The Rolling Stones - Tattoo You
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Free Music Notes for Tattoo You
Free Music Review: One of the best post-Exile Stones' albums
Hit: 5 Stars
The Rolling Stones had a string of stunning albums, up to "Exile on Main Street." Then, after a number of albums that had some strengths and some weaknesses, "Some Girls," one of their best came out. Then a disappointing "Emotional Rescue." But the Stones bounced back with a pretty good work, "Tattoo You." Many of the albums after "Exile" would have a few great songs--but also a number that did not measure up (and some were little more than filler). There is very little filler on "Tattoo You."
The CD starts out, fittingly enough, with "Start Me Up," an absolutely classic Stones' rocker. The guitar riff is top notch, reminiscent of the best of the group's songs.
"You start me up
. . .
You make a grown man cry."
A real rocker. The band is in fine form here; this song has even been used (ugh) to signal the start of sporting events over the past decade or so.
"Hang Fire." Just 2 minutes and 20 seconds, but what is packed into that brief time frame! The guitars growl nicely and the steady drumming of Charlie Watts provides a firm foundation for this song.
"Black Limousine": Starts with some nice harmonica. This is one of the Stones'' home grown blues songs, a genre at which they have done well (recall the wonderful little classic, "Down in the Hole").
"We used to ride baby,
Ride around in a limousine.
You looked so fine, baby,
You in white and me in red."
Sinuous guitar work is displayed and the Stones' rhythm section lives up to its reputation.
"Waiting on a Friend": A softer sound, and effectively done! This is more intimate and contemplative than other pieces on this album. Nice piano work at the outset.
"I'm just standing in a doorway,
I'm just trying to make some sense.
. . .
I'm not waiting on a lady,
I'm waiting on a friend."
This represents an interesting change of pace.
And these aren't the only songs of interest. As earlier noted, there is not much filler here. Other strong works: "Slave," "Neighbours," "No Use in Cryin'," and so on. Keith's obligatory song on this album is one of his better efforts.
Rolling Stones' fans will appreciate this CD greatly. One of their best between "Exile on Main Street" and the present, along with "Some Girls" and "Bigger Bang."
Free Music Review: This Tattoo has left a lasting impression!
Hit: 5 Stars
Although never less than the most visible of rock bands, the Stones were in the midst of a commercial resurgence that began with Some Girls in 1978. Tattoo You (1981) remains the last album of the Stones' classic period and for good reason. Not only does it contain their last true classic song in "Start Me Up" but it also has the tender "Waiting on a Friend", the melodic pop rock of "Hang Fire" and Keith's ode to his newfound love in the catchy "Little T&A". "Start Me Up" was unavoidable on the radio but it's highest charting position was number 2 for several weeks never quite hitting number 1. There was only one song during this time that received more airplay than "Start Me Up" and this song prevented it from topping the charts. Anyone know what it is? I'll tell you at the end.
Upon release the album was divided into a rock side and a ballad side and the first half contains some of the punchiest rockers the Stones have done but the ballad side contains a lot of material that we wouldn't normally get all in one place on a Stones record...and the ballads are gorgeous ("Worried About You", "Tops" and the ghostly "Heaven"). I remember not liking "Heaven" very much and one day in the summer, after a long day at the beach with my then girlfriend, we began our ride home. The sun was going down and we were driving in my convertible over the bridge that takes you over the water and back to 'civilization'. "Heaven" began to play and the whole atmosphere of the song just reflected the whole moment. The evening sun beating down upon the ocean as we crossed over it with the top down on a warm summer evening. That image is forever tattooed in my brain when I hear that song. It captured the moment as perfectly as any song could.
Critics of this release often cite that the material was a patchwork of leftovers and new songs that they put together for an album. This may be true but the Stones are not the first band to do this. Elo's "Do Ya" was written before ELO was even formed, Van Halen did "House of Pain" on 1984 when that song predated their first album in 1978. The list goes on...Hey, if you wrote the song, you deserve to use it. Sometimes the timing just isn't right.
That being said, if you're new to the Stones this is a good place to start. It's got more of an MOR feel to it than any of their other records and the main reason why casual fans seem to prefer it to their other recordings, even the classics. The Stones always had hits, but they were never as commercial on one recording as they were here. Commercial doesn't always mean 'better' but in this instance, it's timeless rock that they haven't been able to top since.
