Quote
keefriff99
I don't get all the hate for Hold On To Your Hat. No, it's not much of a SONG, but the guitar work is so scorching and thrilling that I enjoy listening to it.

For me, Mick's guitar (the open G rhythm guitar) comes across as robot-like, and Keith's solos are drenched in effects - to the extent that you can't hear what he's playing at times. Add the predictable melody, and it won't be a winner for me.

But it's fast and loud, and Mick has the attitude - I'll give you that

Sad Sad Sad - 7/10
Mixed Emotions - 10/10
Terrifying- 9/10
Hold On to Your Hat- 8/10
Hearts for Sale- 7/10
Blinded by Love- 1/10

Rock and a Hard Place - 8/10
Can't Be Seen - 3/10
Almost Hear You Sigh- 10/10
Continental Drift-10/10
Break the Spell - 10/10
Slipping Away" - 9/10

When I do get around to listening to SW I realize that I like most of the songs. It is those two cuts "Rock & Hard Place" and "Blinded by Love" that I find truly awful, and they weigh the whole album down for me. I remember when it came out, how glad I was that the Stones were back.
Glad? No, ecstatic! And the tour was close behind. So it was all good, and I didn't question the songs. Plus this was before the Net, and we were not as cynical and impatient, and all knowing yet.
What mattered a lot to me in those years was that there was a lot of motion from solo Stones to keep the spirit alive. Maybe the actual Stones albums were a little too over cooked. But you had Jagger, Keith, Ronnie and Charlie all putting out solo albums. Almost every one of them stellar.

Quote
keefriff99
I don't get all the hate for Hold On To Your Hat. No, it's not much of a SONG, but the guitar work is so scorching and thrilling that I enjoy listening to it.

Quite agree. It's fun.... and the closest they ever got to shredding

HFS has one of my favorite Mick Lyrics: " I don't need a doctor, I need a deputation. And if you don't want my lovin' just you can just take my resignation". I like both the words and delivery of it.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2018-09-28 02:27 by ryanpow.

Sad Sad Sad - 7

Mixed Emotions - 8

Terrifying - 10

Hold on to your Hat - 2

Hearts for Sale - 9

Blinded by Love - 7

Rock and a Hard Place - 6

Can't be Seen - 7

Almost Hear you sigh - 10

Continental Drift - 10

Break the Spell - 8

Slipping Away - 9

Sad Sad Sad 7
Mixed Emotions 8,5
Terrifying 4
Hold On To Your Hat 1
Hearts For Sale 1
Blinded By Love 1
Rock And A Hard Place 8
Can't Be Seen 6,5
Almost Hear You Sigh 10
Continental Drift 8
Break The Spell 8,5
Slipping Away 6,5

Sad Sad Sad - 6
Mixed Emotions - 7.5
Terrifying - 7
Hold On To Your Hat - 6.5
Hearts For Sale - 7
Blinded By Love - 5
Rock And A Hard Place - 3
Can't Be Seen - 5.5
Almost Hear You Sigh - 8.5
Continental Drift - 7.5
Break The Spell - 5
Slipping Away - 8.5

There's something with the flow on this album that isn't right, but it's still the best latter-day Stones album, imo.

Steel Wheels has grown on me. It's a sleek, professional, bright and punchy album with some top-notch musicianship. There are some remnants of '80s production which dates the album a bit.

I still slightly prefer Voodoo and B2B, but not by nearly as much as I used to.

Sad Sad Sad - 9
Mixed Emotions - 9
Terrifying - 9
Hold On To Your Hat - 8
Hearts For Sale - 7
Blinded By Love - 9
Rock And A Hard Place - 9
Can't Be Seen - 8
Almost Hear You Sigh - 10
Continental Drift - 10
Break The Spell - 10
Slipping Away - 10

Quote
DandelionPowderman
There's something with the flow on this album that isn't right, but it's still the best latter-day Stones album, imo.

