It's the Stones trying to be the Stones, and no one else does it better.

But on Steel Wheels you can practically see the sweat on their brow, notice the tricks used, and finish the album without being surprised.

I tried so hard to love this album when it came out, but at the end of the day, just as a song like "Sad Sad Sad" is "a stones song by numbers", "Steel Wheels" is a "stones album by numbers."

Much better than Dirty Work or even Emotional Rescue and It's Only Rock-n-Roll, albums where I feel like they just kind of "phoned it in". "Steel Wheels" is not phoned in, it's just middle-aged stars trying desperately to find the "lost magic" and not quite reaching it.

I think this album is generally underrated by critics because expectations were driven so high after the long hiatus and "Talk is Cheap". It was the "this could be another Sticky Fingers" hope for everyone as they put it on the turntable the first time.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-10-02 19:12 by Turner68.

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DandelionPowderman
A little gem that is often forgotten is Break The Spell. A nice little ditty that rolls on. It's wonky and unsteady, but swings like the 60s Stones. Ronnie's bass playing is a little crazy, but I like the descending guitar riffs, Micks vocals, the harp and Charlie's beat. Good track

it's high quality filler :-)

Can't Be Seen gotta be the worst Keith track on any Stones album

As with most people, it's about half good and half bad for me.

I Like:
Sad Sad Sad
Mixed Emotions
Rock and a Hard Place (I never understood why everyone hates this so much. I think it's perfectly fine. Great solo by Ronnie too.)
Can't Be Seen
Almost Hear You Sigh
Slipping Away

I never liked the other half of the album, especially Continental Drift.

Thought SW was decent when first released. Now, much lower opinion. Have no interested in listening to it, and can't believe now that I even considered SW an ok CD.

These album talk/Track Talk posts are interesting in that I haven't thought much about the 80's/post TY albums in years. Now w/ Track Talk I can rediscover just how bad there were (w/ a few good tunes here and there as exceptions, but not many). Man, what a dreadful decade for the band.

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Turner68
It's the Stones trying to be the Stones, and no one else does it better.

But on Steel Wheels you can practically see the sweat on their brow, notice the tricks used, and finish the album without being surprised.

I tried so hard to love this album when it came out, but at the end of the day, just as a song like "Sad Sad Sad" is "a stones song by numbers", "Steel Wheels" is a "stones album by numbers."

Much better than Dirty Work or even Emotional Rescue and It's Only Rock-n-Roll, albums where I feel like they just kind of "phoned it in". "Steel Wheels" is not phoned in, it's just middle-aged stars trying desperately to find the "lost magic" and not quite reaching it.

I think this album is generally underrated by critics because expectations were driven so high after the long hiatus and "Talk is Cheap". It was the "this could be another Sticky Fingers" hope for everyone as they put it on the turntable the first time.

I see what you mean, but Terrifying, Continental Drift, Blinded By Love and Almost Hear You Sigh surprised this listener in a good way

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"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"

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"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"

What I like about this album is the playfulness. Good melodies and interesting ideas. But in a cheap 80's production and often half finished songs.

Voodoo Lounge was a more homogenouse album. An album with a direction and with a better - but boring - production. The problems concerning VL were just the lack of playfulness and lack of strong songwriting,

When I heard Continental Drift I thought it was magnificent and that it would herald a new era of sonic adventurism from the Stones. Sadly it never happened. But it remains one of their most ambitious tracks - a beuatiful nod to Brian and the psychedelic era.

Quote
Silver Dagger
When I heard Continental Drift I thought it was magnificent and that it would herald a new era of sonic adventurism from the Stones. Sadly it never happened. But it remains one of their most ambitious tracks - a beuatiful nod to Brian and the psychedelic era.

+1



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-10-03 00:48 by DandelionPowderman.

