a (small) handful of more good tracks on it...
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24FPS
Take Undercover of the Night off the Undercover album, throw the rest away.