Tattoo You (Reis) [Original recording remastered, Original recording reissued]

The Rolling Stones | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 9, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered, Original recording reissued
• Label: UMe
• ASIN: B0024RID6U
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,246 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #98 in Music > Music Deals > Box Sets at 30% Off

Track Listings

1. Start Me Up

2. Hang Fire

3. Slave

4. Little T&A

5. Black Limousine

6. Neighbours

7. Worried About You

8. Tops

9. Heaven

10. No Use In Crying

11. Waiting On A Friend

Editorial Reviews

Tattoo You is another undisputed classic and rightly topped the US charts for nine weeks on its original release in 1981. Its opening track and first single, Start Me Up, remains one of the band's best loved songs and a mainstay of their live set. The cleverly sequenced Tattoo You comprises six rock tracks, including the US Top 20 hit Hang Fire, the fast blues of Black Limousine, Richards' lead vocal on Little T & A, and the sneering Neighbours, but the five ballads which follow - and formed the second side of the original vinyl - really lift it into another league. The sweet soul of Worried About You, Tops and the sublime Waiting On A Friend, featuring jazz great Sonny Rollins on saxophone, in particular show what a fine singer Jagger is. Corriston's cover design won a Grammy Award for best album package.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "...I Don't Need The Aggravation...I'm A Lazy Slob...Hang Fire...", June 25, 2009

By 

Mark Barry, Reckless Records, London (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Tattoo You (Reis) (Audio CD)

With the old Virgin 1994 remaster and this new 2009 Polydor version 'both' clocking in at exactly 44:26 minutes, I immediately had my suspicions about this latest rehash masquerading as something new for soppy Stones fans like me and a million others. But this 2009 Polydor CD is a FANTASTIC IMPROVEMENT in sound over its 1994 predecessor - it really is...

If I were to nail down what's different - it would be the BASS and DRUMS. They're suddenly so clear now - and in some cases like "Worried About You" - it's truly startling how good they sound. In fact if feels like every single track has been uplifted out of its former rhythm section muddiness. The clarity and punch is great on everything really. STEPHEN MARCUSSEN and STEWART WHITMORE at Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California did the transfers and they're to be praised for their work...

As you've no doubt already read, "Tattoo You" was a ragbag of outtakes from previous albums with a few new tunes thrown in - Rockers on the A with Ballads on the B. Yet it worked - I played it to death on release - loved it - especially the soulful Side 2.

Unfortunately, the new packaging is a bit of a joke. The 'furry boot' inner sleeve that came with the original LP is reproduced in a paltry gatefold inlay, but there's no lyrics (there's a European LP that has a lyric sheet insert - they could have used that). The startling Christian Piper tattooed 'Three Paintings' are reduced to a point where the credits on the green-coloured rear sleeve are barely legible. The inlay beneath the see-through CD tray is blank - wow - push the boat out boys! But much worse - and like so many Stones LPs - guest musicians who contributed incredible work at the time are now not mentioned on reissues at all. So with all that in mind, here's a detailed breakdown to get a better lay of the land...

1. Start Me Up [begun in 1975, returned to in 1978 as a "Some Girls" possible]
2. Hang Fire [another "Some Girls" outtake, features IAN STEWART on Piano]
3. Slave [This is an Extended Version - see PS below]
4. Little T&A [Lead Vocals and Bass by Keith Richards, Ian Stewart on Piano - T&A is street slang for certain parts of a woman's anatomy]
5. Black Limousine [the only track on the album co-credited to RONNIE WOOD, it features Mick Jagger on Lead Vocals and Harmonica with Ian Stewart on Piano - backing track dated as far back as "Exile" in 1972]
6. Neighbours [features' both' the legendary SONNY ROLLINS and BOBBY KEYES on Saxophones]
7. Worried About You [features BILLY PRESTON on Piano, WAYNE PERKINS on Lead Guitar and SOLO and OLLIE BROWN on Percussion]
8. Tops [features MICK TAYLOR on Guitar with NICKY HOPKINS on Piano; a Mick Taylor "Exile" outtake - wasn't given a writers credit - sued and won]
9. Heaven [co-producer CHRIS KIMSEY plays Piano on this]
10. No Use In Crying [features Nicky Hopkins on Piano]
11. Waiting On A Friend [features Mick Taylor on Guitar, Sonny Rollins on Saxophone and JIMMY MILLER of "Sticky" fame on Percussion]

The clarity of the guitar solo on "Slave" is awesome as is the swirling magic of "Heaven", but best of all is the beautiful axework by Wayne Perkins on the Side 2 opener "Worried About You". I think it's the best guitar solo on a Stones album anywhere and its clarity now is fabulous.