I remember being with a friend and giving it the "first listen drive up the coast highway' treatment the day it was released.
Cranked it up, and away we went...perhaps our expectations were too high (even given the inferior Dirty Work that before it),
but a new Stones release always brought excitement back then. Despite our best efforts, it just wasn't happening....
after two listens start to finish couldn't even find a possible favorite. The silver ling was that a tour that happened,
but any decent/quality studio output from them had already become thing of the past - give or take a tune here and there.

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

The best thing about this is the bicycle wheel being played as an instrument.

Sad Sad Sad: lyrically lame but ok. Something other than the words "sad sad sad" would've made it better. high energy song for tour.

Mixed Emotions: lyrically lame. Usually Mick can take Keith's lyrics and improve. Liked the video better than the song.

Terrifying: Mick with is rhyming dictionary again. Don't hate it. I like it because it's not typical Stones. Feels like an Undercover song.

Hold On to Your Hat: overall good energy. Good Mick voice and good guitars. Wish they'd played it live. Could have been as good as UnderCover of the Night Live.

Hearts for Sale: like it...even with '80 sound.

Blinded By Love: Not a fan of Mick going this direction...he's done it a few times before and since. It's no Lady Jane.

Rock and a Hard Place: Must admit I'm not a hater of this one. Many dislike..I like. Liked the video....and in general the overall hype that the Stones and Steel Wheels tour were getting (esp from MTV & VH1). Better lyrics than other songs on this album.

Can't Be Seen: Wonder if Mick tried this one. Definitely not Keith's worst as some have claimed.

Almost Hear You Sigh: Good one but sounds very '80s. Wish it sounded a bit more like Memory Motel.

Continental Drift: Great concert opener (recording). Like the fact they it was different and experimental in Stones '60s way.

Break the Spell: Very good. Less '80s sound than Hearts For Sale.

Slipping Away: Good one. Hard to get out of my head after hearing it. Like that vocally Mick played a significant role in a Keith vocal song.

Cook Cook Blues & Fancyman Blues (b-sides): Like the blues but wish they had better lyrics or none at all.


Overall: 6.5 out of 10 Agree with others that said very important album to reunite the band etc...


IORR............but I like it!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-10-03 01:25 by sweet neo con.

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DandelionPowderman

Quote
Silver Dagger
When I heard Continental Drift I thought it was magnificent and that it would herald a new era of sonic adventurism from the Stones. Sadly it never happened. But it remains one of their most ambitious tracks - a beuatiful nod to Brian and the psychedelic era.

+1

i liked it too. and fantastic intro for start me up on the tour.

but they milked it so much in the press at the time as an homage to brian, it almost felt as thought it was included as a marketing ploy. of course that doesn't detract from the fact that it's an enjoyable song to listen to and yes adventurous. however when i say "stones album by numbers" i mean you can almost feel them going "ok, so what made our great albums great... let's see.. we need one or two countryish songs... we need a song with really out there instrumentation like brian used to do... we need a ballad or 2... we need a couple hard rockers... and we need a commercial hit."

unless my recolleciton is wrong, keith and mick talked about "continental drift" at the time almost using the words " you can see the old classic stones are back, we even went to morocco to get the pipe players for brian's bit".

call me cynical ;-)

The last great Stones album. A few clunkers, Sad, Can't Be Seen, Hard Place, but overall a return to form, and their first album of all original material since Some Girls, and a cure to those awful Undercover and Dirty Work albums.

Slipping Away, to me, represents the end of the magic. Afterwards they would occasionally have a listenable single, but it was mostly over after Steel Wheels.

Quote
24FPS
The last great Stones album. A few clunkers, Sad, Can't Be Seen, Hard Place, but overall a return to form, and their first album of all original material since Some Girls, and a cure to those awful Undercover and Dirty Work albums.

Slipping Away, to me, represents the end of the magic. Afterwards they would occasionally have a listenable single, but it was mostly over after Steel Wheels.

well said.

at least they were honest about it. who could be surprised about what followed after listening to "slipping away"? the song spells it out.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-10-03 03:08 by Turner68.

