How do you rank Steel Wheels? How did you like it when it first came out - and how does it hold up for you today?

To be honest, I think it was the last Stones record I really enjoyed from start to finish. Voodoo Lounge is good, but a bit too long and afterward is just kind of Stones By Numbers.

i have mixed emotions about it

He seems ok... But you never really know about people, do you? Especially online.

The album was ok too. Not a fave but I don't hate it either.

It's when my love for the stones started,
so in a way it's their greatest album ever.

Loved it when it came out and still do. The production almost destroyed some absolute blinders. If half of those songs had been recorded in the 70s or 60s, they would be classics. Continental Drift is a perfect example for me. The production almost destroys a solid gold classic that would be talked about in legendary terms if it had not had the 80s polish on it. Mick could have done a little better with the lyrics, but it's still one of the greatest things they have ever done.

My Top 5
 
- great amusing lyrics - The elephant's in the bedroom
Throwing all his weight about
And I'm locked in the bathroom
Your screams are gonna drown me out
 
- very funny visual - So get off the fence, It's creasing your butt, Life is a party, Let's get out and strut
 

- I have always loved this song!
Hearts for sale
Going cheap
Hearts for sale
Lovers' leap
    Everyone knows what lover's leap is, right?
 

I can feel your tongue on mine
Silky smooth like wine
yeah MICK I can feel it too I can almost hear you sigh, When you made sweet love to me
  oh yeah MICK in my dreams

- this is classic humble KEEF - All I want is ecstasy
But I ain't getting much
Just getting off on misery
It seems I've lost my touch

Educated and dedicated, longtime poster on this board.

A real quality guy.

Freya Gin wrote on Mar 30^th, 2017 at 8:08am:

Why?

Blooming Aida, Freya
Fair enough, yet now I suspect you have SCL imagining that it was me - rather than some other monkey - who, earlier in the year, vulgarly requested polaroids of you in your split-crotch scanties (or whatever it was).

sweetcharmedlife wrote on Mar 30^th, 2017 at 6:34pm:


We don't want him to think he's cool and we like him or anything. Isn't that ego puffed up enough already?

WaiteringOnAFiend wrote on Mar 30^th, 2017 at 9:02pm:


I can't be held responsible for what SCL might be imagining. But we all know what a perv you are, WoaF. It's no secret.

WaiteringOnAFiend wrote on Mar 30^th, 2017 at 2:13am:
I always thought it was elephant. here's my interpretation ~ the elephant is the fat husband catching his wife fvcking MICK, and he's throwing a fit about it, as MICK is hiding in the bathroom trying not to get his ass kicked. 

Steel Wheels not a patch on **EMOTIONAL RESCUE**

Would've sold better if they'd called it **EMOTIONAL RESCUE II**

The correct lyric is elephant.

Talking of elephants, there's the old Indian story of the 'Blind Men & The Elephant' - which is about a number of blind men each having  a feel of a different part of an elephant and each coming to a different conclusion as to what it & therefore the whole is.
This is one reason I esp like both the Stoonz's lyrics and Jigger's singing style - the way multiple interpretations can result / are allowed and why I'm not too keen on lyrics being printed in the initial packaging accompanying albums (such as with 'A Bigger Bong'). Didn't Jogger once say that it's only necessary for one in three words to be heard clearly when singing? Also, many Stoonz songs seem to develop from recordings in which Jiggler sings vowel sounds as a way of developing a lyric, making up for the fact that lyrics are incomplete and as a way of 'conducting' the band.
Gawd knows what exactly he's crooning during the original Monserrat take of Sad Sad Sad - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RnjZ6qO0YA - but there are multiple differences from the released version.

Anyway, Bitch, I didn't mean to undercut what your ear-holes hear or your bwain gets from hearing 'Sad Sad Sad'. Apologies if it came over this way. I just wanted to add a thoughtlette into the mix.

However, if the lyric is indeed 'elephant in the room', wiouldn't this be more likely to be referring to a young lady's father rather than their hubby?

It still sounds like 'infant in the bedroom' to me, but maybe that's partly because I was amused to read that both Marsha H and Jerry H said that Jangler was 'annoyed' at some point by them breast-feeding at the expense of paying attention to him. Trick cyclists might (arrogantly?) claim that this partly derived from childhood issues concerning young bro Chris' arrival on the scene. I wouldn't mention this if MJ hadn't claimed (in the '70s) that he's a Freudian.

Sorry to have rattled on but I'm the sort of person who can see  seven or more layers of meaning and irony in even 'Let's Work'.


Happy days.

WaiteringOnAFiend wrote on Apr 2^nd, 2017 at 9:42pm:


Exactly. That's what I thought it was talking about.

I remember the parable about the blind men and the elephant too. It's a wonderful metaphor for humanity's perceptions about the universe, I think.

As to understanding one in three words, I'm not sure if I agree. Sometimes even those who know every word still don't seem to get what a song is about. And it's entirely possible for mishearing just one or two critical words to throw off one"s understanding of a song, though admittedly I can't think of a well-known example of that happening.

Elephant = Republican Party. In the bedroom.  Throwin' all its weight around.

lotsajizz wrote on Apr 2^nd, 2017 at 6:28am:


I feel it's the last album were it sounds like they were really trying and not just phoning it in most of the time outside of parts of ABB.

I'm gonna listen SW to honor this thread... I enjoyed the álbum so much back then... I remember listening that one with my "discman"; love it!

A moderate album. The album was a sound track to go / coincide with a monster, groundbreaking record tour ..

Steel Wheels was a tour .. that had an album to coincide.. not an album .. supported by a world tour. The album was big news.. sure..  and it was not horrible.. it was simply high side of mediocre. Just enough to be a credible release.

The album was made fast and it was The Stones working to get their natural sound and groove back. The album sounds as it should .. It was not a disappointment .. It simply wasn't real strong. Even with all that said.. it was an important album.. with a fitting sound .. and has it's own little spot in later Stones history.

Not nearly as good as Voodoo Lounge that followed. The weakest of albums since the Stones come back (unofficial come back). It 'wasn't bad' .. It was fitting .. but that is as far as it went. Still sounds a bit forced and tight (<but not necessarily in an all good way) .. because they were tense and it was them just trying to get back to biz. Also the album was made pretty darn fast.. They were pretty rushed in making it.

There is good stuff on there.. Even some redeemable stuff... but it wasn't real strong. It was more a sound .. a sound track ... a deed that needed done to go along with a tour as it turned out. Wasn't a real strong / outstanding album on it's on. Wasn't bad ... As I recall and now looking back .. It was just good to hear them again. 

Ian

Voodoo Chile in Wonderland wrote on Apr 5^th, 2017 at 8:42pm:
Agreed!