ANSWER: "Private Eyes" by Hall and Oates
Yeah, I know..but nobody ever said life was fair...
Free Music Review: Un-Tattooed.
Hit: 5 Stars
In the run-up to Scorsese's concert film Shine A Light I dusted off Exile on Main Street, the only Stones album that I owned until recently, and which I'd tried in vain to appreciate for probably 10 years. The timing must have been right because I found myself mentally comparing it to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon or the Great Pyramid of Cheops instead of to other rock albums.
Since then I've been frantically collecting the Stones' recorded legacy and so far have heard everything except Black and Blue, Bridges to Babylon, and Steel Wheels. Though Exile is still tops, what surprised me is how consistent the Stones have been, and how they retained their kingship right until the end. Since I wasn't overly anticipating each album the way fans who grew up with the Stones had to, and bought the albums haphazardly, going from Undercover back to Beggar's Banquet and onto Between the Buttons, there was no disappointment. Yeah, I can hear that Beggar's Banquet or Sticky Fingers have a more "classic" feel than Emotional Rescue, but this is mostly because the singles from those earlier albums have been driven into our heads. Otherwise these guys have never really fallen off track. There is no growth apparent in their albums, but there is a constant, almost heroic reinvigoration of formula. No two Stones albums sound quite alike, yet they all have that raw, chaotic, "Where'd that bongo come from, and where'd it disappear to so quickly?" sense of surprise.
The Stones are not only underrated as players and orchestrators ( though that word brings to mind tubas and mellotrons and George Martin, while the Stones try to conceal their art behind an organized messiness ), but Jagger's lyrics deserve much more respect. Jagger seems to embody a reluctant fallen angel, and his perspective on life has a fascinating ambivalence -- it's almost like he went against his nature to live up to the image of a rock star. There's a sense he's too smart to go to hell, but he's chosen to anyway. Most debauchees don't have this kind of self-awareness, or the ability to stare so coldly at their own downfall. Compared to this spectacle of ugly, monkey-man burnout, stretched out slowly and painfully over 40 years, Dylan seems like a boring mystifier cobbling Old Testament phrases together with hippie sentiment, and Lennon like a self-loathing would-be guru. Jagger is not admirable, but he's also not a hypocrite. He IS rock music, and always will be. In fact, I think the entire concept of rock will die with him. The irony of Jagger, like the irony of Lucifer, is the insane hard work that went into his hedonism, and that all those lines on his face are a result of the effort it took to make others believe that he's having fun.
All this is a bit heady for a review of Tattoo You, maybe the most M.O.R. of the Stones' albums. I'm not even sure why I'm reviewing this one. Maybe because glimmers of a once-heavenly nature are evident on "Heaven" or "Waiting on a Friend," giving this album a slightly tragic feel that left me unexpectedly shaken. I thought this album would be radio-ready pop, and it is, but some of the songs here are the closest Jagger came to abandoning his act, the edifice of the shtick that became his selfhood. On the ballad-heavy second half of the album, the "real" Mick Jagger seems tantalizingly close to showing his face. That's why the cover shows someone covered in tattoos, because Jagger was obviously nervous about what he reveals here and had to pretend the mask was still on.
I don't say this because the songs are slow and therefore signifiers of emotion. I mean, this observation is coming from a guy who is immune to many classic Stones weepers like "Wild Horses" or "Moonlight Mile," that I consider hollow pastiche.
But on the second half of Tattoo You it doesn't just sound like Jagger is tired of the Stones, like on Dirty Work, it sounds like he's tired of being Mick Jagger. "No Use in Crying," his six millionth kiss-off song to a former girlfriend ( roughly ) even seems deliberately attenuated, half-baked, Jagger barely able to muster up the enthusiasm for the usual ignorant, heartless bile aimed at some poor bimbo that he'd been delivering at least since "Stupid Girl" from Aftermath. The song comes off, because of this, as somewhat beautiful, sounding like Jagger is trying to sing himself through all the useless hatred and aggression.