Yeah, same impression here although I couldn't really say what it is that isn't right.

My standout tunes on SW are Terrifying, Rock And A Hard Place (which semingly nobody else likes) and Continental Drift (for its experimental edge). The rest to me is more ore less Stones by numbers. Terrifying and Rock also worked out great in concert.

To me, SW is one of their less memorable albums - but by no means an album to be ashamed of! Being released ~3 years after Dirty Work didn't seem such a long time because by that time many artists/groups released an album every 3 years only.

What was great was that SW was followed by a tour and that much of the album was also played live. It was not only good to see them in concert again after eight years (Vienna 1990) but they also really played well, the sound in the stadium was great, and then I also liked the Urban Jungle stage a lot (quite contrary to Vienna 1982, which I remember as one of their off days, and the sound was horrible too).

I can't remember if I've ranked the songs on this LP before...

Sad Sad Sad - 7
Mixed Emotions - 8
Terrifying - 6
Hold On To Your Hat - .5
Hearts For Sale - 9
Blinded By Love - 8
Rock And A Hard Place - 1
Can't Be Seen - 1.5
Almost Hear You Sigh - 10
Continental Drift - 1
Break The Spell - 8
Slipping Away - 8

Rock And A Hard Place has aged poorly. It's a bit too jangly (Look What The Cat Dragged In is a gazillion times better) and the vocals are too dramatic. I like the bridge.

Can't Be Seen is ridiculous. However, it has a great bridge.

Continental Drift is just a bad Jagger solo song. It's sounds tritely trippy. The whole Master Musicians Of Joujouka bit is very cool but it should've been released on its own.

I loved STEEL WHEELS when it came out but it hasn't ever found a place to be other than on the shelf or left alone in the digital world. I like the album but I don't think about it much.

I wish I could find a link to Dandy's album threads.

Sad Sad Sad - 7. Never wild about it. But often the Stones will take a song on the road; or revive it years later, and it jumps up much higher in my esteem. Like "Dance" e.g.

Mixed Emotions - 8.5 So good, and a comeback song for sure. Lyrics matched the whole peace treaty after WW3. Keith wrote that song twice (Take it so hard)

Terrifying - 7.5 not sure; at times I like it more; lyrics are silly

Hold on to your Hat - 7.5 it's like the "Neighbors" or "Lies" for this album

Hearts for Sale - 9 - my favorite cut off the album; love the backing vocals in chorus

Blinded by Love - 2 - one of my alltime least fave Stones cuts. The lyrics are moronic, but more than that I think the song collapses under the weight of instrumentation. Was a time when Stones knew how to do a Country song. You don't need EVERY Country associated instrument on there.

Rock and a Hard Place - 2 - I don't know why I dislike it so much. It's a Jaggerized Soul Survivor riff; but it is all too labored.

Can't be Seen - 7 - it is okay; good swing. Always reminds me of some other song, the melody.

Almost Hear you sigh - 8 - I wonder if Keith should have sung it. It is a very good song. Jagger takes just a bit too far.

Continental Drift - 9 - This is where Jagger's restlessness really pays off. Excellent track; excellent production.

Break the Spell - 7.5 - yes

Slipping Away - 9 - One of Keith's better closing ballads. Beautiful song.

Keefriff found Dandy's thread. Not sure how to combine.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-08-02 15:39 by Palace Revolution 2000.

It's right here:

[iorr.org]

For some reason, it didn't show up in the search return until page 5 or 6.

Sad Sad Sad - 4

Mixed Emotions - 4

Terrifying - 3

Hold on to your Hat - 3

Hearts for Sale - 3

Blinded by Love - 7

Rock and a Hard Place - 3

Can't be Seen - 7

Almost Hear you sigh - 3

Continental Drift - 3

Break the Spell - 3

Slipping Away - 9

Sorry, my least favourite album with ABB



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2019-08-02 15:45 by 1962.

