The Rolling Stones – Steel Wheels

The Rolling Stones are Rock and Roll royalty and that’s something that cannot be discussed. Love them or hate them, through highs and lows, the Stones have always being able to carry on and deliver quality material, which makes the notion of their possible separation in the mid-80s much more interesting.

Being a band with so many years in the business, it’s not surprising to believe that there were times when the Rolling Stones were struggling and the mid-80s were a very clear case of that: the band was slowly losing relevance, the musical tendencies of the time, with younger bands, were taking over and the Stones were becoming a thing of the past, as cruel as that may sound.

Actually, this situation was very similar to the one that Aerosmith had to endure during that time until their resurrection with the fantastic comeback album, Permanent Vacation. But in the Stones’ case, they were in the verge of breakup after 1986’s Dirty Work, which received lukewarm reviews and poor sales numbers (at least for a band of this stature), so the band’s two main creative forces, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, who were bumping heads at the time and getting into each other’s nerve, went on to make their own solo albums. And while both musical ventures did have a relative amount of success, the two of them decided to get together in Keith’s place in Barbados to try make amends.

The time both legends spent in Barbados was a very fruitful period in which they managed to cast their differences aside –difference that have been building and building throughout decades working together- and managed to create the bones of five or six songs that would go on to become part of the album in hand, Steel Wheels.

It has to be said that one of the main strengths of Steel Wheels is the fact that the band decided to work once again with long-time collaborator Chris Kimsey, who had worked as an Engineer for some of the Stones’ most acclaimed works, such as Sticky Fingers. While Chris’ input did allow for a more 80s-based sound production-wise and a very Hard Rock-led style, he also prompted the band to go back to the basis of their sound, which was pure Rock and Roll.

The thing that separates Steel Wheels from the rest of the Rolling Stones’ work in the 80s is the fact that is very focused on Mick Jagger’s vocal melodies, which becomes one of the album’s biggest virtues because they have a certain hook and it truly fits his vocal style quite well, so it makes for a very successful theme in that particular regard.

When it comes to the instrumental part of the album, it has to be said that, excepting experimental tracks such as Continental Drift and its Moroccan influence, Steel Wheels is one of the band’s most straightforward album, with a production that combines the positive aspects of the 80s and the classical Stones sound. If you’re a fan of the Stones’ most rocking side, then this is an album that is going to have a big impact with you.

Naturally, this wasn’t the most successful affair, musically speaking. Mick, Keith and the boys are not inventing anything new or trying to reinvent themselves; they are just offering a solid collection of songs with a somewhat different vibe to what they have done until that point. The album is quite homogeny and that makes for an easy listening, but this being the Stones you can’t help but wonder if they could do a little more, to strive a little higher–Steel Wheels is a fun album, at least to me, but it definitely feels like a somewhat uneven affair after a few listens.

Having said that, the album was a mass success and it helped to kick start one of the band’s biggest tours, which is saying something considering the Stones’ track record in that regard. It definitely put them back in the map in the early 80s and it was a testament to how much a band can recover with just a little focus when you’re this talented.