andrews27 wrote on Mar 25
th, 2019 at 7:49am:
People I knew found the Undercover cover puerile and derivative of their past attempts at naughtiness. To be fair, there probably wasn't an image that would enliven that dull, Hall-and-Oates title. The high points of that album don't even reach the mark of the best parts of Emotional Rescue.
The great parts of Dirty Work are undeniably great, which is better than the mediocre whole of Undercover. DW's problem is that the better Jagger tracks were left in the can, unfinished, while tracks among Keith's best were denied their place. It wouldn't have killed the band, or Jagger, to release a Keith-heavy record.
Face it - Undercover sucks. Song for song, She's The Boss is a more memorable record.
CBS had just given them over $30 million (a world record) to make four albums - with the proviso that at least one would be a Mick solo record (in the end, they got two)
This was the first Stones album under their new contract. Columbia would have shit a brick if the band had delivered an album where half the songs had Keith singing on them. (even though I agree the outtakes make for a more enjoyable listen). Even worse, the band had no intention of touring to promote the record.
Mick didnt bring that much to the table for Dirty Work, having just finished Shes The Boss. The songs are mostly Richards/Wood collaborations.
It shows.