I rarely hear fans discussing the great Steel Wheels album. I really like Terrifying, Hold On To Your Hat, Rock and a Hard Place, and Almost Hear You Sigh. This song introduces the album:

[www.youtube.com]

I would rank this album in the same league as Sticky Fingers and Exile.

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flilflam
I would rank this album in the same league as Sticky Fingers and Exile.

While I certainly think Steel Wheels is a good, sometimes great, album, I don't think it needs to be mentioned with those 2.

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flilflam
I rarely hear fans discussing the great Steel Wheels album. I really like Terrifying, Hold On To Your Hat, Rock and a Hard Place, and Almost Hear You Sigh.

It's a decnet album, imo. I do like Terrifying a lot, Rock & Hard Place is okay at best, but I just never liked Hold On To Your Hat, to me that one should have been on Dirty Work.

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flilflam
I would rank this album in the same league as Sticky Fingers and Exile.

LOL, no comment.

I JUST heard Steel Wheels last night! Its an underrated record no question. Doesn't stand up in the least to their classic work, but I can comfortably say I like it more than Black And Blue, Emotional Rescue, Dirty Work and Undercover.

Some great cuts off there. Sad, Sad, Sad, Mixed Emotions, Rock And A Hard Place, Can't Be Seen and Slipping Away are all solid cuts. Personally I really like Blinded By Love, Hold On To Your Hat has nothing glaringly wrong with it, and Almost Hear You Sigh is generic but fine. The rest of the album I think sucks, oddly enough cause I think a lot of people like Terrifying and Continental Drift, both along with Break The Spell some of the worst shit I personally think the Stones have ever committed to record. I just really hate them.

But again, the highs are quite good. Its my second favorite "new" album of theirs after A Bigger Bang. In terms of comeback albums, its perfectly fine for a band of this stature. They would never top themselves and this one isn't unlistenable drek.

Steel Wheels is the first Stones album that was recorded digitally and I think it changed the band's sound somehow. From SW on, Stones albums (VL, BTB...) never had again that "Stones sound" you recognize immediatly on previous albums.

This said they are great tracks on it : Sad Sad Sad, Rock and a Hard Place, Terrifying, Almost Hear you Sigh, Slipping Away, Fancyman Blues...

Continental Drift is a masterpiece for mine and Blinded By Love is a beautiful ballad. Also loved the kick off single even though it doesn't have that immediate "I've gotcha haven't I feeling" like SMU or BS.

Love Hold Onto Your Hat cos of Keith's guitar work mainly and it's a good little rocker. Loved Sad Sad Sad from the opening chord and thought this could have become a live staple but not to be.
Rock/Hard Place is great production but the political lyrics were a mistake I think same with UOTN. The recycled SS and IMBH riff doesn't help we wanna play it too often either.
I really dislike Can't Be Seen and don't care much for Slipping Away or Hearts For Sale.
Almost Hear You Sigh is lovely and Break The Spell is a grooved little number I find catchy. Terrifying doesn't get there for me but again the production is very good. Almost too good...
Cook Cook and Fancy Man are coolish blues numbers that are decent B sides.

Loved it came out at all in '89 as I was freaked out DW may have been their swan song. Exciting year to be a Stones fan with the tour and all, new vid clips, album, singles, in mags for music instead of bickering - was a great year.

I love Voodoo way more and Bridges more again but Steel Wheels is a solid 7 outta 10 job for me (although the fact Bill is bassing on SW makes it in some ways preferable for me to listen to over the other two at times).

How much better it would have been had Keith not released TIC and maybe if Mick already had a few up his sleeve that appeared on WS. Those two glued together with some Stones fairy dust would be second only to Exile as the greatest double LP ever for mine.

Babbling now...

The cover of Butler's - For Your Precious Love .... That shoulda been included --- MIGHTY STUFF



ROCKMAN

Throw away Sad, Sad, Sad, & Rock And A Hard Place, and Can't Be Seen, and you have a great album.

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Rockman
The cover of Butler's - For Your Precious Love .... That shoulda been included --- MIGHTY STUFF

I agree 100% on this! Would love to get a high quality version of this song. Bootleg versions I've heard have alot of hiss. Along with Drift Away, my favorite non released song.
Should have put Fancy Man Blues on the album, too.

Sad Sad Sad with it's over all Rolling Stones Sound...brilliant track
Mixed emotions for Keiths backup vocal and the chord before refrain...
Blinded by love, wonderful ballad with a soul similar with Dylans one more cup...

2 1 2 0

I remember flying back into town the day it was released and I got the cab to drive me home via the record store. I couldn't wait to get it home and play it. After run through I can remember thinking "please can I have another 12 (different) songs. In my view Keith's tracks and AHY Sigh saved it. The sound was such crap too.

Steel Wheels is a hugely underrated album. You can tell from the intro of Sad Sad Sad they felt they had a point to prove. No, it does not come close to the 'big 4', but every time I listen to it, I love it!

You can sense Mick is building to making another classic album, which he did with Wandering Spirt. Unfortunately it was not a Stones album, as it would be seen as a later day masterpiece.

Terrifying
Continental Drift
Slipping Away
Almost Hear You Sigh
Hearts For Sale

are all very good songs, imo.

And I really like Break The Spell and Blinded By Love

Sad Sad Sad and Mixed Emotions are good, too.

