The Rolling Stones - Steel Wheels

The Stones, or more accurately the relationship between Mick and Keith, imploded shortly after Dirty Work, resulting in Mick delivering a nearly unbearably mannered, ambitious solo effort that stiffed and Keith knocking out the greatest Stones album since Tattoo You, something that satisfied the cult but wasn't a hit. Clearly, they were worth more together than they were apart, so it was time for the reunion, and that's what Steel Wheels is -- a self-styled reunion album. It often feels as if they sat down and decided exactly what their audience wanted from a Stones album, and they deliver a record that gives the people what they want, whether it's Tattoo You-styled rockers, ballads in the vein of "Fool to Cry," even a touch of old-fashioned experimentalism with "Continental Drift." Being professionals, in the business for over two and a half decades, and being a band that always favored calculation, they wear all this well, even if this lacks the vigor and menace that fuels the best singles; after all, the rocking singles ("Sad Sad Sad," "Rock and a Hard Place," "Mixed Emotions") wind up being smoked by such throwaways as "Hold on to Your Hat." Even though it's just 12 songs, the record feels a little long, largely due to its lack of surprises and unabashed calculation (the jams are slicked up so much they don't have the visceral power of the jam record, Black and Blue). Still, the Stones sound good, and Mick and Keith both get off a killer ballad apiece with "Almost Hear You Sigh" and "Slipping Away," respectively. It doesn't make for a great Stones album, but it's not bad, and it feels like a comeback -- which it was supposed to, after all. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Name Credits Al Stone Mixing Assistant Alan Dunn Logistics Bernard Fowler Vocals (Background) Bill Wyman Guitar (Bass) Charlie Watts Drums Chris Jagger Literary Editor Chris Kimsey Mixing, Producer Christopher Marc Potter Engineer, Mixing Chuch Magee Band Technician Chuck Leavell Organ, Piano, Keyboards, Wurlitzer Enrique Badulescu Photography John Warwicker Art Direction, Design Keith Richards Vocals (Background), Guitar (Classical), Guitar, Sound Effects, Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals Kick Horns Horn Arrangements, Horn, Brass Lisa Fischer Vocals (Background) Lisa Fisher Vocals (Background) Louis Jardine Percussion Luis Jardim Percussion Mark Norton Logo Design Matt Clifford Orchestration, Percussion Programming, Strings, Keyboards, Piano (Electric), Arranger, Clavinet, Piano, Harmonium Michael Brauer Mixing Michael Butterworth Mixing Assistant Mick Jagger Vocals, Keyboards, Arranger, Shaker, Vocals (Background), Guitar, Harmonica Paul Spong Horn Arrangements, Brass Phil Beer Mandolin, Fiddle Pierre de Beauport Band Technician Roddy Corimer Horn Arrangements, Trumpet, Brass Ron Wood Vocals (Background), Guitar, Guitar (Bass) Rupert Coulson Assistant Engineer Sarah Dash Vocals (Background) Simon Clarke Brass, Horn Arrangements Stephen Marcussen Mastering Stewart Whitmore Mastering Ted Jensen Mastering The Glimmer Twins Producer Tim Sanders Horn Arrangements, Brass Tony King Art Coordinator Tony Russell Band Technician