SSS: 5 - self-parodies part 1 (although it works live)
MO: 5 - constructed comeback song, the long remix is much better
T: 8 - very good song, although not very commercial
HOTYH: 4 - self-parody part 2
HFS: 6 - great groove
BBL: both 2 and 8 ;-) - the same problem as Angie or Following The River
RAAHP: 6 - there's no comparable song, interesting, but the sound is too 80's
CBS: 5 - okay, but comparable tracks (H, BTMMR, LT&A) are much better
AHYS: 5 - nice, but also boring ballad, a bit too much BOB-like
CD: 9 - exotic, but unbelievable great
BTS: 7 - strange blues, but great; one of the highest quality SW songs, although I needed some 20 years to recognise this
Slipping Away ("SA" is forbidden in Germany) : 7 - nice ballad, unfortunately played to death meanwhile



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2019-08-02 17:14 by Monsoon Ragoon.

Mixed Emotions should ranked higher than a "4" Same with R & HP. The guitar work in Mixed Emotions is outstanding, This song should be a warhorse.

I think SSS is overrated. Overall, not a bad album for a come back tour.

Sad Sad Sad: 8/10 - Good simple rocker
Mixed Emotions: 8/10
Terrifying: 5/10 - Doesn't really go anywhere
Hold On Your Hat: 5/10
Hearts For Sale: 7/10
Blinded By Love: 6/10
Rock And A Hard Place: 7/10 - A bit too polished but still good
Can't Be Seen: 8/10 - Keith should play this one more often
Almost Hear You Sigh: 5/10
Continental Drift: 6/10
Break The Spell: 6/10 - Decent but filler blues track
Slipping Away: 8/10

Quote
Palace Revolution 2000
I wish I could find a link to Dandy's album threads.

Sad Sad Sad - 7. Never wild about it. But often the Stones will take a song on the road; or revive it years later, and it jumps up much higher in my esteem. Like "Dance" e.g.

Mixed Emotions - 8.5 So good, and a comeback song for sure. Lyrics matched the whole peace treaty after WW3. Keith wrote that song twice (Take it so hard)

Terrifying - 7.5 not sure; at times I like it more; lyrics are silly

Hold on to your Hat - 7.5 it's like the "Neighbors" or "Lies" for this album

Hearts for Sale - 9 - my favorite cut off the album; love the backing vocals in chorus

Blinded by Love - 2 - one of my alltime least fave Stones cuts. The lyrics are moronic, but more than that I think the song collapses under the weight of instrumentation. Was a time when Stones knew how to do a Country song. You don't need EVERY Country associated instrument on there.

Rock and a Hard Place - 2 - I don't know why I dislike it so much. It's a Jaggerized Soul Survivor riff; but it is all too labored.

Can't be Seen - 7 - it is okay; good swing. Always reminds me of some other song, the melody.

Almost Hear you sigh - 8 - I wonder if Keith should have sung it. It is a very good song. Jagger takes just a bit too far.

Continental Drift - 9 - This is where Jagger's restlessness really pays off. Excellent track; excellent production.

Break the Spell - 7.5 - yes

Slipping Away - 9 - One of Keith's better closing ballads. Beautiful song.

Keefriff found Dandy's thread. Not sure how to combine.

Good call Palace, thought I was the only person who loved Hearts for Sale! Not a brilliant track but it certainly grabbed me on first listening to SW.

Would have been awesome if Fancyman Blues and Your Precious Love were on the album!

….DDD …….



ROCKMAN

Sir Mick himself rated it as good as Voodoo Lounge, which I’m assuming is better than Dirty Work and Undercover, which he respectively deemed “not special” and “not a very special record”.

