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Stoneage
Underrated...I don't know about that. It was certainly exciting and something new though. Unfortunately, what followed after the single was less exciting.
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DandelionPowdermanQuote
Stoneage
Underrated...I don't know about that. It was certainly exciting and something new though. Unfortunately, what followed after the single was less exciting.
She Was Hot was pretty good? I liked Too Much Blood as well.
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24FPS
It's a shame such a great song is associated with one of their all time crappiest albums. And no, it's not their last great single. That would be Harlem Shuffle. I've never quite gotten to the bottom of the complex rhythm on Undercover of the Night. Is it Bill playing bass, or is it a machine?
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Eleanor Rigby
Reckon this is one of the Stones most underrated songs!
Great vocals, guitars...
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Elmo Lewis
Disjointed. Herky jerky. Never gets a rhythm going. The lyrics suck. Bad song.
Killed all of the momentum of Tattoo You and the 81-82 tours.
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Elmo Lewis
The good vibes that were there following TY and the tours.
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Elmo Lewis
The good vibes that were there following TY and the tours.
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Mathijs
Fantastic track on one of my favorite albums. The last time the Stones still mattered, and the last time they still had that mix of danger and sex.
Mathijs
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DoxaQuote
Elmo Lewis
The good vibes that were there following TY and the tours.
I kinda get you what you mean. There was a certain vibe of elder statemen going to retire in dignity in the whole 1981/82 era - just the success and magnitude of the US and European stadium tours was like a triumph for everything they done by then. TATTOO YOU showed musically maturation and a sort of peace with the past - something they've been trying to avoid for almost the last decade. "Start Me Up" was a catchy, easy-listening pastishe of great old Stones sound not heard for years, and "Waiting On A Friend" (like the whole B-side of the album) was something for adult taste, finally. STILL LIFE and especially LET'S SPEND THE NIGHT TOGETHER movie sounded pretty retro deals, with oddily strong 60's presence - like them going to terms with their early years of glory, and no shamed of how old they are. Just listen "Under My Thumb", "Let's Spend The Night Together", and especially "Time Is On My Side". That wasn't that kind of nostalgia they've been associated with 1989 on - nobody was not that old yet. They sound as old and mature as they did then but were not keen on hiding that yet - but more like being proud of their old accomplishments. The band probably has never sounded so relaxed as they did then - like 'we don't need to prove anyone anything any longer'.
There were good vibes - no doubt.
But "Undercover of The Night" was a middle finger statement against all of that. It was the Stones not trying to retire or even grow up gracefully - no, it was a statement that 'fvck the past' we are here and want to be as contemporary, ageless/juvenile and relevant as ever. The whole concept of it was updating their game to the challenges of the day. The expensive, full-blooded video, with no hint of the jokes of TATTOO YOU (anti)videos. All well-marinated, mature sounds of TATTOO YOU were gone and replaced by the latest production techniques, drum machine and all the gimmicks of the day... the funny, self-ironical stance of SOME GIRLS/TATTOO YOU era was replaced by such over-all aggression not having associated with them for ages... Like they were these serious, socially awere angry men with no hint of relaxed elder statemenship... I guess that after TATTOO YOU "Undercover Of The Night" sounded like "Angie" after EXILE ON MAIN STREET - like the band almost totally reinventing their game.
I understand very well why all of that caused mixed feelings within the Stones fanbase and also within larger audiences.
- Doxa
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cimaz
The worst Stones album cover ever. Not a good Stones song on it but She was hot. Dirty work seems great compared to it.
Definitely the 80s are not artistically their best era before their 89/90 comeback. Jagger and Richards solo works were also not their best production.