2/5 album. I liked "Mixed Emotions" a bit. It had some nice riffs but no real hit potential. An easy forgettable album.

The best thing about this record was that it followed Dirty Work and was a slight improvement. Also it was really good to see the Stones touring again.

Listening to the record actually made me realize the Stones were done making truly brilliant albums, chasing songs with modern production and pop sensibilities in a way that just took them further from the stuff that made them so great. Nothing on the record moved me in an emotional way like the best of their earlier music. They had quit being leaders at this point and were following the trends in music, some of which they themselves created.

I think it was a period where they were trying to define themselves and realized they were already cast in a role they weren't going to break away from and when the greatest hits shows took form and started to solidify for them as the future business model for the Rolling Stones. It's too bad they didn't pick up on the need for straight ahead rock of the kind that happened with the grunge movement in a few years time. They are basically the best garage band around but Steel Wheels tried to make them a bit too slick and polished for their own good, imo. Too many tracks, too much mixing and production and not enough great songs simply projected. I think the biggest change was in Jagger and his influences and tastes had just diverged in a way I couldn't really follow.

Sorry to be negative Nancy here but it's better to speak the truth as inoffensively as possible, imo. Perhaps others can see greatness in Steel Wheels but unfortunately I don't. Mediocre at best.

SW I think is a great album, there are fantastic songs like Hearts for Sale (nice riff of Keith and lead guitar of Wood), Break the Spell (Bass and drums create a fantastic carpet rhythmic, harmonic and guitars do the rest, I like singing like Mick), Continental Drift (Big work!), Sad sad sad (simply Stones), Rock and a hard place (I think a little masterpiece, great riffs!) ecc.
I prefer not to make comparisons, each album reflects the period in which it was recorded.


everything's turning to gold

Quote
24FPS
The last great Stones album. A few clunkers, Sad, Can't Be Seen, Hard Place, but overall a return to form, and their first album of all original material since Some Girls, and a cure to those awful Undercover and Dirty Work albums.

Slipping Away, to me, represents the end of the magic. Afterwards they would occasionally have a listenable single, but it was mostly over after Steel Wheels.

All the songs on Undercover were originals, weren't they?

Or are you thinking of Cellophane Trousers?

Their last masterpiece.
A bit too clean recorded but great great great, (not sad sad sad)
Voodoo lounge was the beginning of the self referencing era.
I love steel wheels

This was the first Stones studio album that I felt something lacking that was in all their previous studio outings including DIRTY WORK. It was to me the first one that felt like product. It was solid enough but there was just something missing. Oh yes, the DANGER was missing

Well, it was better than Dirty Work, and actually not bad compared to what came after it, but my overall reaction to this album was then and is still now: mwah *shrug*

Sad Sad Sad: Filler

Mixed Emotions: Mediocre, but okay

Terrifying: Nice try, but mediocre

Hold On to Your Hat: Nothing

Hearts for Sale: Nothing

Blinded By Love: This is the sort of latter-days Stones ballads as sung by Mick I'm not at all fond of (other examples are Out of Tears, Streets of Love, etc...)

Rock and a Hard Place: Good song, not so good production.

Can't Be Seen: Not good

Almost Hear You Sigh: Kind of okay.

Continental Drift: Nonsense

Break the Spell: Filler

Slipping Away: The best of the album, although I like the Stripped version better.

Quote
Turner68
It's the Stones trying to be the Stones, and no one else does it better.

But on Steel Wheels you can practically see the sweat on their brow, notice the tricks used, and finish the album without being surprised.

I tried so hard to love this album when it came out, but at the end of the day, just as a song like "Sad Sad Sad" is "a stones song by numbers", "Steel Wheels" is a "stones album by numbers."

