Undercover (Rolling Stones album)

Undercover is the 17th British and 19th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 7 November 1983 by Rolling Stones Records.

Undercover
Studio album by The Rolling Stones
Released	7 November 1983
Recorded	November 1982 – August 1983
Studio	Pathé Marconi, Boulogne Billancourt[1] Compass Point (Nassau) The Hit Factory (NYC)
Genre	Rock rock and roll[2] hard rock[3] new wave[3]
Length	44:46
Language	English
Label	Rolling Stones
Producer	The Glimmer Twins, Chris Kimsey
The Rolling Stones chronology
Still Life (1982) Undercover (1983) Dirty Work (1986)
Singles from Undercover
"Undercover of the Night" Released: 1 November 1983 "She Was Hot" Released: 23 January 1984 "Too Much Blood" Released: 1984

After their preceding studio album, Tattoo You (1981), which was mostly patched together from a selection of outtakes, Undercover was their first release of all new recordings in the 1980s. Tensions in the studio were high, as each of the principal songwriters wanted to take the band in a different direction. Vocalist Mick Jagger sought to adapt to modern trends in music, favouring reggae, worldbeat, and new wave musical textures, while guitarist Keith Richards wanted the band to return to their blues rock roots. As a result, the album is an eclectic, if uneven, collection of songs covering a wide range of styles. Besides the other principal band members, including guitarist Ronnie Wood, bassist Bill Wyman, and drummer Charlie Watts, the album featured many guest musicians. It would be the last album released during the lifetime of Ian Stewart, a former member of the band and frequent contributor on piano.

It would be the first Rolling Stones album in over a decade to miss reaching No. 1 on the U.S. album charts, peaking at No. 4. Three singles were released from the album, with the highest rated being the top-40 release "Undercover of the Night".

History

Due to the recent advancements in recording technology, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were officially joined in the producer's seat by Chris Kimsey, the first outside producer the Stones had used since Jimmy Miller. They began recording at the Pathé Marconi Studios in Paris, France in November 1982. After breaking for the Christmas holidays, they completed the album in New York City the following summer.

The making of Undercover was an arduous process, largely because Jagger and Richards' famous mid-1980s row began during these sessions. Jagger was keenly aware of new styles and wanted to keep The Rolling Stones current and experimental, while Richards was seemingly more focused on the band's rock and blues roots. As a result, there was friction, and the tension between the two key members would increase over the coming years. A compounding factor was the fact that Richards had emerged (to an extent) from his self-destructive lifestyle of the previous decade, and thus sought a more active role in the creative direction of the band, much to the chagrin of Jagger, who had enjoyed nearly a decade in relative control of the band.

The lyrics on Undercover are among Jagger's most macabre, with much grisly imagery to be found in the lead single and top 10 hit "Undercover of the Night", a rare political track about Central America, as well as "Tie You Up (The Pain of Love)" and "Too Much Blood", Jagger's attempt to incorporate contemporary trends in dance music.

Musically, Undercover appears to duel between hard rock, reggae and new wave, reflecting the leadership tug of war between Jagger and Richards at the time. "Pretty Beat Up" is largely a Ronnie Wood composition, and Jagger and Richards were both reportedly reluctant to include it on the album.

"Think I'm Going Mad" was a track first recorded during the Emotional Rescue sessions of 1979. It finally arrived as the B-side to "She Was Hot". It was not included on the Rarities 1971–2003 collection and was finally released on CD on the Singles 1971–2006 box set compilation.

Release and reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Blender	[5]
Christgau's Record Guide	C+[6]
MusicHound	2/5[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[8]
Tom Hull	B[9]

Undercover was released in November 1983, reaching No. 3 in the UK and No. 4 in the US. It was a relative disappointment however, breaking a streak of eight No. 1 albums (excluding compilations and live albums) in the US and failing to spawn any huge singles.

Undercover was the fourth consecutive Rolling Stones album to have its art direction handled by Peter Corriston (who had won a Grammy for his work on Tattoo You), with concept origination, photography and illustration by Hubert Kretzschmar. The album's cover artwork was covered with real peel-off stickers on the original vinyl edition, which when removed revealed other patterned geometric shapes.

Contemporary critical reception to the album was mixed. In a contemporary review in Rolling Stone, Kurt Loder gave the album 4.5 stars, calling it "rock & roll without apologies".[10] On the other hand, Robert Christgau called it a "murky, overblown, incoherent piece of shit" and labelled it the band's "worst studio album".[11]

Although largely praising it upon release, many fans came to regard it as among the Rolling Stones' weaker releases, a view echoed by Jagger himself in later interviews. While some critics tended to blame the then-contemporary production, a large part of the album was done in a hard-rock style ("She Was Hot", "Too Tough", "All The Way Down", and "It Must Be Hell"), leading many to fault the inconsistent material. Many newer reviews have also noted the album's eclecticism and nastiness as a reflection of the Jagger/Richards feud.

Legacy

Undercover would prove to be the last album that seriously attempted to take the band's music in new directions; critics often fault the Stones' later albums as relying too comfortably on their early 1970s hard rock and blues formula. However, the record is still one of the Stones' less popular and more obscure releases.

Undercover was the last Rolling Stones album distributed in North America via Rolling Stones Records' original distribution deal with Warner Music Group's Atlantic Records subsidiary. The album would be reissued in 1986 by CBS/Sony Music following the Stones' signing to that label. Undercover was subsequently remastered and reissued by Virgin Records in 1994, and again in 2009 by Universal Music. It was released on SHM-SACD in 2012 by Universal Music Japan.

