I've just listened to my (as I've found out now) very wasted copy of Undercover.
I couldn't listen to the first four songs, which are the best of the whole album IMHO, but even the remaining six are just great, nothing worse than Tattoo You, ther only thing that makes the album a little bit worse than the previous one is the lack of a proper ballad and the 80ish production that makes esp. the killer song Too Much Blood less enjoyable, but the same things must be said about the fewer good songs on Dirty Work and Steel Wheels.

I think 'Feel On Baby' is a greatly underrated track...and the dub version on the flip of the 'Undercover# 12 inch single is terrific.

THe mixing / production is not good for songs like "Too Tough" - even though it's far better than the sound on Steel Wheels and Dirty WOrk
But I don't agree about that mixing ruining "Too Much Blood". Just like the title song Undercover, they have an excellent sharp bite in their sound. It's top notch IMO.

the most underrated Stones-Album

under the boardwalk---down by the sea

the dub version on the flip of the 'Undercover# 12 inch single is terrific.


Yeah Gazza.......It's a KILLER...



ROCKMAN

Listen to the new single from The Cult -- straight from "Undercover"

aslecs Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Listen to the new single from The Cult -- straight
> from "Undercover"

I did, and you're right. Fairly obvious lift.

Yea the Undercover/Feel On Baby 12"...
together with Miss You 12", it's the only Rolling Stones maxi-singles that's worth playing over and over

I don't think it's anywhere near as good as Tattoo You. The songs are more sketchy by comparison which results in them seeming a little hollow after initial listens - the exceptions being Undercover Of The Night and Too Much Blood. I do enjoy listening to it from time to time, however.

She was Hot is a great song. thats one that I've listened to over and over. To me, its one of those kinds of songs, not hollow at all. Lots of feeling in it.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2007-09-21 02:25 by ryanpow.

The last three ROCK ROCK ROCK. Like soul survivor is a great closer on some album... down, down ,baby down...

I like UNDERCOVER.

I agree a very very underrated album, better then GHS ,IORR and Rescue in my opinion.

remember when i bought undercover.

didnt recognize any of the songtitles.

and was instantly hooked on "she was hot", thought it was very underrated.

some other very good songs on the album.

if it just had maybe 2 ballads and a releasable rocker, it could have been a classic.

I love the record, maybe their most underrated ever.

its a terrible album production-wise, performance-wise (do the stones even play on it) and song-wise- every song is a quick re-work of another stones song.

OLDKR

I was never a big Undercover fan, because the record seemed to have been noticeably patched together with little continuity or consistency of production. Also, it has a heaping helping of that 80s gloss that Zappa called "studio tan" that is no more evident than on Too Tough, which is for my $$, next to the title track, the best song.

I would opine that, next to possibly Steel Wheels, it is my least favorite Stones LP, and I do not play it early OR often.

That said, though, the Stones on a bad day blow most bands off the page.

....it's a damn good album.

good stuff

Too Much Blood
She was Hot
Too Tough



Who needs a ballad anyway!

Not a fan of it. In fact, it's my least favorite studio album. That said, I think the individual songs would have been great non album b-sides to 45's

Great album! Has Jagger ever sung better than on the title track? Feel On Baby is my favourite, together with U, SWH, TYU, TMB and PBU

The inclusion of a stinker like "Must Be Hell" spoiled it a little bit, but apart from that one Undercover ranks among their very best.

The album is diverse (just think of a dancefloor tune like "Too Much Blood" as opposed to a raunchy rocker like "Pretty Beat Up") yet coherent (thanks to the nice production?).

Jagger never sounded better (amazing vocals on "Tie You Up"!).

When did we get "jam" spots like in "Tie You Up" or "Pretty Beat Up" (what an effective sax solo!) again? Has there ever been a chorus as soulful as the one on "All the Way Down" on a Rolling Stones release after 1983? I doubt it very much.

"She Was Hot" is, of course, one of my personal favourites as well.

Do not stop praising "Undercover" on this board, the album deserves it - and do not forget honourable mentions to "Dirty Work", which does not come close to "Undercover", but was - so far - their last serious artistic effort.

Maybe we could get more albums like those if they finally gave up to write songs "tailored to be played live" or to create "the best album since 'Exile'", i.e. if they cared for the music instead for the market or their legacy.

Not their best.The first album that's somehow a lower niveau then the usual former Stones works.I think most of the songs are really great, but the production is just bad. My faves are: Feel On Baby, Pretty Beat Up, Too Tough, All The Way Down, Tie You Up (probably the best!) and She Was Hot.
I don't like It Must Be Hell: it's a self-parody, Too Much Blood is too long and overproduced just like Undercover.(Anyway both are great songs)
The production is the weakest point.

Keith doesn´t like it, nor do I. Ron Wood says this about it:

"Keith didn't have many songs on Undercover. During this period there would be just the one token Keith song on every album. I think it was just something that Mick and Keith had going. It was something unwritten that was going on between the two of them, which I don't really understand. It is hard to nail what lay beneath it. Mick was not a very good drinker and drugger, and when he decided to quit or cut down his intake, gnerally change his personailty and try and be a more responsible person, Keith didn't really like the change in him. Between the two things, the overuse and the cleaning up, there was some residual resentment, for some reason. When I look at the Undercover album that becomes apparent. As soon as I see the list of songs on that record I think, Whoops, this is not a balanced concept album, it's all over the shop. It is a mixture of salvaged songs and a couple that I am never conscious of having made it on to the album. I've got another one of my tenders songs on there - Pretty Beat Up..."

- Ron Wood, 2003

Undercover's a good album, and a very underrated one. Would've been better with the extended version of She Was Hot and I Think I'm Going Mad too.

never leave home without it. love the solos on too tough she was hot. not as glossy as steel wheels, there is a little rawness around the edges...

I think that Voodoo Lounge, Bridges to Babylon or Bigger Bang, are better than Undercover, Dirty work, Steel wheels, Emotional Rescue, Iorr or Black & Blue, IMO

The one thing in its favour is it's not quite so slick as the Stones later albums (beginning with Steelwheels) so in a sense i favour it. There's plenty of filler - in fact the majority of the songs are but its enjoyable filler all the same. The songs are slight and insubstantial but enjoyable at the same time unlike some of the Stones later albums which are bogged down in slickness.