Emotional Rescue [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

The Rolling Stones | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 26, 1994)
• Original Release Date: 1980
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Virgin Records Us
• ASIN: B000000W5J
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (89 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,250 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Underrated followup to Some Girls, June 6, 2005

By 

Daniel J. Hamlow (Narita, Japan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Emotional Rescue (Audio CD)

The 1980's opened for the Rolling Stones with their Emotional Rescue album, released three days after my 12th birthday. To say that Emotional Rescue is Some Girls leftovers warmed over is somewhat harsh. Now granted, the two albums have a similar sound, rock with some disco leanings, and Some Girls is a much better album than its successor, but ER isn't an album to be totally dismissed because it pales alongside its parent album.
Far from it, this was better than expected, although I will make references to songs from Some Girls.

"Dance (Pt. 1)" opens with the funky disco beats that coloured "Miss You", but with a harder-edged sound-call it Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust" meets Led Zeppelin's "Trampled Underfoot." A strong opener good for dancing and jamming to.
The reggae-flavoured "Send It To Me" seems to be a sequel to "Some Girls." Where the latter described what different kind of girls were like based on ethnicity and skin colour, the other song is kind of like a dating service. There's some humour at the end, when Mick sings "she could be Romanian, she could be Bulgarian, she could be Albanian, she could be Hungarian, she could be Ukrainian, .... she could be the Alien, send her to me." OK, Mick, you can have the Alien, I'll take the Romanian girl.

A rumbling guitar opens the rocker "Let Me Go," which is this album's "Respectable" about a girl who doesn't seem to understand the words, "it's over between us." "Indian Girl" is this album's "Beast of Burden" with some country inflections and some horns, though with the sober topic, nothing singleworthy. It's a portrait of the hardships inflicted on the indigenous population of Latin America by soldiers: " Lesson number one that you learn while you're young/Life just goes on and on getting harder and harder."

The most engaging track is the hard-driving "Where The Boys Go," which is this album's "Lies" with a chanting harmony refrain. This macho guilty pleasure gets raunchy towards the end, where the refrain goes "a little piece of..." Then it's cooling off time with some slow blues of "Down in The Hole" of hard life in the American zone (of Berlin I presume).

The title track, which reached #3, is the analogue of "Miss You," featuring some disco beats and Mick's falsetto, and is arguably one of the two best tracks. The other one, the rocker "She's So Cold," is this album's "Shattered," with the same quick-paced drums and drums. "I'm so hot for you and you're so cold," comparing her to an ice cream cone, and lines of his hand freezing when he touches her are featured in this ice queen song. This bettered "Shattered" by peaking at #26.

Emotional Rescue has been reviled alongside Black And Blue, Undercover, and It's Only Rock And Roll as one of the Stones' weakest albums, but maybe that's because it is repeatedly compared with Some Girls or Tattoo You, the albums it is chronologically sandwiched inbetween. With songs like the two singles, "Dance," and "Where The Boys Go," such is not the case. Major reevaluation required.

58 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just Another #1 Album, November 7, 2002

By 

Richard R. Carlton (Ada, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Emotional Rescue (Audio CD)

Emotional Rescue was originally released June 24, 1980, it went to #1 in both the UK & US. The album includes the single hits Emotional Rescue and She's So Cold. Most people know the music, so in my reviews I try to give you data on the sessions and interesting facts connected with the songs and the album. Here we go:

Interesting notes include:
.....the vinyl album was released with a large color poster of images taken of the Band with a thermographic camera that imaged the body heat instead of light.....a video was also done with thermographic cameras
.....the tracks on the album were recorded while Keith started his band The New Barbarians to fulfill his drug conviction sentence in Toronto by playing a benefit for the blind, which he did with Ron Wood and the rest of the Stones, and then did a tour (which made no money because the drug expenses were so high)....John Belushi was with the Band for most of the tour
.....Band members Ronnie Wood, Mick Taylor, and Ian McLagan all released albums (with accusations that their best work had gone into their solo efforts)