Original cassettes and later CD reissues (post-EMI) of this album contain a different edit of "Wanna Hold You" than appeared on the original vinyl release. The original cassette release includes the verse "You sure look good to me, so what's it gonna be, it's up to you to choose, I'll make you an offer you can't refuse". This version runs 3:50.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, except where noted.

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Undercover of the Night"	4:31
2.	"She Was Hot"	4:40
3.	"Tie You Up (The Pain of Love)"	4:16
4.	"Wanna Hold You"	3:52
5.	"Feel On Baby"	5:03

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Too Much Blood"		6:14
2.	"Pretty Beat Up"	Jagger, Richards, Ronnie Wood	4:03
3.	"Too Tough"		3:52
4.	"All the Way Down"		3:12
5.	"It Must Be Hell"		5:03

Other songs

Title	Length	Notes
"I Think I'm Going Mad"	4:17	"She Was Hot" B-side

Personnel

The Rolling Stones

• Mick Jagger – lead and backing vocals, electric guitar, harmonica
• Keith Richards – electric guitar, backing vocals; lead vocals on "Wanna Hold You"; bass guitar on "Pretty Beat Up"
• Ronnie Wood – electric and slide guitar, backing vocals; bass guitar on "Tie You Up" and "Wanna Hold You"
• Bill Wyman – bass guitar, percussion; piano on "Pretty Beat Up"
• Charlie Watts – drums

Additional personnel

• Chuck Leavell – keyboards, organ, piano[12]
• Ian Stewart – piano on "She Was Hot" and "Pretty Beat Up", percussion
• David Sanborn – saxophone
• CHOPS – horns
• Sly Dunbar – percussion
• Robbie Shakespeare – bass guitar
• Moustapha Cisse – percussion
• Brahms Coundoul – percussion
• Martin Ditcham – percussion
• Jim Barber – main electric guitar on "Too Much Blood"

Technical

• Hubert Kretzschmar – cover art photographer and illustrator
• Peter Corriston – cover art designer
• Bob Clearmountain – mixing engineer

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1983–84) Position Australian Kent Music Report[13] 3 Austrian Albums Chart[14] 8 Canadian RPM Albums Chart[15] 2 Dutch Albums Chart[16] 1 French SNEP Albums Chart[17] 11 German Media Control Albums Chart[18] 2 Italian Albums Chart[19] 10 Japanese Oricon LPs Chart[20] 12 New Zealand Albums Chart[21] 2 Norwegian Albums Chart[22] 3 Spanish Albums Chart[23] 5 Swedish Albums Chart[24] 1 Swiss Albums Chart[25] 5 UK Albums Chart[26] 3 US Billboard 200[27] 4

Year-end charts Chart (1983) Position Australian Albums Chart[13] 73 Canadian Albums Chart[28] 45 Dutch Albums Chart[29] 29 French Albums Chart[30] 87 Italian Albums Chart[19] 58 Chart (1984) Position Australian Albums Chart[13] 87 Canadian Albums Chart[31] 33 Dutch Albums Chart[32] 93 Certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales Spain (PROMUSICAE)[33] Gold 50,000^^ United Kingdom (BPI)[34] Gold 100,000^^ United States (RIAA)[35] Platinum 1,000,000^^ ^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. http://www.leblogdeboulogne.com/rolling-stones-boulogne-billancourt/
2. Loder, Kurt (7 November 1983). "Undercover". rollingstone.com.
3. "Undercover – The Rolling Stones – Songs, Reviews, Credits – AllMusic". AllMusic.
4. AllMusic Review
5. Blender
6. "Robert Christgau: CG: rolling stone". www.robertchristgau.com.
7. Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds) (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 952. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
8. "The Rolling Stones: Album Guide". rollingstone.com. Archived version retrieved 15 November 2014.
9. Hull, Tom (30 June 2018). "Streamnotes (June 2018)". tomhull.com. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
10. Loder, Kurt (7 November 1983). "Undercover". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
11. "Robert Christgau: CG: The Rolling Stones". www.robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
12. Saulnier, Jason (8 April 2010). "Chuck Leavell Interview". Music Legends. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
13. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
14. "The Rolling Stones – Undercover – austriancharts.at" (ASP). Retrieved 31 January 2014.
15. "Top Albums/CDs – Volume 39, No. 16". RPM. 17 December 1983. Archived from the original on 23 September 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
16. "dutchcharts.nl The Rolling Stones – Undercover" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
17. "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 26 January 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2013.Note: user must select 'The Rolling Stones' from drop-down.
18. "Album Search: The Rolling Stones – Undercover" (ASP) (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
19. "Hit Parade Italia – Gli album più venduti del 1983" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
20. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
21. "charts.nz The Rolling Stones – Undercover" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
22. "norwegiancharts.com The Rolling Stones – Tattoo You" (ASP). Retrieved 1 May 2012.
23. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
24. "swedishcharts.com The Rolling Stones – Undercover" (ASP). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
25. "The Rolling Stones – Undercover – hitparade.ch" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Swiss Music Charts. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
26. "The Rolling Stones > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
27. "Allmusic: Undercover : Charts & Awards : Billboard Albums". allmusic.com. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
28. "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1983". RPM. 24 December 1983. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
29. "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1983" (ASP) (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 April 2014.
30. "Les Albums (CD) de 1983 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original (PHP) on 9 February 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
31. "Top 100 Albums of 1984". RPM. 5 January 1985. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
32. "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1984" (ASP) (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 April 2014.
33. Sólo Éxitos 1959–2002 Año A Año: Certificados 1979–1990 (in Spanish). Iberautor Promociones Culturales. 2005. ISBN 8480486392.
34. "British album certifications – The Rolling Stones – Undercover". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Undercover in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
35. "American album certifications – The Rolling Stones – Undercover". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.