Too Much Blood: The Rolling Stones’ Undercover at 40
Looking back on a hackneyed diamond in the band’s catalog
There came a point in The Rolling Stones’ trajectory where fans began to wonder if the band could ever meet the high bar established by the cream of their catalog.
That certainly proved to be the case in the wake of Some Girls in 1978, largely considered by many to be the last truly great Stones album. It seems like throughout these last 45 years, fans were forced to hold their collective breath whenever any new work from them was announced.
The fact that the LP which preceded Undercover — Tattoo You — had been pieced together from songs that were largely left off of previous efforts did nothing to alleviate the anxiety. Consequently, as their first collection of all new material going into the ’80s, there was even greater anticipation than usual.
Released on November 7, 1983, Undercover made for a most auspicious entry, especially given the fact that the band — and Mick Jagger in particular — felt compelled to find a fit with worldbeat, reggae and hip-hop, the trends that were dominating the music scene at the time.
Keith Richards resisted that notion. Having successfully overcome his addictions, he sought a greater role in the album’s creation, and Jagger, having taken the helm, insisted the band conform to those more modern styles. The two were feuding constantly during this period, making the recording sessions tedious at best.
Co-producer Chris Kimsey found himself caught in the middle of the warring pair, and the fact that he was the first outsider to assume that role since Jimmy Miller had done it over a decade before certainly didn’t give him any extra advantage. It’s telling, however, that though the album hit the Top 10 in the American charts, it failed to reach Number One, a feat that all the Stones albums had accomplished from Sticky Fingers on up.
In certain ways, that’s understandable. The album had a menacing aura to it, not atypical for the Stones of course, but it also seemed to be edgy and agitated simply for the sake of tampering with taboos, rather than merely relying on a good hook here and there. “Undercover (Of The Night),” the album’s standout track and most successful single, is decidedly sultry and seductive. But as the video suggested, the theme had more to do with political intrigue than with corralling romantic prey.
VIDEO: The Rolling Stones “Undercover (Of The Night)”
Other entries, such as “Tie You Up (The Pain of Love)” and “Too Much Blood” are decent rockers, but still somewhat macabre in terms of what they attempted to express. The latter is especially bizarre, given that it’s ostensively a commentary about violence in the media that incorporates Jagger’s half-hearted effort to rap. Richards played a very little role in the writing or recording of the track, reason enough for it to be bereft of the band’s usual determined delivery.
“Pretty Beat Up,” a Ron Wood composition, is a decent enough attempt, but it too falls short in terms of a song that one might consider a solid Stones rocker.
“Wanna Hold You” is a rugged Richards track, one that was briefly included in the band’s live sets and deservedly so. It would be cool to see them break this out again on the next tour.
“She Was Hot,” on the other hand, is an interesting attempt to rekindle the Stones’ sexual undertones, and the stop-start chorus offers added intrigue. Jagger’s vocals are particularly effective, given the fact he was substituting sexuality for his usual snarl, making for a more pointed perspective overall.
VIDEO: The Rolling Stones “She Was Hot”
Nevertheless, given the titles of such tracks as “It Must Be Hell,” “All the Way Down,” and the aforementioned “Pretty Beat Up” and “Tie You Up (The Pain of Love),” it was all too obvious that the band was anxious to simply opt for menace over melody while purveying the outlaw image the Stones had been cultivating since their early days. If anything, it seemed an attempt to foster a brand rather than any attempt to move the music forward.
Even the cover, with its peel-off stickers and fanciful image of a naked model, seemed intent on simply purveying an image of overt sexual innuendo. Overseen by Peter Corriston, who had done the same honors for Tattoo You and won a Grammy for his efforts, it was arty and imaginative, in keeping with the trend taken by most Stones covers since the early the ‘70s.
Still, image isn’t everything. At this point, the Stones had become a parody of themselves, one reason Undercover received only mixed/mild reviews from both the public and the pundits. The predominance of pretension probably had a lot to do with it.
In fact, the band should have been at the peak of their form given that Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts still made up a formidable rhythm section and longtime “sixth Stone,” keyboardist Ian Stewart, also contributed in what would be his last appearance prior to his passing.
Undercover marked the Stones’ final recording for their own Rolling Stones Records. Their next album, Dirty Work, would mark their debut on Columbia Records.
With the recent release of Hackney Diamonds, the band’s first new album in some seven years, the group proved they were capable of rekindling earlier glories. In the case of Undercover, they tampered with the template in order to cash in on then-current trends.
Ultimately, it’s not necessarily a bad album, but Undercover is a title best left for the hardcore Stones completist.
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