Much better than Dirty Work or even Emotional Rescue and It's Only Rock-n-Roll, albums where I feel like they just kind of "phoned it in". "Steel Wheels" is not phoned in, it's just middle-aged stars trying desperately to find the "lost magic" and not quite reaching it.

I think this album is generally underrated by critics because expectations were driven so high after the long hiatus and "Talk is Cheap". It was the "this could be another Sticky Fingers" hope for everyone as they put it on the turntable the first time.

Sad Sad Sad is Brown Sugar inverted. It's hilarious. Nice LP opener too.

STEEL WHEELS has aged in strange ways for me. Over the years I've gotten to like Blinded By Love much more. I've always hated Rock And A Hard Place - that song will always suck not matter what. Continental Drift continues to baffle me with how it's such a shitty Jagger solo song with a brilliant instrumental thrown in the middle of it. Hold On To Your Hat is pedestrian.

Hearts For Sale, Almost Hear You Sigh, Break The Spell and Slipping Away are the best tracks. Terrifying is... interesting. Mixed Emotions... well, it's a fun song to listen to once in a while but that's about it.

Even more amazing is how this is such a huge improvement from the previous LP, their worst ever, and that it's a totally different (sounding) band is fantastic. That's the reason why SW will always have a decent rank in the discog canon for me.

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DandelionPowderman

Quote
24FPS
The last great Stones album. A few clunkers, Sad, Can't Be Seen, Hard Place, but overall a return to form, and their first album of all original material since Some Girls, and a cure to those awful Undercover and Dirty Work albums.

Slipping Away, to me, represents the end of the magic. Afterwards they would occasionally have a listenable single, but it was mostly over after Steel Wheels.

All the songs on Undercover were originals, weren't they?

Or are you thinking of Cellophane Trousers?

I guess I meant the last GOOD Stones album of originals. I tend to rip away the stunningly great single Undercover of the Night from the album and throw the rest away, with Dirty Work only being slightly better.

What's wrong with She Was Hot and Tie You Up?

Their weakest 70s-efforts, GHS & IORR, are adorable compared to the almost disastrous Steel Wheels-album.
But it wouldnt be a Stones album not to contain a few killer songs, in case of Steel Wheels only two, but better two than nothing at all. What me disappointed most back then were the two absolutely weak and boring Keith-songs, Slipping Away/Cant Be Seen. I remember how great it was to hear Mixed Emotions for the first time on the radio. I still like the song but it is just an average song if you look at it by the light of the day.

Quote
HMS
Their weakest 70s-efforts, GHS & IORR, are adorable compared to the almost disastrous Steel Wheels-album.
But it wouldnt be a Stones album not to contain a few killer songs, in case of Steel Wheels only two, but better two than nothing at all. What me disappointed most back then were the two absolutely weak and boring Keith-songs, Slipping Away/Cant Be Seen. I remember how great it was to hear Mixed Emotions for the first time on the radio. I still like the song but it is just an average song if you look at it by the light of the day.

Interesting perspective and one I agree with. Hard to beat the 70's Stones music. GHS is a complete masterpiece compared to anything they have done since, imo. Including Some Girls. It's kind of a curse that they are always compared to their best work and kind of a mystery why they have never come close to reproducing it. Their use of session geniuses like Preston and Nicky Hopkins and producers like Jimmy Miller has to be part of the reason.

Loved SW when it came out. Still do.

A nice, varied collection of songs. Terrifying is my favourite. The combination of the typical Stones sound and the jazzy feel of it is interesting.

The pop songs Hearts For Sale, Almost Hear You Sigh and Can't Bee Seen are catchy as hell. Keith's acoustic on AHYS is adorable. RAAHP isn't my cup of tea.

Break The Spell and Slipping Away is for me the Stones at their best. Heartfelt, warts and all-music. Just wonderful.

The rockers (I include Mixed Emotions here) are good, but nothing more, imo.

I like the sound of Blinded By Love. A good comeback album.