Steel Wheels
{{About|the studio album by The Rolling Stones|the American roots and folk band|The Steel Wheels|the type of wheels|Artillery wheel}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2019}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Steel Wheels
| type = studio
| artist = the Rolling Stones
| cover = SteelWheels89.jpg
| border = yes
| alt =
| released = 29 August 1989{{cite web|url=https://www.timeisonourside.com/chron1989.html|title=1989 timeline}}
| recorded = 29 March – 5 May 1989
| studio =
- AIR, Montserrat
- Mixed at Olympic, London
- The Palace of Ben Abbou (Tangier, Morocco)
| genre =
| length = 53:03
| label = {{hlist|Rolling Stones|Columbia}}
| producer = Chris Kimsey, The Glimmer Twins
| prev_title = Dirty Work
| prev_year = 1986
| next_title = Flashpoint
| next_year = 1991
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Steel Wheels
| type = studio
| single1 = Mixed Emotions
| single1date = August 1989
| single2 = Rock and a Hard Place
| single2date = October 1989
| single3 = Almost Hear You Sigh
| single3date = January 1990 (US)
| single4 = Terrifying
| single4date = July 1990 (UK){{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/greatrockdiscogr00stro/page/696/mode/2up|title=Great Rock Discography|date=12 February 1995 |page=695|isbn=978-0-86241-541-9 |last1=Strong |first1=Martin Charles |publisher=Canongate Press }}
}}
}}
Steel Wheels is the nineteenth U.K. and twenty-first U.S. studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 29 August 1989 in the US{{cite web |title=American album certifications – The Rolling Stones – Steel Wheels |url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&ar=The+Rolling+Stones&ti=Steel+Wheels&format=Album&type=#search_section |publisher=Recording Industry Association of America |access-date=29 August 2022}} and on 11 September in the UK.{{cite web |title=British album certifications – The Rolling Stones – Steel Wheels |url=https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/6272-44-2 |publisher=British Phonographic Industry |access-date=29 August 2022}} It was the final album of new material that the band recorded for Columbia Records.
Hailed as a major comeback upon its release, Steel Wheels is notable for the patching up of the working relationship between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, a reversion to a more classic style of music and the launching of the band's biggest world tour to date. It is also the final full-length studio album to involve long-time bassist Bill Wyman, preceding the announcement of his departure in January 1993. Wyman's final tenure with the band would be on two studio tracks for the 1991 album Flashpoint. Steel Wheels was also the first album not to feature former member and frequent contributor on piano Ian Stewart, who died shortly before the release of their previous album Dirty Work. It was produced by Richards and Jagger, along with Chris Kimsey, who had previously produced the Stones' 1983 Undercover.
After the relative disappointment of their prior two albums, Steel Wheels was a hit, reaching multi-platinum status in the United States, Top 5 status in numerous markets around the world, and spawning two hit singles: "Mixed Emotions", which peaked at No. 1 in Canada and No. 5 in the United States, and "Rock and a Hard Place", the band's last Top-40 hit in the US. Critics were generally lukewarm towards the album, exemplified by Stephen Thomas Erlewine: "It doesn't make for a great Stones album, but it's not bad, and it feels like a comeback."
Background
Following the release of 1986's Dirty Work, and Jagger's pursuit of a solo career, relations between him and the Stones-committed Richards worsened considerably.{{fact|date=August 2022}} While Jagger released the tepidly received Primitive Cool in 1987, Richards recorded Talk Is Cheap, his solo debut, released in 1988 to positive reviews. The two years apart appeared to have healed the wounds sufficiently to begin resurrecting their partnership and band.{{Cite web |last=Wood |first=Ronnie |title=Steel Wheels |url=https://www.ronniewood.com/music/steel-wheels/ |access-date=11 February 2024 |website=Ronniewood.com}} Ronnie Wood said of Steel Wheels: "It’s the album that united the band again, after a three year hiatus that was almost permanent".
