I had one of those moments when I learned again to appreciate the greatness of this band, even in times of trouble. Just heard Dirty Work again after (too long) a time of neglection, only to find out this ugly little duck has enough great tunes to have me smiling all day.

Come on you fans, give this album a spin today and you'll see what I mean.

"Give this album a spin", is right, I still haven't bought it on CD yet..!

I have always liked Dirty Work

Harlem, One Hit, Sleep Tonight...that's it for me.

Harlem Shuffle, Had it With you and Sleep Tonight, there's nothing more on it.

Mathijs

Agree, love had it with you and sleep tonight but otherwise its a bit of a dog....

marcovandereijk Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I had one of those moments when I learned again to
> appreciate the greatness of this band, even in
> times of trouble. Just heard Dirty Work again
> after (too long) a time of neglection, only to
> find out this ugly little duck has enough great
> tunes to have me smiling all day.
>
> Come on you fans, give this album a spin today and
> you'll see what I mean.


Yes, well, it's much much better than either ABB or BTB, in that it has five good songs on it, but an album whose outtakes are almost uniformly better than the officially released songs should be ashamed of itself.

One Hit To The Body, Fight, Hold Back... quite a bunch of very powerful songs in it. The bad drums (both sound-wise and performance-wise) kind of spoil the record, though...

one of the worst albums ever made.

Thats going to far. There's millions of albums worse. But its a ropey stones album....

Hasn´t there already been a thread about this album, not so long ago? I seem to have read all these comments before...if not, carry on lads.

Who played the drums?
Or was it a drumcomputer?

1980s Stones albums from best to worst:

Dirty Work
Tatoo You
Emotional Rescue
Steel Wheels
Still Life
Undercover

I hate to say that Dirty Work is their best album since Some Girls. I hate to say it because of what that implies about the quality of their work in the last three decades. I hate to say it, but it happens to be true.

tatters Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 1980s Stones albums from best to worst:
>
> Dirty Work
> Tatoo You
> Emotional Rescue
> Steel Wheels
> Still Life
> Undercover
>
> I hate to say that Dirty Work is their best album
> since Some Girls. I hate to say it because of what
> that implies about the quality of their work in
> the last three decades. I hate to say it, but it
> happens to be true.

No, it doesn´t happen to be true, but it´s your opinion

I would not go as far as saying Dirty Work is better than Tattoo You, but it sure as hell can hold its position against Emotional Rescue, Undercover and Steel Wheels in my opinion.

I look at the albums considered to be the weaker releases like this...

If anybody else had made them, they'd be considered to be brilliant [but maybe a little too much like The Stones ;^) ]

Like some other albums it is not exactly the sum of the songs that makes up the album. based on that it's not very good.
But Dirty Work is also a Stones album. Songs or no songs, that fact alone gives it a LOT of steam. So IMo, much of it's character comes from just it's identity alone. You guys know what I mean. On your shelf at home there might be some Popalbum that you spin more often than DW becasue you like the songs, but in your heart you don't love the album near as much as Dirty Work.

"...no longer shall you trudge 'cross my peaceful mind."

"All rancor and bad vibes, Dirty Work was the Stones; all impartiality and bad boys grown up, the reunion [Steel Wheels] is an amazing simulation"

-Robert Christgau, 1989

tatters Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 1980s Stones albums from best to worst:
>
> Dirty Work
> Tatoo You
> Emotional Rescue
> Steel Wheels
> Still Life
> Undercover
>
> I hate to say that Dirty Work is their best album
> since Some Girls. I hate to say it because of what
> that implies about the quality of their work in
> the last three decades. I hate to say it, but it
> happens to be true.


This is what I like about this board - the diversity of opinion. Interesting how you rate the largely piss poor Still Birth - sorry, Life - (three great tracks, two of which are by other artists) - higher than Undercover, and Dirty Work higher than Tattoo You. Was Dirty Work your first Stones album or something?

Don't think its as bad as people make it out to be. I enjoy much more than Steel Wheels. Back To Zero and Winning Ugly are the only songs I don't really care for, although there are some nice guitar licks in Winning Ugly.

I think Had it With You would really nice to hear live. Harlem Shuffle I usually skip when I listen to this cd. But the rest of the songs have lots of energy and loud guitars. This album and Undercover are the two albums the Stones really play the least live.

I spun a tape of the album in my car just a couple of weeks back, and I agree with gimme_shelter.

Best thing about DW is the fun inner sleeve.

It is an embarrassingly fake Stones album, sadly disconnected with any sense of "band urgency" to express anything musically and lyrically, whether R&R, new-wave, C&W...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-04-13 20:17 by Odd-beat.

tatters Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 1980s Stones albums from best to worst:
>
> Dirty Work
> Tatoo You
> Emotional Rescue
> Steel Wheels
> Still Life
> Undercover
>

1963 to 2006 albums from worst to worst :

Dirty Work
UnderCover
UnderCover
Dirty Work

tatters quoted:

>-Robert Christgau, 1989

Ha, I frequently post Christgau's original review of DW in these ever-recurring threads (he gave it an A). I won't bother this time unless anyone who hasn't seen it is interested.

Glam Descendant Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> tatters quoted:
>
> >-Robert Christgau, 1989
>
> Ha, I frequently post Christgau's original review
> of DW in these ever-recurring threads (he gave it
> an A). I won't bother this time unless anyone who
> hasn't seen it is interested.


He must have been listening to the outtakes. Great stuff in them there vaults.

Odd-beat Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I spun a tape of the album in my car just a couple
> of weeks back, and I agree with gimme_shelter.
>
> Best thing about DW is the fun inner sleeve.
>
> It is an embarrassingly fake Stones album, sadly
> disconnected with any sense of "band urgency" to
> express anything musically and lyrically, whether
> R&R, new-wave, C&W...


Well, it's basically a Keith n friends album isn't it - with guest vocals by Mick Jagger, and appearances by Wyman and Watts. Keith said he "designed" the album so it could be played on tour. Can you imagine what kind of tour that would have been?

Are you sure?
I don't recognize Richards' writing (musical) style in a lot of what Jagger yels about here.

Is this Jimmy Page playing lead guitar on a couple of the tracks? I think I make out his style of licks.

One hit to the body, Dirty work, Sleep tonight, Winning ugly, are all great songs, Harlem shuffle is OK. Also Jaggers vocals aer great in Hold back!

Kartoffelsalat Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Harlem, One Hit, Sleep Tonight...that's it for me.

yeh pretty much imo.

oops, editing in..
______not one hit either...that dosen't work for me either..._____

i think the record generally has an ugly sound to it; harsh...not intended 'firece' or anyting...nor cruchy nor rough nor threatening or anything...very sonically dis-pleasing to me; git sounds, everything sounds sterile and harsh and ill-conceived...not to mention performances and song writing etc...



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2007-04-13 22:58 by Beelyboy.

Nikolai Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, it's basically a Keith n friends album isn't
> it - with guest vocals by Mick Jagger, and
> appearances by Wyman and Watts. Keith said he
> "designed" the album so it could be played on
> tour. Can you imagine what kind of tour that
> would have been?


Yeah. I can. Their last, and probably an aborted one at that.