Between 1981-1983 there might even have been temporary hope of escape from the eternal burden placed on this beast -- but as soon as the sleazy ( and great ) Undercover hit the shelves, that "Waiting on a Friend" Jagger was dead forever. You don't even have to listen to the album. The peerlessly trashy cover, where the girl's eyes are cut off, making her all torso, all crotch, and nothing human, in itself seems like a riposte to Tattoo You, to the vulnerability shown here, as if to say, "Tricked you, didn't I?"
I don't know if it's sad or encouraging that my final thought upon the Stones catalogue and Jagger himself is "Thanks for the great music -- now see ya, wouldn't want to be ya." I think I'll hang fire.
Free Music Review: A mixed bag of Stones.
Hit: 5 Stars
Although this is not among my favorite Stones' albums, it is nevertheless a five-star release that, for me, brings back memories of the spectacular (and really LOUD) 1983 Stones' concert I attended at Sun Devil Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona (which was included in the 1983 Hal Ashby concert film, Let's Spend the Night Together). Released in 1981, Tattoo You is actually an eclectic collection (as in mixed bag) of studio outtakes (with new vocals and overdubs), some dating back over ten years. For instance, "Tops" and "Waiting on a Friend" were both recorded during the 1972 Goats Head Soup sessions with Mick Taylor (and not Ron Wood) on guitar. "Start Me Up," "Slave" (with Pete Townshend on backing vocals), and "Worried About You" were recorded in 1975 during the Black and Blue sessions. "Hang Fire," "Little T&A," "Black Limousine," and "No Use In Crying" were cut during the 1979 Emotional Rescue sessions. Although the Stones were able to achieve a sense of balance on vinyl between the mix of rock and roll and ballads (one side of the album devoted to rock, the other to ballads), on CD the uneven quality of the setlist seems more evident. Tracks include:
1. Start Me Up (1993 Digital Remaster) (3:33)
2. Hang Fire (1994 Digital Remaster) (2:20)
3. Slave (1994 Digital Remaster) (6:32)
4. Little T & A (1994 Digital Remaster) (3:23)
5. Black Limousine (1994 Digital Remaster) (3:33)
6. Neighbours (1994 Digital Remaster) (3:33)
7. Worried About You (1994 Digital Remaster) (5:16)
8. Tops (1994 Digital Remaster) (3:48)
9. Heaven (1994 Digital Remaster) (4:22)
10. No Use In Crying (1994 Digital Remaster) (3:25)
11. Waiting On A Friend (1993 Digital Remaster) (4:34)
G. Merritt
Free Music Review: A smooth ride in a mean, mean machine...
Hit: 4 Stars
Because the band planned another huge world tour in 1981-1982, The Rolling Stones needed a new album to promote due to the relative weakness of the previous year's 'Emotional Rescue'. With little time to write and record, the Stones caught lightning in a bottle by cleaning up several outtakes from the last decade and releasing eleven songs on a unsuspecting public as 'Tattoo You' in late summer of '81. The album proved to be smash hit despite the fact that it was a fluke of sorts. Why weren't any of these songs on some of the more maligned albums of the 70's? I happen to think a song like "Worried About You" is just as good if not better than five songs on 'Black and Blue', the record for which it was originally recorded. "Tops" was supposed to make 'Goats Head Soup' but maybe the original was not up to par (I love 'Goats' anyway!) On 'Tattoo', "Tops" is one of the real quality tracks and it featured the unmistakable lead guitar of Mick Taylor (who had to sue to get royalties). The 'Emotional Rescue' outtakes are all much better than any song on that album ('cept for She's So Cold!). "Hang Fire", "Little T&A" and "Black Limosines" are all damn good latter day Stones tunes. "Start Me Up" definitley deserves its reputation as a modern day classic and was originally meant for 'Some Girls' (what an embarrassment of riches those recording sessions produced!). Many consider 'Tattoo' to be the last classic album the Stones made (I say it was 'Some Girls') but the point is debatable. One thing is for damn sure, "Waiting on a Friend" is an awesome song being that it is about friendship, pure and simple. "Friend" along with "Neighbors" (a great Stonesy rocker) and "Heaven" were the only newbies. I guess depending on your point of view, the Stones were either in a song-writing decline or they should have had outside producers to avoid the delay of so many great songs! The bottom line is the songs did receive release and many fans were happy with the finished result...ain't no use in cryin'.