Meeting in January 1989, just preceding the Stones' induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with the chemistry between Jagger and Richards reasserting itself, "their differences were ultimately overcome by the power of their long partnership".{{Cite web |last=Giles |first=Jeff |date=29 August 2015 |title=How the Rolling Stones Finally Regrouped for 'Steel Wheels' |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/rolling-stones-steel-wheels/ |access-date=11 February 2024 |website=Ultimate Classic Rock}} After composing some 50 songs in a matter of weeks, Ronnie Wood, Wyman and Charlie Watts were called in to begin recording what would become Steel Wheels, beckoning Undercover co-producer Chris Kimsey to perform the same role.
Recording in Montserrat and London during the spring, Steel Wheels was designed to emulate a classic Rolling Stones sound. One notable exception was "Continental Drift", an Eastern-flavoured piece, with The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar, recorded in June 1989 in Tangier, coordinated by Cherie Nutting. With much of the past disagreements behind them, sessions for Steel Wheels were fairly harmonious.{{fact|date=August 2022}}
Release and reception
{{Album reviews
|rev1 = AllMusic
|rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web |last1=Erlewine |first1=Stephen Thomas |author1-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |title=Steel Wheels – The Rolling Stones |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/steel-wheels-mw0000653629 |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=3 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419044516/https://www.allmusic.com/album/steel-wheels-mw0000653629 |archive-date=19 April 2021}}
|rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide
|rev2Score = B−{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|authorlink=Robert Christgau|chapter=R|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=R&bk=80|title=Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s|publisher=Pantheon Books|year=1990|isbn=0-679-73015-X|accessdate=18 March 2022|via=robertchristgau.com}}
|rev3 = The Great Rock Discography
|rev4 = MusicHound
|rev5 = Q
|rev5Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7944702&style=music&fulldesc=T |title=The Rolling Stones – Steel Wheels CD|publisher=CD Universe/Muze|access-date=15 November 2014}}
|rev6 = Record Collector
|rev7 = Rolling Stone
|rev8 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
|rev8score = {{Rating|3|5}}[https://web.archive.org/web/20110412195111/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/the-rolling-stones/albumguide "The Rolling Stones: Album Guide"]. rollingstone.com. Archived version retrieved 15 November 2014.
|rev9 = Tom Hull
|rev10 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
|rev10Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite book |editor1-last=Larkin |editor1-first=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2007 |publisher=Omnibus |page=1197 |edition=5th concise |ol=11913831M}}
}}
The massive, worldwide Steel Wheels Tour was launched in late August 1989, concurrently with Steel Wheels{{'}} arrival and the release of lead single "Mixed Emotions," a partially biographical reference to Jagger and Richards' recent woes that proved to be the Rolling Stones' last major hit single in the United States, reaching No. 5. Critical reaction was warm, with Steel Wheels reaching No. 2 in the UK and No. 3 in the US where it went double-platinum. Follow-up singles were "Rock and a Hard Place", "Almost Hear You Sigh" and "Terrifying".
The Steel Wheels Tour, which finished in mid-1990 after being re-titled the Urban Jungle Tour, was a financial success. In 1990, FOX aired a 3-D television special of the Steel Wheels tour. Unlike anaglyphic 3-D which requires the familiar red and green glasses, the method used was the Pulfrich Effect which permitted full-colour video. The film was shot by Gerald Marks of PullTime 3-D in NYC. An IMAX film of the tour was released the next year, which still{{when|date=November 2019}} plays sporadically at IMAX venues{{examples|date=November 2019}} around the world{{where|date=November 2019}}.
Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone writes "All the ambivalence, recriminations, attempted rapprochement and psychological one-upmanship evident on Steel Wheels testify that the Stones are right in the element that has historically spawned their best music – a murky, dangerously charged environment in which nothing is merely what it seems. Against all odds, and at this late date, the Stones have once again generated an album that will have the world dancing to deeply troubling, unresolved emotions."
