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retired_dog

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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.

Since UNDERCOVER is one word, the appropriate initial for it is U, not UC since it is not UNDER COVER.

Stick to the code. The code is the law.

[www.youtube.com]

UNDERCOVER continues to get better and better. There's a lot going on, a lot of depth, a lot of details, and they were in a new phase, one that they unfortunately didn't pursue any further and the results were, let's say, piss poor at best.

Which makes U even better and better. Pretty good for such a slagged album. If TATTOO YOU was their 1968-1972 1980s album, U was their GOATS HEAD SOUP and SOME GIRLS for that decade.

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



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-07-18 02:58 by SomeGuy.

Listened to it 10 times a day for weeks when it came out and then the guys in the barracks bought me a pair of headphones for Christmas and they didn't have to hear it anymore. Still one of my faves.

UNDERCOVER is their last album that truly took the band in new interesting directions. For me though, the album, while very eclectic, is almost too wild of a listen as a whole.

"UNDERCOVER OF THE NIGHT" is very danceable, catchy, great lyrics and a very underrated song in their catalogue (5/5)

"SHE WAS HOT" is slinky, sexy, and a classic Stones song with an 80's vibe (5/5)

"TIE YOU UP (THE PAIN OF LOVE)" is a cool jam, but doesn't do too much for me other than that (3.5/5)

"WANNA HOLD YOU" is a simplistic, corny Keith number. The track does get a little repetitive at times, but still hold up as a strong album cut (4.5/5)

"FEEL ON BABY" was the Stones' foray into dub music, an 80's twist on reggae. It's one of the weirdest songs in their catalogue, but it's very forgettable (3/5)

"TOO MUCH BLOOD" has a post-disco beat to it and very danceable. The music video for the track is one of their best, and Mick delivers some cool improvised raps. It just doesn't hold up as anything special by Stones standards (3.5/5)

"PRETTY BEAT UP" was primarily written by Ronnie and has a rough, nasty rhythm to it. The song is very limited on lyrics and a basic throwaway filler (3/5)

"TOO TOUGH" is hard, nasty and an absolute classic Stones cut. The chorus is catchy and the guitars blister heavily where Ronnie delivers a scorching guitar solo. My favorite song on the album, and again a very underrated forgotten song (5/5)

"ALL THE WAY DOWN" could be seen as filler but stands strong on the album. Another forgotten cut, it's another classic Stones song that has a catchy chorus and a sweet middle breakdown ("She's there when I close my eyes, there when I close my eyes") (5/5)

"IT MUST BE HELL" steals a couple riffs off of HONKY TONK WOMEN and SOUL SURVIVOR. As a closing track at 5 minutes long, it doesn't do much for me in that it feels like the album ends on a bland note (3/5)

Overall, I give the album a (B-) rating. It's not bad by any means, but to me, does not stand as a strong Stones effort. The sessions for the album yielded some very interesting songs, and it's a wonder why a lot of them were not completed and replaced a couple throwaways that made it to the album.

Here's a GREAT catchy instrumental from the UNDERCOVER sessions, that includes the same horn section that plays on TOO MUCH BLOOD:

"DOG SHIT" [www.youtube.com]

Undercover of the Night – I can’t listen to this song without recalling Jagger’s fake moustache in the video. In fact, I can't listen to anything they’ve released since 1972 without thinking of Jagger’s fake moustache. Really not an ounce of sincerity in much of their later work. However, this tune is irresistible - one of their best songs of any period. (Six stars)

She Was Hot – Best intro since Brown Sugar (of course they’ve rarely bothered with intros since Brown Sugar). Lyrics are flyweight but Jagger’s vocals are purrfect. (Four stars)

Tie You Up – They had me until the ‘I’ll be back next season with a bang’ line which I assume was supposed to feel like a climax but instead drives home how creatively limp the Stones had become. (Zero stars)

Wanna Hold You – Wanna hate this song and call it creatively limp too but it’s just so darn soothing. Versions of this song should’ve been released as bonus tracks on all subsequent albums. (Four and a quarter stars)

Feel On Baby – This song doesn’t have much to say but it has a nice groove and vocal performance. (Two and a half stars)

Too Much Blood – TMB tries to be a great song in the way that Michael Jackson’s Thriller is a great song. The trouble is that while Jackson had the good sense not to release Thriller on a Stones record Mick didn’t…(Five bananas)

Pretty Beat Up – I’m not sure I believe it but rumor has it that Keith’s dog does the lead vocals on this piece of crap. (Zero stars)

Too Tough – Pleasant enough rocker for fans whose first language isn’t English. But twenty rounds of Mick repeating how tough he is leaves me longing for the days when he gave a crap about the lyrics. (Too stars)

All The Way Down – Pity they gave up on this song – never would’ve in the old days. Based on the outtakes I’ve heard, this was a potential masterpiece which bafflingly ended up as filler. (Two stars)

It Must Be Hell – Seriously? Stealing a classic Exile riff for one of the worst songs they’ve ever written. This was my ‘I’m as mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore’ moment with the Stones. If this were a movie I would've walked out. (Back To ZERO)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-07-18 10:07 by Swayed1967.

