"Dirty Work" is considered one of The Stones' weakest records, which is why I kept postponing buying it for so long. Recently, it was given away as premium with Greek newspaper Real News and thus came in my possession. The circumstances under which it was made were not the best: Jagger had just made his solo album, much to Richards' annoyance. It had gotten into his head that he'd have more success as a solo pop artist rather than with The Stones' rock'n'roll direction. It flopped and managed to estrange him from his co-writer and co-leader of the group. Drummer Charlie Watts (with the blue shirt, falling asleep and sliding down from the couch) was addicted to alcohol and heroin and barely took part in the proceedings. A number of replacement drummers was used to finish the album. 2nd guitarist Ronnie Wood thankfully stepped in and, for the first time, contributed to 4 songs. But the songwriting results were so poor that they resorted to covers for the first time in a decade. Not only that, but these two covers were among the highlights of the album: "Harlem Shuffle" was the leading single, a soul number that at least achieves its purpose - if that purpose is getting people dancing. The other cover is a white-boy-reggae tune called "Too Rude", sung by Keith Richards. Keith also sings on "Sleep Tonight", the Dire Straits-like ballad that closes the record and, although his voice isn't the sharpest instrument in the world, he sounds at least honest and emotionally vested in the songs. More than what I can say for Mick Jagger. He came to the studio after the rest had finished their contributions and added his vocals on top of the already finished instrumental tracks: He growls, he shouts, he roars - but he forgets to sing. Somehow he must have gotten the idea it's enough to wear a smart suit and jump up and down while spitting the words. Well, maybe that works when appearing live in huge arenas, but not on record. It's a pity, if only for Richards who kept piling great riffs one after another. It's not often remarked, but his guitarwork in this album is brilliant. It's just buried under that 80's "state of the art technology" sterile production that managed to suck the life out of so many mainstream albums. Those modern techniques is the reason the record sounds even more outdated (if that's at all possible) than it looks (Check the Stones' suits on the album cover: aren't you glad the 80's are over?) Add to the mix the lazy, incomplete compositions, perfunctory singing and monotonous beat - would anyone buy this album without The Stones' name on the cover? Opener "One Hit (To the Body)" is probably the best of the bunch, a hard rocker that features three world-class guitarists (Richards, Wood and Jimmy Page). "Fight", "Hold Back" and "Dirty Work" are similarly hard rocking, with good riffs but otherwise totally indifferent. "Back to Zero" is pseudo-funky New Wave and sounds like something discarded from a contemporary Talking Heads album. "Winning Ugly" and "Had It with You" are bluesier numbers, the latter being the only natural sounding R&B rocker. With an actual harmonica instead of layers of synthesizers,horns and backing vocalists. And if I have to praise the Rolling Stones song for sounding like Dr. Feelgood, you know it's not a good record! A short piano instrumental rounds up the record. It's a small tribute to early band member and later road manager Ian Stewart, who had recently died of heart attack at the age of 47. Final verdict: Only buy this album if you're really intent on collecting The Stones' complete studio output. I am - and still have just a couple of records to go!
**** for One Hit (To the Body)
*** for Harlem Shuffle, Too Rude, Dirty Work, Had It with You, Sleep Tonight
** for Fight, Hold Back, Winning Ugly, Back to Zero, Piano Instrumental
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