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| Universal launches next phase of Rolling Stones reissues Following the release of the first batch of re-mastered, post 1971 studio albums by The Rolling Stones, Universal Music Group have confirmed details of the second instalment in this trilogy of reissued albums. The comprehensive reissue programme started in May with the re-appearance of the legendary Sticky Fingers, Goats Head Soup, It's Only Rock'n'Roll and Black And Blue in stores and digitally. It now continues apace with the reintroduction of such acknowledged classics as Some Girls, Emotional Rescue, Tattoo You and Undercover, due out on 8 June 2009. The third and final instalment (of the studio albums) will be released in July. The band said, "The sound now differs in that we changed a few things and took away some of the hard edges that were on some of the albums and improved the overall fidelity without losing the feel of the original masters." By the late seventies, The Rolling Stones were unquestionably the world's greatest rock'n'roll band, a tag they thoroughly deserved and have yet to lose. They had moved effortlessly into open-air stadiums but also began a tradition of performing more intimate shows in theatres and clubs alongside their groundbreaking concerts in arenas. To the delight of their millions of fans, they have continued with this policy to the present. The world really was The Rolling Stones' oyster in the late seventies, as their Canadian escapades made headlines around the world. They partied at Studio 54, came up with dancefloor favourites Miss You and Emotional Rescue, and recorded in Paris, Nassau and New York. The eighties saw the band stretch the envelope further still, working with jazz great Sonny Rollins, film directors Julien Temple and Michael Lindsay-Hogg, and producers Chris Kimsey and Steve Lillywhite. Amazingly, the Rolling Stones topped these achievements with ever-more ambitious tours in the nineties and noughties, and recorded three more classic studio albums with acclaimed producer Don Was, in Dublin, Los Angeles, France and the Caribbean. Some Girls introduced a whole new generation to the music of the Stones. The infectious dance groove of Miss You topped the US charts, as did the album in 1978. Both releases also made the Top 3 in the UK, where the country-flavoured Far Away Eyes, featuring Ronnie Wood on pedal steel guitar, enjoyed substantial airplay. Respectable, the follow-up single in Britain, proved that they could match the punks they had influenced so much. The US market preferred the mid-tempo Beast of Burden which went Top Ten there. A cover of The Temptations' Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me), the driving When The Whip Comes Down, Keith Richards' vocal turn on Before They Make Me Run and the urgent Shattered – a US Top 30 single – make this a must-have album, which has already sold over 6 million copies worldwide, and still provides the group with concert highlights 30 years on. Peter Corriston's striking cover design, controversial at the time, remains a classic. First issued in 1980, Emotional Rescue was a transatlantic chart-topper and its infectious title track made the best-sellers list too. Recorded in Nassau in the Bahamas, in Paris and in New York, and produced by Jagger and Richards under their Glimmer Twins guise, it also contains the classic rocker She's So Cold, which went Top 40 in both the UK and the US, and Dance (Pt 1), another groove-oriented track, which was a club hit in the States. The bittersweet ballad All About You features one of Richards' most affecting vocal performances as well as Bobby Keys' distinctive saxophone. Corriston used a thermo camera to create the album's unusual cover, and drew on the same technique for the Emotional Rescue video. 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. Produced by the Glimmer Twins and Chris Kimsey, and recorded in Paris and New York, Undercover made the Top 5 on both sides of the Atlantic in 1983. Its lead-off single, the stunning Undercover Of The Night, incorporated elements of reggae, dub and dance and proved that the group kept their finger on the pulse of popular music. Jagger has never been in better form than when delivering its politically-charged lyrics. He also raps about the Texas Chainsaw Massacre on the nasty Too Much Blood. The Top 50 single She Was Hot has rightly been revived by the band in recent years, as has the Richards-sung rocker I Wanna Hold You. Corriston's cover originally came with strategically-placed stickers. Fans will have the option of purchasing a collector's box in which to house all 14 studio albums. The catalogue will also be available digitally. The classic album Exile on Main Street will also be re released later in 2009 by UMG as part of wider plans for this title. Watch this space. write your comments about the article :: © 2009 Jazz News :: home page |