Album talk: [iorr.org]

So talking of STEEL WHEELS, I've heard two tracks on the album feature Jimmy Rip's licks from his session in the Summer of 1988 with Mick, Ronnie, and Charlie: "Break the Spell" and "Hold On To Your Hat." That's not to say Keith didn't overdub guitar as well, but allegedly some of the licks we're hearing on those two album tracks are Jimmy. In that respect, they can be seen as the dry run for WANDERING SPIRIT the same way DIRTY WORK had tracks featuring the nascent Winos.

I would expect some will probably say there's no way that's Jimmy playing on those tracks. I'm most interested in what Mathijs and Bard have to say about it. The source, however, would know so it's just a question of whether they're mistaken or not. I suspect it is indeed Mr. Rip and felt like kicking myself for not having thought of it first after I was told. I wouldn't have known 30 years ago when I played the album over and over, but it certainly should have occurred to me by the time I heard WANDERING SPIRIT.

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Chris Fountain
Mixed Emotions should ranked higher than a "4" Same with R & HP. The guitar work in Mixed Emotions is outstanding, This song should be a warhorse.

I think SSS is overrated. Overall, not a bad album for a come back tour.

I always thought mixed emotions was a great comeback track and should have made more of an appearance in later tours instead of pretty much being dropped after steel wheels. Probably one of their better later day rock tracks.

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Rocky Dijon
So talking of STEEL WHEELS, I've heard two tracks on the album feature Jimmy Rip's licks from his session in the Summer of 1988 with Mick, Ronnie, and Charlie: "Break the Spell" and "Hold On To Your Hat." That's not to say Keith didn't overdub guitar as well, but allegedly some of the licks we're hearing on those two album tracks are Jimmy. In that respect, they can be seen as the dry run for WANDERING SPIRIT the same way DIRTY WORK had tracks featuring the nascent Winos.

I would expect some will probably say there's no way that's Jimmy playing on those tracks. I'm most interested in what Mathijs and Bard have to say about it. The source, however, would know so it's just a question of whether they're mistaken or not. I suspect it is indeed Mr. Rip and felt like kicking myself for not having thought of it first after I was told. I wouldn't have known 30 years ago when I played the album over and over, but it certainly should have occurred to me by the time I heard WANDERING SPIRIT.

The plucking on BTS does indeed sound suspiciously similar in style to that of WS.

I'm not dismissing the possibility of Keith being able to "take that riff back", though. After all, it was his style to begin with: the wonky version of Mr RJ

Sad Sad Sad - 10/10
Mixed Emotions - 10/10
Terrifying - 9/10
Hold On To Your Hat - 8/10
Hearts For Sale - 7/10
Blinded By Love - 7/10
Rock And A Hard Place - 9/10
Can't Be Seen - 9/10
Almost Hear You Sigh - 10/10
Continental Drift - 6/10
Break The Spell - 8/10
Slipping Away - 10/10

Quote
Rocky Dijon
So talking of STEEL WHEELS, I've heard two tracks on the album feature Jimmy Rip's licks from his session in the Summer of 1988 with Mick, Ronnie, and Charlie: "Break the Spell" and "Hold On To Your Hat." That's not to say Keith didn't overdub guitar as well, but allegedly some of the licks we're hearing on those two album tracks are Jimmy. In that respect, they can be seen as the dry run for WANDERING SPIRIT the same way DIRTY WORK had tracks featuring the nascent Winos.

I would expect some will probably say there's no way that's Jimmy playing on those tracks. I'm most interested in what Mathijs and Bard have to say about it. The source, however, would know so it's just a question of whether they're mistaken or not. I suspect it is indeed Mr. Rip and felt like kicking myself for not having thought of it first after I was told. I wouldn't have known 30 years ago when I played the album over and over, but it certainly should have occurred to me by the time I heard WANDERING SPIRIT.

For whatever it’s worth, Keith said in one of the early MTV promotional interviews for Steel Wheels that BTS was one of the earliest tracks he and Mick wrote for the album.

I recall that, now that you mention it. Interesting. I'll be curious to see if this goes anywhere.