213 - Rolling Stones - Tattoo You

[csberry]

I think, first and foremost, it is important to look at where this album falls in the Stones' discography. It was released in 1981. How many bands can claim to have albums in the Top 500 list that came twenty years after their first hits? Let's see...Bob Dylan, Paul Simon (if you accept the transition from duo to solo), Johnny Cash, and U2 were the only ones I could find when scanning the list.

What hampers this album for me was the decision to do rockers for side 1 and then ballads on the second side. What starts out groovin' and rockin' kinda grinds to a halt with some pedestrian ballads. Alas, the exemplary "Waiting For a Friend" is a welcome song at the end of this side, but it also highlights how lacking the second half of Tattoo You is. The album is better than I expected, but not sure why it is so high on the Rolling Stone list.

Songs I Knew I Liked: "Start Me Up" and "Waiting on a Friend"

Songs I Now Like: I wanted to like "Hang Fire" but something about it seemed a bit forced for me upon repeated listens.

Songs I Can Go the Rest of My Life Never Hearing Again: Most of the second side.