Customer Reviews

Tattoo You (Reis)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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...

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.

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.

Some say that Exile on Main Street is the last great Rolling Stones album, others say it's Some Girls, but Tattoo You is really the last one to have songs which have remained unsurpassed.

Unlike Some Girls and Emotional Rescue, there's not a trace of disco on this one. Infact, the album could be considered as a sequel of sorts to Sticky Fingers. Many of the songs mirror ones from that album. Instead of 'Brown Sugar,' we're given 'Start Me Up,' which was the Stones' best rock single since then. Instead of 'Can't You Hear Me Knocking,' we're given 'Slave,' a jam that also features a superb blend of guitar and saxophone. Indeed, the sax makes its most triumphant return here, courtesy of the great Sonny Rollins and Bobby Keyes. Instead of 'You Gotta Move,' we're given 'Black Limosine,' and so on. Also like Sticky Fingers, Tattoo You features just as many rockers as slow numbers.

To dismiss Tattoo You as simply an album of out-takes is ignorant. It delivers in a way that no other Stones album has been able to since, partly because it is the last one to have that "classic Stones" sound, made better than ever by the 2009 remastering. In addition, it can't be denied that great talent went into the tracks. Tattoo You features no less than 4 amazing gutiarists - Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Wayne Perkins, and Mick Taylor. The book "According to the Rolling Stones" even lists Pete Townshend among the credits (backing vocals on 'Slave'). Perkins does a superb guitar solo on 'Worried About You' and Taylor appears on 'Tops' and 'Waiting on a Friend.'

Considering what came after it (Undercover, Dirty Work, Steel Wheels), it's no wonder that Tattoo You is considered the last great Stones album. Steel Wheels is better than Undercover and Dirty Work, but not great. Voodoo Lounge, while not a complete failure, is littered with filler and Bridges to Babylon has hip-hop overtones in spots. Only until A Bigger Bang did the band finally release an album that was fairly consistent in quality. Tattoo You is definitely worth buying and I also recommend Still Life, an underrated live album from their 1981-1982 tour.

I had this LP when they toured the US in 1980 & saw 'em kick off the NE tour in my home town. Side 1 trots out the hit singles, Start Me Up, Little T&A, Hang Fire, Neighbors, & has some cool session work by Ernie Watts burning sax on Slave. Side 2 has some cool items outside of the "tired" hits that we were bludgeoned with like "Worried About You" "Tops" & "No Use" are nice soul numbers in the style of Don Covay which also feature Mick Taylor. In my opinion, its the soul #s that rescue this from being just an average Stones LP. The Stones work after Some Girls was spotty but there were some very good tracks burried on the 80s & 90's LPs....just too few & far away.

"Tatto You",released in 1981,was the band's last undisputed classic album,containing their signature song "Start Me Up" along with other standouts as "Hang Fire",the reggage-funk workout "Slave",Keith's raunchy rocker "Little T&A",the sweetly soul "Worried About You",and the gentle "Waiting On A Friend" complete with jazz legend Sonny Rollins's solo.The 1994 Virgin remaster was a big improvment over the dull 80's CBS disc,so while this 2009 UMG remaster isn't a night-and-day experience like the other UMG Stones remasters,it is a bit improved in terms of clarity(especially in the guitars and vocals)and warmth.It would be quite awhile before the Rolling Stones got this good after this album.

Start Me Up. Or, Re-Start Me Up. This is another "turning point" album in the band's history. We have now left the disco/jet-set era of Black and Blue, Some Girls, and Emotional Rescue. As "Hang Fire" on this album points out, "Inheriting money is a full time job/I don't need the aggravation/I'm a lazy slob..." This album is a reflection of that sentiment: The band almost seems to cast off the heavy mantle of its already-heavy legacy to that point and gets back to basics.

The simple C-G riff of "Start Me Up" is as infectious a hook as any in the Stones catalog and the whole album pretty much continues that way.
"Little T&A" is a (slightly) less in-your-face version of "Respectable" from the Some Girls album just three years earlier. Instead of "dropping heroin with the the President," we're content to hear Keith wax poetic about his "little rock and roll." "Neighbors" is a goofy little rant.

The album does get a bit ponderous on side 2, as those of us who bought the vinyl album when both we and the album were new will remember. "Tops" and "Heaven" are in contrast both in sound and attitude vs the rest of the album, which neverthless ends in the simple, bittersweet "Waiting on a Friend." The TV commercials when the album come out showed Mick with his arm slung over Keith's shoulder, walking down a city street with this song in the background.

