The Rolling Stones

Undercover (1983) not only reflects the disintegration of Mick and Keith's working relationship, but the dehumanized aura of the record makes quite a statement about the times in which it was released. It drips with antagonism and anxiety -- the Stones' darkest album for sure. There are good songs, but the real draw is the palpable hostility that runs throughout.

By now, the Rolling Stones have assumed something of the status of the blues in popular
music – a vital force beyond time and fashion. Undercover, their twenty-third album (not
counting anthologies and outtakes), reassembles, in the manner of mature masters of every
art, familiar elements into exciting new forms. It is a perfect candidate for inclusion in a
cultural time capsule: should future generations wonder why the Stones endure... More >

What do people hear in this murky, overblown, incoherent piece of sh*t? True, they still slip naturally into the kind of vernacular specificity other bands strive for; despite the wind-tunnel mix Keith still sounds like the incorrigible genius-by-accident he is, nothing stops Charlie, and Mick's Texas chainsaw monologue is a scream. Also, two of the songs have political themes, which I guess is supposed to fill me with gratitude. But I'm such a churl I'm only grateful for good songs, and these are as tired and witless and nasty as the rest. Their worst studio album. (Grade - C+)