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic writes "The Stones sound good, and Mick and Keith both get off a killer ballad apiece with "Almost Hear You Sigh" and "Slipping Away", respectively. It doesn't make for a great Stones album, but it's not bad, and it feels like a comeback – which it was supposed to, after all."
In 2000 it was voted number 568 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.{{cite book|title=All Time Top 1000 Albums|author=Colin Larkin|author-link=Colin Larkin|publisher=Virgin Books|date=2000|edition=3rd|isbn=0-7535-0493-6|page=192}}
The album was the Rolling Stones' first digital recording. In 1994, Steel Wheels was remastered and reissued by Virgin Records, and again in 2009 by Universal Music. An SHM-CD version was released on 2 December 2015 by Universal Japan, mastered from the original British master tape.{{cite web|url=http://www.universal-music.co.jp/rolling-stones/products/uicy-40162/|title=スティール・ホイールズ – ザ・ローリング・ストーンズ|website=ザ・ローリング・ストーンズ|access-date=10 November 2015|archive-date=24 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160224122245/http://www.universal-music.co.jp/rolling-stones/products/uicy-40162/|url-status=live}}
Track listing
{{Tracklist
| all_writing = Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, except "Almost Hear You Sigh" co-written by Steve Jordan.
| headline = Side one
| title1 = Sad Sad Sad
| length1 = 3:35
| title2 = Mixed Emotions
| length2 = 4:38
| title3 = Terrifying
| length3 = 4:53
| title4 = Hold on to Your Hat
| length4 = 3:32
| title5 = Hearts for Sale
| length5 = 4:40
| title6 = Blinded by Love
| length6 = 4:37
| total_length = 25:55
}}
{{Tracklist
| headline = Side two
| title7 = Rock and a Hard Place
| length7 = 5:25
| title8 = Can't Be Seen
| length8 = 4:09
| title9 = Almost Hear You Sigh
| length9 = 4:37
| title10 = Continental Drift
| length10 = 5:14
| title11 = Break the Spell
| length11 = 3:06
| title12 = Slipping Away
| length12 = 4:29
| total_length = 27:00
}}
Personnel
Adapted from Steel Wheels liner notes.{{cite AV media notes |title=Steel Wheels |others= The Rolling Stones |year=1989 |type=CD booklet |publisher=Rolling Stones Records/CBS Records |id=465752-2}}
The Rolling Stones
- Mick Jagger – lead vocals (except 8 & 12), backing vocals (1-2, 9, 12), guitar (1-2, 4–7, 11), harmonica (5, 11), shakers (2-3), keyboards (10)
- Keith Richards – guitar (except 10), backing vocals (2-3, 6, 8-9, 12), acoustic guitar (10), classical guitar (9), lead vocals (8 & 12), bicycle spokes (10)
- Ronnie Wood – guitar (2-3, 5–9, 12), bass guitar (1, 4, 11), acoustic bass (10), Dobro (11), backing vocals (9)
- Bill Wyman – bass guitar (2-3, 5–9, 12)
- Charlie Watts – drums (all tracks)
Additional musicians
- Chuck Leavell – organ (1–3, 6, 8, 12), piano (1-2, 12), keyboards (7, 9), Wurlitzer (8)
- Matt Clifford – electric piano (12), piano (6), keyboards (3, 5, 7, 9, 11), clavinet (8), harmonium (6), percussion programming (10), orchestration (10), strings (12)
- Sarah Dash – backing vocals (2, 7, 9-10, 12)
- Lisa Fischer – backing vocals (2-3, 7, 9-10, 12)
- Bernard Fowler – backing vocals (1-2, 5–10, 12)
- Luís Jardim – percussion (2, 6, 8-9)
- Phil Beer – mandolin (6), fiddle (6)
- The Kick Horns – brass (1-2, 7, 12)
- Roddy Lorimer – trumpet (3)
- The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar Farafina – African-Moroccan instruments (10)
- Sonia Morgan – backing vocals (10)
- Tessa Niles – backing vocals (10)
- Chris Jagger – literary editor (6, 9)
Technical and design
- Recording engineer – Christopher Marc Potter
- Assistant engineer – Rupert Coulson
- Recorded at AIR Studios, Montserrat
- Mixed by Michael Brauer, Christopher Marc Potter, Chris Kimsey