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

Mathijs ratings of the album reflects exactly my opinion, maybe Wanna Hold You and It Must Be Hell deserve an additional ( half) point...but that doesn't really matter...
Their last studio album release ( beside B&L ) I still can listen through without skipping tracks.

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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

great review...I also might bump up a couple of the ratings. One of my favourite vocals by MJ...virtually every song.

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GasLightStreet

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retired_dog

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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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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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Turner68

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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.

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.

"No Anchovies, Please"

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retired_dog

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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

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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Elmo Lewis

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Redhotcarpet

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Turner68

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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.

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.

At the time, the contrast between ER and TY couldn't have been bigger. Nowadays, preferences got a little changed by what came after, I guess.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2019-07-18 18:15 by SomeGuy.

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SomeGuy

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retired_dog

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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

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

I like It Must Be Hell. Yeah it's a rip off of Soul Survivor, but they've ripped themselves off a lot more later on - Sad Sad Sad is Brown Sugar in reverse, Sleep Tonight is exactly the bridge from Coming Down Again, Lowdown is Love Is Strong which is all from Wicked As It Seems.

Well good!

the problem with undercover and dirty work albums were "no gigs" IMHO

Imagine an arena's tour with Undercover album, + a few theatre gigs

"From the vaults Undercover live in New York 20.... crazy

Yes it was somewhat of a letdown when it was released, but in hindsight it's better than everything that came after it.
It was the first Stones album where I stopped listening from start to finish as a whole album - started skipping around and finally settling on just a few.
Even Emotional Rescue with it's lame title track and quirkiness came across as a united album, whereas Undercover was disconnected and hit or miss.
The title track was decent, but a bit too polished and "modern" sounding...sounds very dated when listening now.
Always liked She Was Hot - bought the tongue shaped vinyl single, and still like to look at it when going through the collection.
I might be in the minority, but always liked Too Much Blood as well....liked Wanna Hold You also.
Tie You Up (The Pain of Love) suffers from exaggerated Jagger vocals imo.
Feel on Baby is aimless faux reggae, but maybe a bit better than some of their other attempts at reggae - not their best nor their worst. I like Pretty Beat Up.
Too Tough - at the time of release sort of liked its due to the intro guitars (it had promise), but it sort of devolves into mediocrity- Ronnie's solo sounds like a kazoo.
All the Way Down...OK and nothing more - might have been better if saved for Steel Wheels which could have boosted that album.
It Must Be Hell - yeah the familiar riffage and it was decent at the time, but now when I listen to it I hear Michael Jackson's Black and White riff which taints the whole ting - another reason to dislike Jacko.

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

I have never listened to a Jackson album in my life, thanks for the warning

I wouldn't say that everything that came after Undercover is necessarily worse, I find it hard to compare a 44 minute LP (ten songs) to a 67 minute cd (16 songs, of which three or four should have been omitted from the release to begin with). Undercover, however, is at about the end of the 'series' of regular releases of a new record (almost) every year, that made it like a natural sounding phenomenon. Dirty Work also has that to a certain extent. But I guess that years of not touring, i.e. working as a band, sort of made them lose their natural sound afterwards. Production personnel didn't help, either. I can think of a number of producers that they should rather work with, or bassists and pianoplayers for that matter.

You couldn't really escape Michael Jackson's Black and White tune and state of the art video (the morphing faces) when it was released - at least I couldn't - it was all over MTV and everywhere else w/ Slash on guitar.
But if you never heard it and/or weren't even aware of it, consider yourself lucky I guess.

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



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-07-18 19:50 by Hairball.

Spare me the details. Probably I heard it once or twice but luckily forgot.

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retired_dog

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GasLightStreet

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retired_dog

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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.

Look...if you combine both albums to create one super album...you get a really good album actually!

Track list something like this:

Undercover of the Night
She Was Hot
Tie You Up
Wanna Hold You
Feel On Baby
Too Much Blood
Pretty Beat Up
Too Tough
All The Way Down
One Hit To The Body

If you have been listening to a band for say 30 years and heard the same beats and riffs again and again, in a way you get brainwashed which makes it difficult
to distinguish the good from the garbage, at least for me.

More like this according to my taste:


Undercover of the Night
Tie You Up
Had It With You
Harlem Shuffle
Too Rude

She Was Hot
Wanna Hold You
Pretty Beat Up
Dirty Work
One Hit To The Body

Take Undercover of the Night off the Undercover album, throw the rest away.

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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...

Why no love for Feel On Baby? IMO, the best track on the album.

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retired_dog

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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...

Maybe it's harsh, but I judge their albums by what I listen to. I don't even own Undercover, but I love the single. It's even less coherent than Dirty Work.

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24FPS
Take Undercover of the Night off the Undercover album, throw the rest away.

It's the only essential cut to be sure.


Since we enjoy mixing and matching, I would contend that their last 7 albums should've been pared into 1.


Undercover of the Night
One Hit
Harlem Shuffle
Mixed Emotions
Love Is Strong

Plundered My Soul
The Worst
Rough Justice
Doom & Gloom
Blues cover


That constitutes the essential output of the last 36 years. (In fact, I'm surprised they haven't released a Made in the Shade type compilation with those above songs yet.) The rest is non-essential, mediocre or just plain crap depending on how charitable one's feeling.