To sum up - I know the packaging and presentation leave a lot to be desired, but as I listen to the lovely Piano tinkering of Nicky Hopkins on "No Use In Crying" and the three lads harmonising on Backing Vocals - I don't care - I love it. The sound is wonderful and a major improvement over what went before.

The buggering truth is that once you hear these remasters, you're screwed - you'll have to have them all... Damn!

Despite niggles, it's recommended - big time.

PS: there's an anomaly worth noting...

When "Tattoo You" was originally released on Vinyl and Cassette in August 1981 (Rolling Stones CUNS 39114 in the UK and COC 16052 in the USA), the 3rd track on Side 1 "Slave" clocked in at about 3:20 minutes. So when the first ever CD version of it came out on CBS in 1989 it naturally reflected that timing.

However the May 1994 Virgin remaster put out an anomaly without telling anyone - their CD version was inexplicably extended to 6:31 minutes - that error is repeated here - and very much to the benefit of fans because the "Extended Version" of "Slave" is sensational. With the legendary Sonny Rollins playing on Saxophone and Billy Preston on Keyboards, the lengthy mix now sounds like "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" Part 2 from "Sticky Fingers". A huge chunky guitar riff throughout, great Jagger vocals, Sax wailing - it absolutely rocks (apparently there's a version with Jeff Beck on guitar in the can somewhere too).

What should have happened here of course is that the original LP timing be used on this CD - with both the Jeff Beck mix and the Extended Version put on as bonus tracks at the end, but that's for another day and another reissue...

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The 2009 Remaster Rocks!, August 14, 2009

By 

Dee Zee (Washington, DC Metro) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tattoo You (Reis) (Audio CD)

Great remaster and as another reviewer said, it's all about the Bass and the Drums. Much greater clarity and depth and a noticeable improvement over the 1994 Virgin issues. This is my 5th Stones remaster so far from this 2009 reissue campaign and I haven't been disappointed in any of them so far.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great album horrendously remastered, February 6, 2011

By 

Johnny Boy "The Record Collector" (Hockessin, DE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tattoo You (Reis) (Audio CD)

I'll make this review quick.

Look, I'll write a review on 'Tattoo You' eventually on one of the earlier pressings. It's a stellar album, it really is. It's The Rolling Stones outtakes album, but these outtakes are so great, one has to wonder why they weren't included on the albums they were recorded for ('Waiting on a Friend,' for example, would fit perfectly on 1973's 'Goats Head Soup,' which it was recorded for).

So as you can see, the two-star review is not for the music. That's an EASY five stars. The two stars are for the botched remastering. The mix is distorted and compressed and the volume is turned *way* up. It's a mess. It's almost hard to listen to and stomach. I don't know what the Stones were thinking authorizing this, but it is a disaster. An absolute disaster.

Overall, if you see this in stores, MAKE SURE you are either buying the 1990 Columbia pressing or the 1994 Virgin remaster as opposed to the 2009 Universal (or Polydor) pressing. This is a great album, but avoid all of the 2009 remasters. I bought 'Still Life (American Concert 1981),' 'Dirty Work,' and this one to test and see what they sounded like. It did not sound good on either my iPod or my speakers, and all of them sounded just terrible.

If you have the 1990 Columbia pressings and/or the 1994 Virgin remasters, hold on to those. Both of them (yes, even the Columbia remasters from when CDs were first being released) sound miles better than this over-compressed, distorted nightmare of a remaster.

Great album. Make sure you buy it, but avoid this copy of it like the plague.