Track Listing

1. Undercover of the Night
2. She Was Hot
3. Tie You Up (The Pain of Love)
4. Wanna Hold You
5. Feel on Baby
6. Too Much Blood
7. Pretty Beat Up
8. Too Tough
9. All the Way Down
10. It Must Be Hell

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43764 in Music
• Released on: 1994-07-26
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered

Album Description
Japanese only SHM pressing. The SHM-CD [Super High Material CD] format features enhanced audio quality through the use of a special polycarbonate plastic. Using a process developed by JVC and Universal Music Japan discovered through the joint companies' research into LCD display manufacturing* SHM-CDs feature improved transparency on the data side of the disc* allowing for more accurate reading of CD data by the CD player laser head. SHM-CD format CDs are fully compatible with standard CD players. 2009.

Customer Reviews

Give this one another spin, pretty good and sort of historic
Put this in perspective:

A.1979's Emotional Rescue was pretty much made up of Some Girls outtakes

B.1981's excellent Tattoo You was in reality an odds and sods release made up of half forgotten gems recorded throughout the 70's, rescued from the vaults and polished up.

C.1982's Still Life was the ragged glory live album documenting the 81-82 tour which was probably the most hyped rock extravaganza in history and re-positioned the Stones as arguably the most loved band in the world

D.In '85 Mick would go solo with She's The Boss

E.1986 brought arguably the lamest album in the Stones cannon, Dirty Work

So that leaves us to consider Undercover, the first batch of newly written tracks since 1978's Some Girls (although Too Tough had been hanging around in the vaults since the mid `70's). This was also the first studio release since the universally praised glory of Tattoo You and the '81 tour. Interestingly, the band did not go out of their way to replicate the classic rock sound of Tattoo You but instead tried to re-invent themselves for the 80's, exploring some new and "Modern' sounds. Thankfully, it was a little too early in the Miami Vice decade for the "Modern" production techniques of the era to doom this record to sounding embarrassingly dated (see She's The Boss and Dirty Work for examples of this kind of unfortunate excess). Some of the highlights:

1.Undercover of the Night: Title track, first single and centerpiece. Definitely the sound of the Stones re-inventing themselves for the 80's. Phased guitars, jungle rhythms and vaguely politically-themed lyrics suggesting the Central American bloodshed dominating the headlines at the time. This song is very catchy, quite rocking, not embarrassing or dated and earns the band points for trying something new and not just phoning in their performance. The band has been known to pull this one out for live performances over the years and is a welcome addition to their concerts.

2.She Was Hot: Fun, lusty rocker that is good without being great. A little overproduced, this song would have benefited from a more raw production style. This one screams for inclusion in their live set, where it would potentially come into its own as a barn burner ala Respectable or Rip This Joint.

3.Wanna Hold You: A decent rocker but not one of Keith's greatest songs; not bad either. I'd like to see Keith trot this one out for their next tour.

4.Too Much Blood: The most `80's song here but in a good way. This is really a Mick song (the bizarre violence story lyrics recorded when he was drunk) with a guitar tech playing the main riff. Definitely intended for the dance floor, this track works and is considered by some Stones freaks as the best song on the record. Surprisingly, this still sounds fresh and not dated although it certainly is of its era.

5.Pretty Beat Up: This has become my favorite track on the album. Don't believe the Jagger / Richards / Wood credits, this is a Ronnie song that those greedy bastids tacked their names onto. A totally cool 80's dance funk groover that manages to swing and rock at the same time, put this song on loud at your next blowout and watch your guests go nuts. Ronnie has been known to play this live in his solo sets and this is another one that just begs to be played live by the Stones. This is one of the great unappreciated Stones songs, ripe for rediscovery.

6.Too Tough: This simple rocker has got classic status in its blood but never quite gels. It reminds me of Silver Train, a good song that you just know has greatness in it but never quite arrives. As a side note, a great Portland, OR bar band of the 80's and early 90's, The Batz, used to include this in their set and really made it come to life.

Nothing really wrong with the rest of the tracks on this album but I think of them as second tier in comparison to the former. As a matter of fact, if these last ones had been saved for Dirty Work, they would have been the highlights of that lackluster record.

7. Tie You Up (the pain of love): A grinding, riffing groove-rocker. Okay.

8. Feel On Baby: Another groover with a whiff of the jungle

9. All The Way Down: The most Tattoo You-feeling track on the album. A generic rocker in the vein of Neighbors

10. It Must Be Hell: A mid-tempo riff rocker, nothing to get too excited about.

Simply Under-rated !!
It's a testament to what the Rolling Stones have accomplished in the past 35 years when an album of this quality can only achieve 3 or 4 stars when compared their best. However, if you've been turned off by reviews that dismiss it as merely an "80's Stones album that should be avoided", please reconsider. If it doesn't match up to late 60's, early 70's Stones albums, then so be it. Not much does. You want some basic hard rocking music? Buy this album.

The trilogy, "Beggars", "Bleed", and "Sticky" are albums that you play from start to finish because to do otherwise would be somehow sacrilegious. Put on Undercover and hit "Random" and turn up the volume. I defy you to listen and not move your hips or drum the air at some point. This is more a collection of random high-quality tunes versus a coherent album. You will hear a lot of music faintly reminiscent of "Exile on Main St." on this cd... but like the album packaging, it's got that 80's glossy feel to it. If they missed the mark it's because the sound is too clean, too polished. While the lyrics are dark, they don't completely pull you in because they are served up in a very slick manner. The glossy production causes Mick to come off sounding downright mean, versus simply nasty and a little vulnerable, like we're used to. But we must stop comparisons with the Stones' best. These tunes simply rock! Worried that it will be uninspired and bland? Hardly!!!

Buy this album and play it on Random and play it LOUD. You'll think you've just bought a "new" Stones cd, even though this one is rapidly approaching 20 years old. After a few listens you'll wonder why you don't hear more of these songs played on the radio or by the band in concert. The only reason is because of what they've produced elsewhere. This cd is a dark, forgotten joy that just never gets the credit it deserves.

My favorite album of all time
I can't believe that the rest of the world doesn't know it either. If you're going to call the Stones the best rock and roll band ever, get the album that rocks the hardest. Violent and decadent and delicious. The reggae beats of Feel On Baby are even better than the excellent Send It To Me, Hot Stuff, and Cherry Oh Baby. The true classic is Too Much Blood. This song and Fingerprint File are the two best Stones songs ever. I find no filler whatsoever on this album. This album is hot, hot, hot.