THE ROLLING STONES/STEEL WHEELS CBS 465752-1 (-89) GERMANY

After the 1986 "Dirty Work" catastrophy and the following animosity between Mick and Keith I thought all was lost and what you could expect from the band in the future were solo efforts and half ass compilations. Then three years later suddenly this showed up in the shops. Apparently they'd got together in a friendly spirit and produced a whole new album. I didn't expect much, but bought it for old times sake and got me a pleasant surprise. No trembling through genres out of their natural habitat and no more blown-up eighties audio - this is tight and raw rock'n'roll. Not going all the way back to the band's roots, but well matching their best mid-seventies efforts. "Sad Sad Sad" shows they could still do danceable pieces without decaying to disco. "Mixed Emotions" and "Can't Be Seen" catchy up-tempo and "Slipping Away" a simpel but beautiful ballad. "Hold On To Your Hat" furious with layers of rude guitars and "Almost Hear You Sigh" a slow mover spiced by attractive background vocals. To my ears then a very good come-back and I anticipated more of the same eventually, but as things turned out...still waiting. Issued and reissued on vinyl, cassette and CD all over the world through the years. Most vinyl originals having same label and sleeve design with the same picture/lyric inner as the German shown here. (RÅ*) (GÖXÄ*)