The Rolling Stones "Dirty Work" in retrospect

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Uly Gynns, Jul 24, 2014.

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  1. tkl7

    tkl7 Agent Provocateur

    Location:
    Lewis Center, OH
    It isn't "great" but it sure does not suck, and I like it.
     
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  2. DreamIsOver

    DreamIsOver Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago IL
    It's an odd record. The songs that are good (One Hit, Dirty Work, Too Rude, Sleep Tonight) are very good and the songs that suck (Back To Zero, etc) really, really suck. There is no in between - except maybe Harlem Shuffle. Didn't care much for it back then but whenever I come across it now I'm surprised at how much I enjoy it.

    The album also earns it's keep if for no other reason then it pointed the way for Keith to make Talk Is Cheap, a record I would hate to live without.
     
  3. johnny 99

    johnny 99 Down On Main Street

    Location:
    Toronto
    It's a half baked album at best. You can tell their hearts weren't in it at all. It shows. Too Rude doesn't even sound like The Stones (it's Keith Richards solo...)
    Harlem Shuffle sounds like it could have been on a Jagger solo album at that time.
    It's not very good (although I used to like hearing "One Hit" on the radio back in '86)
     
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  4. zen

    zen Senior Member

    I didn't enjoy DW. Sold it twice! lol

    The Exile Beggars didn't sound right in this era of rock music, IMO.
    Not all 60's/70's bands that I followed worked well (musically speaking) in the mid '80's. My "classic rock" faves, YES, Rush and Deep Purple excelled, whereas the
    Moody Blues, and Rolling Stones did not, IMHO. But, in fairness to the Moodies, they actually had a resurgence in the mid 80's, but I didn't care for the sounds/musical approach.
     
  5. paulisdead

    paulisdead fast and bulbous

    http://www.thesecondspin.com/episode-5-dirty-work-by-the-rolling-stones/

    I just finished a podcast dedicated to it, so I've had to live with it for the past month. :eek: My podcast covers "unpopular" albums.

    It's main flaws are: production dates it and the songs aren't the strongest (because Jagger was most focused on his solo album than the Stones).

    I like some of the tracks like "Sleep Tonight", "Fight", "One Hit To The Body" and "Hold Back". I must say listening to the Universal remastered version was painful. That album and brickwall limiting do not mix! I had to stop around "Hold Back" to take a break.
     
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  6. Smartin62

    Smartin62 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cleburne, Tx USA
    I don't hate the album - I just don't think it sounds ... well ... right.

    I've always thought that Charlie's snare drum didn't sound right (not because of how he played it - just how it was recorded). No slam against Steve Lillywhite (an excellent engineer), it just didn't sound like the (then) recent Chris Kimsey or early 70's Glyn/Andy Johns "classic" sound that I had come to like. Didn't sound ... organically Stones. Too crisp, too clear, too processed.

    I almost equate it to the original early ZZ Top 70's "dry" sound being updated to sound 80's "modern" (a la Sixpack).

    Not a turd - just not a diamond.
     
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  7. rbp

    rbp Forum Resident

    CRAP.
     
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  8. stef1205

    stef1205 Forum Resident

    As someone pointed out, there are very strong tracks like Hold Back, Sleep Tonight, Fight, Too Rude, and there's crap like Back to Zero, Winning Ugly...
    One Hit (To The Body)
    starts promising, but loses its focus right after the awesome intro.
    It is no good album for the Stones, but it has balls!
     
  9. blackdograilroad

    blackdograilroad Forum Resident

    Location:
    Devon, UK
    I'd rate it not great, but good, don't like the 80s drum sound, it's just not Charlie, and I think Harlem Shuffle is weak, but I like the anger in it, and I like Keith's prominence and the non-slickness of it...............
     
  10. Despite some clunkers and unfortunate production choices, I've always thought the album was unfairly maligned. I think people have been reviewing the cover rather than the contents.
     
  11. Helmut

    Helmut Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Germany
    Music contains more information than just melody, rhythm and lyrics. It also transports "vibes". And this album never had a good vibe, even if you don't know the story behind.
    It's somehow an album they probably had to do to fulfill the contract, while they were not in the mood of really wanting to do an album.
    It is what it is and there won't be a key to unlock the album to discover some overheard beauty or magic. It simply ain't there....
     
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  12. Remurmur

    Remurmur Music is THE BEST! -FZ

    Location:
    Ohio
    I would have to say that IMO, this one definitely suffers from the dysfunctional vibe that was going on within the band at the time. I have always loved One Hit, Fight, and Too Rude but too many of the other songs sound "average" , for the Stones anyway. Harlem is also a better song than most give it credit for IMO. But the rawness, I think is due more to a lack of cohesion within the band than as a deliberate attempt to set a mood. I have given give this a full listen fairly recently after not hearing it for many years, but it still came up short for me .

    And while I agree with a previous poster that Steel Wheels was a solid album but more than a bit too slick, I found Voodoo Lounge to be a very pleasant surprise indeed.
     
    Last edited: Nov 23, 2014
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  13. Davido

    Davido ...assign someone to butter your muffin?

