Emotional Rescue

by

The Rolling Stones

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Emotional Rescue was originally released June 24, 1980, it went to #1 in both the UK & US. The album includes the single hits Emotional Rescue and She's So Cold. Most people know the music, so in my reviews I try to give you data on the sessions and interesting facts connected with the songs and the album. Here we go:

Interesting notes include:

.....the vinyl album was released with a large color poster of images taken of the Band with a thermographic camera that imaged the body heat instead of light.....a video was also done with thermographic cameras

.....the tracks on the album were recorded while Keith started his band The New Barbarians to fulfill his drug conviction sentence in Toronto by playing a benefit for the blind, which he did with Ron Wood and the rest of the Stones, and then did a tour (which made no money because the drug expenses were so high)....John Belushi was with the Band for most of the tour

.....Band members Ronnie Wood, Mick Taylor, and Ian McLagan all released albums (with accusations that their best work had gone into their solo efforts)

The sessions for Emotional Rescue were very productive with many unreleased songs. They started in Nassau and continued in Paris with overdub and final mixing at Electric Lady Studios in NYC during Nov & Dec of 1979 and in April 1980.

Jan 18 - Feb 12, 1979 at Compass Point Studios in Nassau

.....She's So Cold

.....All About You

Jun 10 - Aug 25 & Sep 12 - Oct 19, 1979 at Pathe Marconi/EMI Studios in Paris

.....Dance

.....Summer Romance

.....Send It To Me

.....Let Me Go

.....Indian Girl

.....Where The Boys Go

.....Down In The Hole

.....Emotional Rescue

Also recorded during the Emotional Rescue sessions were:

.....Little T & A (released on Tattoo You)

.....Hang Fire (released on Tattoo You)

.....Worried About You (released on Tattoo You)

.....If I Was A Dancer (Dance, Pt. 2) (released as a 12" single)

.....Black Limousine (released on Tattoo You)

.....No Use In Crying (released on Tattoo You)

Tracks from these sessions that were never released included Gangster's Moll, I'll Let You Know, Linda Lu, Lonely At the Top, It Won't Be Long, Still In Love, Sweet Home Chicago, What's The Matter, You're So Beautiful (But You Gotta Die Someday), Break Away, and Sands Of Time.

This information comes from "It's Only Rock And Roll: The Ultimate Guide To The Rolling Stones" by Karnbach and Bernson and from my own collection, with some of the notes from Davis' "Old Gods Almost Dead." Both books are available from amazon.com.

Why this album is so maligned among Stones fans will forever baffle me. Maybe because it was the follow-up to Some Girls and some feel it pales in comparison? Maybe because there happens to be no major statements from the authors of "Gimme Shelter", "Street Fighting Man", "Wild Horses" (and plenty of others)? Because they feel there's a surplus of filler?

These are valid arguments, but what it overlooks is that this is the sound of the Stones simply enjoying themselves. It's worth noting that during this period not only were the Stones enjoying the fruits of their commerical and artistic triumph with Some Girls, but also that both Mick and Keith had new love interests in their lives, and Keith was a free man, having recently gotten off his Canadian charges for possession of heroin with intent to traffic.

So why not have some fun? From the first moments, "Dance" presents itself as a groove. Then Mick and Keith actually have a discussion over the track, evetually Mick getting to proclaiming "Get up, get out, get into something new". No, it's not "You Can't Always Get What you Want"...but who said it has to be? A lyric like "When I touched her, my hand just froze" from "She's So Cold" may not be "My name is called Disturbance/I'll shout and scream, I'll kill the king, and rail at his servants", but so what? It's still a killer tune.

Throughout the album, the funny, goofy, New Wave-influenced songs work best. "Send It To Me", "Let Me Go", "She's So Cold", the title track. When Mick's sense of humor is on - the goofy spoken section of the title track, the reggae-influenced laundry list of types of women Mick would like to meet (including "ukranian, albanian, even alien") - the album is absolutely engaging, charming, and absorbing.

However, with material like "Summer Romance", "Where the Boys Go" (where with a bunch teeny-bopping female back-up singers the goofiness goes a little too far), "Indian Girl' (good lyrics, banal song), and "Down in the Hole", there IS an abundance of filler. Even Send It To Me and Let Me Go can be reagrded as filler - but hugely entertaining, well-crafted filler.

The most sophisticated, sincere piece of music is the closer, Keiht's "All About You". A sensitive ballad with bitter lyrics, it's a sad, heartfelt farewell to a lost relationship. A very touching, very stirring, and emotional way to end an otherwise fun, light New-Wave album.

Emotional Rescue is hardly the Stones at their peak, but it remains a very good, enjoyable album nonetheless. Recommended listening for those late spring/early summer house parties or while driving with the top down (and maybe with a CD burner closeby to omit the filler).