Very excited when it was announced (Mick playing ME on a soundblaster at the PC) especially after the "WWIII" years and listened to it a lot upon release but when I look back and listen to it now it feels "sterile", not a lot of life or "emotions" really. Maybe it's the DDD recording mentioned by Kowalski but to be honest the songs aren't really there, apart from ME and HFS maybe, and the FYPL cover that we finally got to hear in 2006 is wonderful too.

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IORR Links : Essential Studio Outtakes CDs : Audio - History of Rarest Outtakes : Audio

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flilflam
I rarely hear fans discussing the great Steel Wheels album. I really like Terrifying, Hold On To Your Hat, Rock and a Hard Place, and Almost Hear You Sigh. This song introduces the album:

[www.youtube.com]

I would rank this album in the same league as Sticky Fingers and Exile.

Only good track on it imho

[ I want to shout, but I can hardly speak ]

what no love for mixed emotions ?

FOR YOUR PRECIOUS LOVE, GIVING IT UP & FM BLUES ALL WOULD HELPED THE RECORD A LOT.
I WOULD DUMP CANT BE SEEN, BREAK THE SPELL & TERRIFYING FOR THOSE.

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TheGreek
what no love for mixed emotions ?

I personally think it's great!

Steel Wheels was an album built for the stadium, not nearly as harshly produced as Dirty Work, but pretty sub-par for me. I just don't enjoy the overall sound and the songwriting sounds insincere to me. Hearts For Sale, despite having a nice bridge with a sweet vocal moment, just sounds like a tune made up on the spot, scribbled on a napkin, not out of inspiration but out of obligation. We must write another song for this album! The deadline is looming! The whole album sounds like a contractual commitment to me. Not awful, just not great. Sad, Sad, Sad was my favorite tune on that album, and of course the Keith songs.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-03-04 16:25 by Tate.

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2015-03-28 15:11 by camper88.

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flilflam
I rarely hear fans discussing the great Steel Wheels album. I really like Terrifying, Hold On To Your Hat, Rock and a Hard Place, and Almost Hear You Sigh. This song introduces the album:

[www.youtube.com]

I would rank this album in the same league as Sticky Fingers and Exile.

Break the Spell also fantastic with a great Ronnie on bass!

Sad Sad Sad ****
Mixed Emotions ***1/2
Terrifying ***
Hold On To Your Hat *
Hearts For Sale ****
Blinded By Love ****
Rock And A Hard Place minus 5
Can't Be Seen *1/2
Almost Hear You Sigh *****
Continental Drift **
Break The Spell ****1/2
Slipping Away *****

At that time, I was deeply disappointed by it. I think most fans who had been fans already long enough to know their best work were disappointed too. However, over the years, considering what came next, the album is not so bad, although certainly not on the same level as their top work. I'd say is more or less of the same quality as Emotional Rescue. Not really good, but not entirely bad and without huge embarassments. The worst problem is the production and a number of weak songs.

"Sad Sad Sad": 5 Throwaway, standard filler, with the obvious I/IV riff.

"Mixed Emotions": 7 Their first single. A disappointment at that time, but it does have a nice groove. Does it work live?

"Terrifying": 6 Interesting maybe but not really doing it for me

"Hold On To Your Hat": 4 What's this, Status Quo?

"Hearts For Sale": 5 Weak, Mick doing his fake "tough voice"

"Blinded By Love": 5 Weak

"Rock And A Hard Place": 7 The song is rather good, the structure interesting, the riff (although indeed a copy from SS), the lyrics, all fine. But the production is too slick.

"Can't Be Seen": 4 One of those weak Keith songs, like "Wanna Hold You" or "Infamy"

"Almost Hear You Sigh": 7 Okay

"Continental Drift": 4 I might be missing something, but I can't take this serious. Maybe if it really would have been some long jam with those musicians, improvised and rough, it might have been a bit more convincing. Maybe.

"Break The Spell": 5.5 It kinda works I guess.

"Slipping Away": 8 Really nice song but the production should have been less slick

its a good album, although i dont rank it as high as Sf or exile.
Much better than Voodoo or bridges in my opinion.

jeroen

i liked steel wheels when it first came out, was my first album the stones made since i became a fan and it was so much better than dirtywork, however the album has not grown on me and i think maybe i was trying to hard to like it, its an ok album, some good songs and a bit of variety that dirtywork lacked. the first single mixed emotions is crap though, its like band kidding themselves on that they are even a fraction of what they used to be, its a poor song, badly written and poorly produced and lacking energy, rythm and a decent sound.

I always thought it was a very good album...on my 1st listen(1989)& even today I hear stuff from ALL their LPs up to that point....

I thought the entire production on the record was a bit too slick. When played alongside SF, Exile or LIB it is just painfully obvious something had permanently changed in the Stones presentation of their music..it had become more sterile and the warm organic feel that made the earlier records so great was missing. I think too much technology, a different treatment of the drum sounds and digital masters may have been contributing factors. It doesn't hold up in the long run compared to those classics, imo, not even close.

What I do remember most about Steel Wheels was that the Stones were touring again! I wasn't disappointed by the concert.

peace

Which is the boot with the songs in their 'unproduced' states? Training Wheels or Monitor Mixes?

Plus... Where can i download those?!

Both. Have you checked on Hot Stuff?

headed there now! thanks DP
Do they both have high quality sound? I[m not such a huge fan of SW that i want a bunch of hissy listens!