But can anyone really argue that вЂњHang FireвЂќ or вЂњNeighborsвЂќ are truly A-List Rolling Stones songs? The rest of the rock songs on Tattoo You are fine-and Charlie Watts plays his ass off, with his drums given a sparkling treatment in Bob ClearmountainвЂ™s mix. Time for a confession: IвЂ™ve never really liked вЂњStart Me Up.вЂќ It always felt too formulaic, like the Stones were consciously trying to write an anthem. Playing almost like a suite, this second half of Tattoo You pointed toward a brand-new, more mature direction for the StonesвЂ¦which never really came to fruition. The tracks have a dreamy, hazy sensation, and Jagger delivers some stunning falsetto vocals, emotive without being overly theatrical. That run of songs-the magnificent вЂњWorried About You,вЂќ вЂњTops,вЂќ вЂњHeavenвЂќ (which is, oddly, the third-most-streamed cut on the album), вЂњNo Use in Crying,вЂќ and the irresistibly bittersweet closer вЂњWaiting on a Friend,вЂќ one of three tracks on which jazz saxophone colossus Sonny Rollins added a glorious solo-still comes as a shocking surprise. But Kimsey made one insightful decision that was crucial to the success of Tattoo You his selection of material included a heavy dose of ballads, which were eventually grouped together on the albumвЂ™s second side and created something entirely unique in the StonesвЂ™ body of work.

The rest of the band were hardly involved.вЂќД®choes of the earlier albums are clear if youвЂ™re listening for them: the funk groove of вЂњSlaveвЂќ lines up with 1975вЂ™s jam-heavy Black and Blue, and the jittery picking on RichardsвЂ™ вЂњLittle T&AвЂќ has a similar edge to some of Emotional Rescue. And then I recorded some of it in a broom cupboard, literally, where we did the vocals. вЂњI recorded in this place in Paris in the middle of winter. вЂњI put them all together in an incredibly cheap fashion,вЂќ he later said. It was up to Jagger to write lyrics, record vocals, and finish the songs (maybe that power grab wasnвЂ™t all bad). (Famously, the basic track for вЂњStart Me UpвЂќ was recorded on the same day they cut the 1978 Number One hit вЂњMiss You.вЂќ) Initially referred to as вЂњNever Stop,вЂќ the song had a reggae arrangement, but Kimsey found a version in the vault that recast it as pure rock nвЂ™ roll this discarded iteration launched what would eventually become one of the bandвЂ™s most iconic riffs. He dug up alternate takes and sketches going as far back as the sessions for 1973вЂ™s Goats Head Soup. So KimseyвЂ™s idea, unorthodox though it was, was certainly worth a shot. He describes JaggerвЂ™s sense of absolute control over the band-вЂњI realized that Mick had got all of the strings in his hands and he didnвЂ™t want to let go of a single oneвЂќ-and recounts how the singerвЂ™s go-to response at the time was вЂњOh, shut up, Keith.вЂќ Meantime, guitarist Ronnie Wood, just a few years into his tenure with the band, was descending so far into drugs that he was almost barred from the 1981 tour. вЂњIt was the beginning of the вЂ80s when Mick started to become unbearable,вЂќ wrote Richards in his 2010 memoir Life. And as the guitarist emerged from his heroin haze, he entered a new period of conflict with Jagger. Tattoo You is generally considered the last great Rolling Stones album, but itвЂ™s hard to believe that it works as an album at all.Д¬onsider where band relations were around this time: Following that triumphant Some Girls release-an album which stared down the simultaneous challenges of punk and disco, as well as RichardsвЂ™ high-profile drug arrests, to emerge victorious-they put out 1980вЂ™s underwhelming Emotional Rescue. Powered by the beloved opening track вЂњStart Me Up,вЂќ it was certified four times platinum, a figure surpassed only by 1978вЂ™s six-million-selling Some Girls.

It was the last album by the band to hit Number One on the US charts (though, to be fair, every single one of the StonesвЂ™ 24 studio albums since their 1964 debut, EnglandвЂ™s Newest Hit Makers has reached the Top Five). The result, released forty years ago today, was Tattoo You-ultimately, one of the most curious entries in the Rolling StonesвЂ™ discography. вЂњAnd then I presented it to the band and I said, вЂHey, look, guys, youвЂ™ve got all this great stuff sitting in the can and itвЂ™s great material, do something with it.вЂ™' вЂњI spent three months going through like the last four, five albums finding stuff that had been either forgotten about or, at the time, rejected,вЂќ said Kimsey in a 1982 interview. They had released five albums in the previous seven years, so maybe, he reasoned, there were enough worthy outtakes or unfinished drafts to assemble a record. The bandвЂ™s longtime engineer, Chris Kimsey, came up with an elegant solution.

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