This album ushers in two notable elements in the band's history:
1) A thinning of Charlie Watts' drums to reflect the early-80's fad of electronic percussion. The beats are still there, but the drums don't have that F-A-T maple shells and stretched skins sound of yore -- i.e. "Carol" on the live Get Yer Ya Ya's Out album. IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: This comment is not to be taken as the sound on THIS PARTICULAR 2009 remaster is not up to snuff. OVERALL, THIS AND THE REST OF THE 2009 REMASTERS ARE SUBSTANTIALLY BETTER, PUNCHIER, BASSIER, AND MEATIER THAN THOSE WHICH CAME BEFORE, INCLUDING THE 2005 VIRGIN O-CARDS (which of course, really weren't "remasters" per se).
2) The Rolling Stones become The Rolling StonesTM. The US tour in support of Tattoo You is the first to have a corporate sponsor - Jovan Perfumes, who were plugging their "Andron" line of scents that were supposedly scientifically formulated with pheromones to attract the opposite sex.

This is my first experience with the 2009 remastered reissues of Stone discs, but it seems to suffer the same as reviews I have read about the other albums. The music has been compressed to make it louder and more "modern" sounding. The new version IS louder and more "modern" sounding, so they succeeded in that sense. They failed in the sense that the music now sounds squished together. The original version was much more interesting to listen to with it's "sparser" mix.

The version of Slave is the unedited version, which is interesting to hear, but ultimately not as satisfying as the original issue.

It is still the Stones and still one of my all time favorite albums, but I am not going to get rid of my original copy. If you want this disc, go and find an original issue.

After the disappointing "Emotional Rescue" the previous year, The Rolling Stones managed to rebound with 1981's "Tattoo You." While not quite a masterpiece, it's a solid, consistently enjoyable effort with no truly dire moments and quite a few noteworthy if not sublime numbers. If "Some Girls" was never released, I probably wouldn't hesitate to call it the best post-"Exile" effort. It manages to stay away from the excessive experimentation that marred "Black and Blue" and "Emotional Rescue." There's no pulsating disco beats or thrashing punk power chords. In fact, it's probably their last start to finish Stones sounding record, remaining remarkably grounded within the band's traditional sounds.

"Tattoo You" kicks off with the last great Stones single, "Start Me Up." Originally developed during the "Black and Blue" sessions as a reggae experiment, "Start Me Up" wound up evolving into a masterful, in your face rocker that rivals "Satisfaction" and "Brown Sugar" as the ultimate Stones anthem; three minutes of raw attitude built around an unforgettable Keith riff, with Mick snarling not so subtle euphamisms like "You make a dead man come..." This was the last time the band ever hit such a peak, and they seem to know it, as they sound like they're having a blast on the record.

"Hang Fire" is an ironic parody of Midwestern American laziness, while "Slave" is lyrically underdeveloped but is saved by the great instrumental work by all involved. "Little T & A" is a Keith classic, a raunchy tribute to future wife Patti Hansen sung with sincere sleaziness in Keef's one of a kind 'cigarettes and heroine' drawl. "Black Limousine" is a punchy blues number with some killer harmonica and slide guitar licks, and finally "Neighbors" is a dumb but fun little adrenaline rush.

Side 2 is a bit more serious, with the slower, more soulful numbers taking the forefront. "Worried About You" is one of Mick's falsetto showcases, reminiscent of "Fool to Cry" and the like; it's a bit corny but the band manages to sell it. Better still is "Tops," a seedy ballad about the price of fame and taking a chance to reach the Big Time. Mick's double tracked vocals are surprisingly effective and the backing arrangement is excellent as well. "Heaven" is a spooky, ethereal ballad with a haunting melody that will captivate you upon first listen. "No Use in Crying" is a solid but forgettable blues ballad. The closing "Waiting on a Friend" is the album's second best song, a gentle, sax driven ballad about the virtues of platonic companionship.

"Tattoo You" isn't life changing, but a solid and respectable effort.

Overall, this Stones record contains some awesome tracks, that sound so much better now, than they did previously. One highlight is Bill Wyman's bass, which was really a big part of The Stones sound. All the records that came out, after Bill left the band, aren't quite the same. Although, The Stones have managed to endure as a band, without him, and still put out some good music. Some of the tracks on this record are just okay, but mostly, the record is pretty solid.