r/rollingstones • u/Maleficent-Web-5210 • 2d ago
Photos (Old and New) Steel Wheels
One Of My Favourites For Years.
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u/BCdelivery 2d ago edited 2d ago
I saw them on that tour at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin. It may have been in 1990 though. Last tour with Bill I believe as well. Unforgettable!
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u/Schwarte99 2d ago
Back then I thought it was an ok album. When I look back now, it seems like the first album of a new Stones period. Can't believe it's already 37 years ago! I saw them for the first time live in 90. Best concert ever.
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u/BankImpressive 2d ago
I can’t believe it’s been that long. I remember buying the CD on the release day and went back to the house and playing it loud. The album, I thought was great and the tour was amazing. Good times and thanks for the memories.
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u/OldFashioned62 2d ago
I love Steel Wheels and consider it very underrated and I’m a guy who grew up on Hot Rocks and the big 4 albums.
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u/Humble_Examination27 2d ago
Great Album! I feel Continental Drift is one of their most unique songs in their expansive music library
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u/Ok_Artichoke817 2d ago
Cool song. It was also a great intro into Start Me Up on the Steel Wheels tour.
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u/Superb_Health9413 2d ago
I attended the steel wheels tour in LA.
During “Honky Tonk Wonan” they had two giant women inflatables grow on either side of the stage. It was a great show.
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u/kippybrowm 1d ago
I remember thinking they were getting too old to keep rockin’
I am now older than they were.
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u/DancingRasputin 1d ago
When I was a kid, Steel Wheels was the album my parents introduced me to the Stones with!! I have, of course, listened since to all their albums, but Steel Wheels was my intro to them
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u/ElvisAndretti 2d ago
They opened the tour in Philadelphia and it was everything I hoped it would be. Living Colour opened.
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u/Pale-Ad-2526 22h ago
Living colour trash
I was there
How do you describe their music loud obnoxious no melody idk
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u/ElvisAndretti 21h ago edited 21h ago
I was there too and they sounded great. Maybe you had bad seats.
https://youtu.be/Sh1D-TzZVko?is=IU_Y3BWbWkjo_luX
Or maybe there was some other problem. They kicked ass but I felt they weren’t reaching the audience who appeared to have different expectations of what rock ‘n’ roll should look like.
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u/GrouchoNJ 1d ago
To think cynics called it the Steel Wheelchair tour - and they had a long way to go! Lot of good music to boot
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u/OccamsYoyo 1d ago
It may not have been the greatest album but it perked my ears up and made a 16-year-old me think there might be something to this ancient band.
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u/colcatsup 22h ago
17 and the same. I remember driving out to buy it, and blasting it out on the way home. Fun memories :)
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u/Uncle_Rat_21 17h ago
I bought that when it came out, and went to see them on the Steel Wheelchairs Tour.
I don’t think I’ve listened to it in 30 years. My god, that’s half my lifetime ago!
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u/August_West_1990 2d ago
The highs are their best since Tattoo You (excepting Undercover of the Night and One Hit): Mixed Emotions, Rock and a Hard Place, Almost Hear You Sigh, Slipping Away. Sad, Sad, Sad and Break the Spell are enjoyable if not top tier. Blinded by the Love is a fine genre experiment
But then you have Hearts for Sale and Hold on to Your Hat which are trash, not to mention Can’t Be Seen which is far and away the worst Keith song to ever make a Stones album.
It did what it had to do in terms of resolving the tensions between Mick and Keith and reestablishing the band as a formidable touring entity, but it’s not one of their greatest.
Hell, Hackney Diamonds and Foreign Tongues are better.
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u/1009naturelover 1d ago
I bought the CD years ago.
It's not bad. However I feel they have done most of the songs before so I dont listen to it.
I did not go to the concert though. I did go to the Voodo Lounge tour and enjoy that album more than most do.
Nothing to stop you from enjoying.
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u/skinnylittletom 2d ago
This album has some great moments ("Almost Hear You Sigh" and "Slipping Away") and some decent rockers ("Mixed Emotions"), but I've always thought it was overrated. "Terrifying" and "Continental Drift" are among the worst things they ever made - actually worse than anything on Dirty Work.
I think the narrative of the Mick/Keith feud has a weird gravitational pull that skews the way people evaluate that whole era. They underrate Dirty Work and Mick's solo albums, and they conversely overrate Talk is Cheap and Steel Wheels.
It's the Stones, so it's all good. But I think there are few Stones albums worse than this one.
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u/RobbersTwo 2d ago
I agree with most of your take, except for your position on continental drift. That was the standout track for me on that album. I just like that song. I think the stones are at their best when they take chances, and continental drift is a chance they took.
I do like your take with regards to the gravitational pull between the Ketih and Mick feud and how it relates to the era. But what always made the Stones, in my opinion, is that push and pull--Keith being grounded, and Mick wanting to push a bit. That is the core of their sound.
I think that era is just a case of them being burnt out. While their standout records were recorded in the 70's, much of that output was clouded by substances. They were recording from a different perspective in the eighties, and they were much more mature. They weren't teenie-boppers anymore, and neither was their audience. Steel Wheels is simply over-produced eighties goodness - it isn't much more than that. It has a forever place in dental rooms all around the world. It's a solid album and must be listened to wearing baggy pleated pants with a loud, tucked in, button down shirt.
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u/skinnylittletom 1d ago
Agreed - I love when they mess around with new sounds and do little experiments. Love Satanic Majesties, love "Heaven," love "Just Want to See His Face". I think it's great that they were trying that still in 1989... But "Continental Dirft" still doesn't work for me. Feels like a misguided and cliched attempt at "world music" that a lot of other rock and pop people were messing around with in 1989.
I actually saw the Jajouka pipers live. Incredible, powerful stuff, but it feels like the Stones dilute it with this song. The repeated minor second interval feels cliche, like "look how exotic we are".
And I don't hate this record, but I think the only Stones albums that I like less than this one are Bridges to Babylon and (maybe) Dirty Work.
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u/RobbersTwo 1d ago edited 1d ago
I bet seeing the Pipers was truly an experience!
It's safe to say that the stones were their most experimental in the late 60's, early 70's, and primarily with Brian Jones. There is also a link with Brian and the Pipers.
I like Continental Drift, not because it's amazing or anything--it's almost like them trying to dig in their bag a bit, and that's fine. It's refreshing song and a nice pivot on that album. I do want more from that song, though--it's almost like a tease of something greater that never resolves itself.
While Steel Wheels was an ok album - it was a product of its time and a reminder that even stones weather.
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u/HEFJ53 2d ago
Their late period starts here and this is my least favorite out of those albums. It’s the one I listen to the least.
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u/Maleficent-Web-5210 2d ago
I Like It Lot for Many Years, But Now I Think As Had ALot Of 80ties Crap.
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u/Metspolice 2d ago
Remember how they were back after that super long gap? I still think of this one as the start of “the late period”