- Art direction and design – John Warwicker
- Logo design – Mark Morton
- Mastering – Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, NYC
Charts
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
=Weekly charts=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+Weekly chart performance for Steel Wheels ! Chart (1989–1990) ! Peak |
| {{Album chart|Australia|7|artist=The Rolling Stones|album=Steel Wheels|rowheader=true|accessdate=12 March 2023}} |
| {{Album chart|Austria|1|artist=The Rolling Stones|album=Steel Wheels|rowheader=true|accessdate=12 March 2023}} |
| {{Album chart|Canada|1|artist=The Rolling Stones|album=Steel Wheels|chartid=6567|rowheader=true|accessdate=12 March 2023}} |
| {{Album chart|Netherlands|2|artist=The Rolling Stones|album=Steel Wheels|rowheader=true|accessdate=12 March 2023}} |
| scope="row"| Finland (The Official Finnish Charts){{cite book|last=Pennanen|first=Timo|title=Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972|edition=1st|publisher=Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava|location=Helsinki|year=2006|isbn=978-951-1-21053-5| language= fi}}
| align="center"| 1 |
|---|
| scope="row"| French Albums (SNEP){{Cite web|url=http://www.infodisc.fr/Album_R.php |website =Infodisc.fr |language=fr |access-date=9 June 2012 |title=Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste – R |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022124902/http://infodisc.fr/Album_R.php |archive-date=22 October 2014 }} Select Elton Rolling Stones from the menu, then press OK.
| align="center"| 6 |
| {{Album chart|Germany4|2|id=927|artist=The Rolling Stones|album=Steel Wheels|rowheader=true|accessdate=12 March 2023}} |
| scope="row"|Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi){{cite web|url=http://www.musicaedischi.it/classifiche_archivio.php|title=Classifiche|work=Musica e Dischi|language=it|access-date=27 May 2022}} Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Rolling Stones".
| align="center"| 5 |
| scope="row"|Japanese Albums (Oricon){{cite book|title=Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005|publisher=Oricon Entertainment|location=Roppongi, Tokyo|year=2006|isbn=4-87131-077-9|language=ja}}
| align="center"| 5 |
| {{Album chart|New Zealand|3|artist=The Rolling Stones|album= Steel Wheels|rowheader=true|accessdate=12 March 2023}} |
| {{Album chart|Norway|1|artist=The Rolling Stones|album=Steel Wheels|rowheader=true|accessdate=12 March 2023}} |
| scope="row"|Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE){{cite book|last=Salaverri|first=Fernando|title=Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002|edition=1st|date=September 2005|publisher=Fundación Autor-SGAE|location=Spain|isbn=84-8048-639-2}}
| align="center"| 6 |
| {{Album chart|Sweden|2|artist=The Rolling Stones|album=Steel Wheels|rowheader=true|accessdate=12 March 2023}} |
| {{Album chart|Switzerland|2|artist=The Rolling Stones|album=Steel Wheels|rowheader=true|accessdate=12 March 2023}} |
| {{Album chart|UK|2|artist=The Rolling Stones|album=Steel Wheels|rowheader=true|accessdate=12 March 2023}} |
| {{Album chart|Billboard200|3|artist=The Rolling Stones|rowheader=true|accessdate=12 March 2023}} |
{{col-2}}
=Year-end charts=
{{col-end}}
Certifications and sales
{{certification Table Top|caption=Certifications and sales for Steel Wheels}}
{{Certification Table Entry|type=album|region=Australia|award=Platinum|certref={{cite web|url=https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/rolling-stones-bill-wyman-steel-3952920591|access-date=12 March 2023|title=The Rolling Stones Bill Wyman Steel Wheels Australian In-House Record Award}}|relyear=1971|certyear=1971|salesamount=75,000|salesref={{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/90s/1990/BB-1990-01-20.pdf|title=Pacing the Majors|magazine=Billboard|page=A-10|date=20 January 1990|access-date=4 September 2020|archive-date=4 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204174106/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/90s/1990/BB-1990-01-20.pdf|url-status=live}}}}