The sessions for Emotional Rescue were very productive with many unreleased songs. They started in Nassau and continued in Paris with overdub and final mixing at Electric Lady Studios in NYC during Nov & Dec of 1979 and in April 1980.
Jan 18 - Feb 12, 1979 at Compass Point Studios in Nassau
.....She's So Cold
.....All About You
Jun 10 - Aug 25 & Sep 12 - Oct 19, 1979 at Pathe Marconi/EMI Studios in Paris
.....Dance
.....Summer Romance
.....Send It To Me
.....Let Me Go
.....Indian Girl
.....Where The Boys Go
.....Down In The Hole
.....Emotional Rescue

Also recorded during the Emotional Rescue sessions were:
.....Little T & A (released on Tattoo You)
.....Hang Fire (released on Tattoo You)
.....Worried About You (released on Tattoo You)
.....If I Was A Dancer (Dance, Pt. 2) (released as a 12" single)
.....Black Limousine (released on Tattoo You)
.....No Use In Crying (released on Tattoo You)

Tracks from these sessions that were never released included Gangster's Moll, I'll Let You Know, Linda Lu, Lonely At the Top, It Won't Be Long, Still In Love, Sweet Home Chicago, What's The Matter, You're So Beautiful (But You Gotta Die Someday), Break Away, and Sands Of Time.

This information comes from "It's Only Rock And Roll: The Ultimate Guide To The Rolling Stones" by Karnbach and Bernson and from my own collection, with some of the notes from Davis' "Old Gods Almost Dead." Both books are available from amazon.com.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some More Girls, May 25, 2005

By 

Christopher Bushman (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Emotional Rescue (Audio CD)

Emotional Rescue is basically a sequel to Some Girls and if it is not quite as good as that landmark, more in the same vein is not at all a bad thing. Song for song it is not as good as Tattoo You but probably a notch above Undercover and miles better than Steel Wheels, Voodoo Lounge or Bridges to Babylon.

1. Dance Pt.1 is a disco-rock song of its era with some funny Mick jive vocals. The kind of thing Mick probably felt compelled to create to impress his Studio 54 pals. Interestingly, the band resurrected this track for their Licks Tour club shows and it still sounds pretty good (just don't tell Keith he is playing disco).

2. Summer Romance is a fun rocking song. Sort of a throwback to a 50's-style rocker with a fast tempo echoing the punk rock of the time. Overall, very enjoyable.

3. Send It To Me: A not at all bad pop rock song with a bit of a groove to it. In the tradition of songs like Luxury that attempt Reggae, miss the mark, but end up enjoyable anyway.

4. Let Me Go: Okay, the version here is a fine if not too memorable pop rock song. However, for the 1981 tour the band goosed the tempo and really made this one come alive. See the Still Life live album for the definitive version of this song.

5. Indian Girl: I cannot defend this one. In my opinion, Indian Girl ties In Another Land from the SMR record for weirdest Stones song of all time. It is a lazy, sleepy ode to the female child of a mother / father team of Cuban guerrilla fighters battling somewhere in Angola. Huh? I had no idea Keith and Ronnie were so skilled in the art of Mariachi.

6. Where The Boys Go: A fast, punkish,rocker featuring faux cockney vocal stylings from a slumming Mick Jagger. The good fun quotient is upped a notch by the squealing girl-group backup singers

7. Down in the Hole: Very good, introspective blues song trippy in that the blues the protagonist has seems to be brought on by the fact that he is living in occupied West Berlin in the immediate aftermath of WWII! A total downer in a really good way

8. Emotional Rescue: A big hit that the band seems to disown. This is an epic dance groover ala Miss You. Nifty dreamy talk-sing section where Mick goes on about romantic knighthood in the Arabian desert! This one screams for inclusion on their upcoming tour. Dust this one off boys

9. She's So Cold: My favorite track on the album. Classic Stones rocker that stands toe to toe with their best. It was a great addition to the '81 tour but for some reason they did not include it on Still Life and have never played it since. Love Wyman's bass and Charlie's cymbal clash's on this song and throughout the record.

10. All About You: Fine world-weary Keith ballad

So there you go. Give this one another chance it has hidden depths.