    Location:
    Austin
    I guess it's impossible to thread crap here, re: Dirty Work, but just thinking about how slick their sound got with the follow up Steel Wheels makes me love Dirty Work all that much more. That slickness has stayed predominant since then on every album, but Dirty Work has a rawness that never has returned. Plus I'd rate at least 60% of the songs as very good to fine, so what if none of 'em are classics... the last classic tune was in '81 and nothing can change that now. I'll join the Dirty Work fan club.
     
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  14. pig bodine

    pig bodine God’s Consolation Prize

    Location:
    Syracuse, NY USA
    A horrible, horrible little record that only has brevity on its side compared to the 90's output.
     
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  15. zen

    zen Senior Member

    It should have kept the Rolling Stones out of the rock 'n' roll hall 'o' fame! :winkgrin:
     
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  16. ConnieGuitar

    ConnieGuitar Here in my balloon...

    I posted this during the summer in a thread about "Albums everyone hates but you like":
    I do (still) think there are some great songs on it and the production just killed it. That's not a hindsight call either for me, and I thought Steve Lillywhite a brilliant producer at that time ... but not for the Stones. That *was* chasing after a sound they - of all bands - didn't need to chase.

    I am not the most knowledgeable of Stones fans by any stretch but Dirty Work is an album that I genuinely hear as a one that really could've been considered a *great* Stones album if it had just been recorded as [Keith's?] "traditional" Stones album instead of chasing [Mick's?] "contemporary sound".

    The bracketed bits are just for the benefit of how the story of the album has been presented over the years; not my editorial view or "taking sides" per se.

    PS - "Harlem Shuffle" is great!! Genuinely surprised to hear people have an issue with it!?

    PPS - none of the above excuses that awful cover.... Awful awful, even by awful 80s standards.
     
    Last edited: Nov 25, 2014
  17. Dark Horse 77

    Dark Horse 77 A Parliafunkadelicment Thang

    For Me:

    The Good: One Hit To The Body/Too Rude/Had It With You/Sleep Tonight
    The Bad: The Rest

    My least favorite Stones album though it did have some potentially strong tracks that were never finished. Check the "unofficial" sessions out.
     
  18. paulg61

    paulg61 Senior Member

    Location:
    CT
    "Harlem shuffle" was an old Soul tune by Bob & Earl (found on Rhinos excellent "The Beg, Scream & Shout" box) & follows the Stones history of covering one per LP "Just My a Imagination, Ain't to Proud to Beg, I don't know the reason why, My Girl, Goodtimes, Hitch Hike, etc !
     
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  19. Slick Willie

    Slick Willie Decisively Indecisive

    Location:
    sweet VA.
    Oddly enough, I spun this one last week, rarely do. I tried to keep an open mind, really did. I came away thinking, it's not all that bad, Ludwig mastered it as well as it could be done. after it was over, I had two thoughts.
    I don't really remember anything that jumped out at me.
    I could have taken that time and listened to another Stones album.
     
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  20. Nipper

    Nipper His Master's Voice

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    I'd rather have an album of Dirty Covers. :)

    I don't think it's a bad album, just unremarkable. "One Hit (To The Body)" is one of my favorite post-Exile Stones songs.
     
  21. KevinP

    KevinP Forum introvert

    Location:
    Daejeon
    There are a few songs that could benefit from being remixed into a less 80s sound or having a few of the instrument backings re-recorded.

    Actually, they probably all would.

    It isn't terrible, but it's probably the one I reach for the least.
     
  22. Remy

    Remy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn NY
    It sounds like an album they did to fulfill a contract obligation. Soulless crap.
     
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  23. KeninDC

    KeninDC Hazy Cosmic Jive

    Location:
    Virginia, USA
    Which song(s) did Jimmy Page play on?
     
  24. Dark Horse 77

    Dark Horse 77 A Parliafunkadelicment Thang

    I believe One Hit To The Body.
     
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  25. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!"

    Location:
    Canada
    I think Page is on "Back To Zero" as well; I can't remember what Stones book I read that in.

    Dirty Work has always been one of my favourite Stones albums. It's one of the few that I actually liked the first time I heard it. I like every song, which for me is rare enough with a Stones album. Yeah, the production is over the top -especially the drum sound- but, what the hell, it was the 80's. In another discussion I remember pointing out how sonically "Had It With You" sounds completely different from the rest of the album, dry as a bone. That had to have been deliberate IMO. I think what I like most about the album is just how p-ssed off the Stones sound; Jagger's vocals are very aggressive and so is the guitar playing. They certainly never sounded that in your face again, that's for sure. Almost makes one wish they'd've stuck with Steve Lillywhite in the producer's chair a little longer. I think Bill Wyman plays bass on about four songs...though Ron Wood's bass playing on "Fight" and "Back To Zero" is some of his best, I reckon (not quite up there with "Emotional Rescue" or the solo at the end of "Spanish Boots" but close). Other than "Sleep Tonight" (where Woody plays drums) to this day I still haven't sussed out exactly what songs Charlie Watts is absent from.

    Who knows...considering Mick's lack of interest in the project, maybe Keith and Woody should have done Dirty Work as a New Barbarians studio album...
     
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