{{certification Table Entry|title=Steel Wheels|artist=The Rolling Stones|type=album|relyear=1989|region=Austria|award=Gold|accessdate=25 December 2013}}
{{certification Table Entry|title=Steel Wheels|artist=The Rolling Stones|type=album|relyear=1989|region=Canada|award=Platinum|number=3|accessdate=25 December 2013}}
{{certification Table Entry|title=Steel Wheels|artist=Rolling Stones|type=album|relyear=1989|certyear=1990|region=Finland|award=Gold|salesamount=25,227|accessdate=25 December 2010}}
{{certification Table Entry|title=Steel Wheels|artist=The Rolling Stones|type=album|relyear=1989|region=France|award=Gold|number=2|source=infodisc|certyear=1990}}
{{certification Table Entry|title=Steel Wheels|artist=The Rolling Stones|type=album|relyear=1989|region=Germany|award=Gold|accessdate=25 December 2013}}
{{Certification Table Entry|type=album|relyear=1989|region= Italy|artist=The Rolling Stones|title=Steel Wheels|award=Gold|certref={{cite web |url=https://www.julienslive.com/lot-details/index/catalog/341/lot/143821|date=20 December 2022|title=A "gold" disc presented to Bill Wyman for sales over 100,000 units of the Rolling Stones Steel Wheels album in Italy}}|salesamount=100,000|salesref=}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Japan|type=album|artist=ザ・ローリング・ストーンズ|title=スティール・ホイールズ|award=Gold|relyear=1989|certyear=1989|certmonth=9|salesamount=167,000|salesref={{cite book|title=Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005|publisher=Oricon Entertainment|location=Roppongi, Tokyo|year=2006|isbn=4-87131-077-9}}}}
{{certification Table Entry|title=Steel Wheels|artist=The Rolling Stones|type=album|relyear=1989|region=Netherlands|award=Gold|accessdate=11 December 2011}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Spain|type=album|artist=The Rolling Stones|title=Steel Wheels|relyear=1989|certyear=1989|award=Platinum|certref={{cite book|url=http://www.mediafire.com/view/x263f6daopkswo8|title=Sólo Éxitos 1959–2002 Año A Año: Certificados 1979–1990|publisher=Iberautor Promociones Culturales|language=es|isbn=8480486392|access-date=2 October 2019|archive-date=28 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928101528/http://www.mediafire.com/view/x263f6daopkswo8|url-status=live}}|accessdate=2 October 2019}}
{{certification Table Entry|title=Steel Wheels|artist=The Rolling Stones|type=album|relyear=1989|certyear=1989|region=Sweden|award=Gold|accessdate=16 December 2019}}
{{certification Table Entry|title=Steel Wheels|artist=The Rolling Stones|type=album|relyear=1989|region=Switzerland|award=Gold|accessdate=25 December 2013}}
{{certification Table Entry|title=Steel Wheels|artist=The Rolling Stones|type=album|relyear=1989|region=United Kingdom|award=Gold|id=6272-44-2|accessdate=29 August 2022}}
{{certification Table Entry|title=Steel Wheels|artist=The Rolling Stones|type=album|relyear=1989|region=United States|award=Platinum|number=2|accessdate=25 December 2013}}
{{Certification Table Bottom}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Discogs master|type=album|54231|name=Steel Wheels}}
{{The Rolling Stones}}
{{The Rolling Stones albums}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Albums produced by Chris Kimsey
Category:Albums produced by the Glimmer Twins
Category:Rolling Stones Records albums
Category:The Rolling Stones albums
Category:Virgin Records albums
Category:Columbia Records albums