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Tyler: Peter, our exploration of the Rolling Stones’ catalog continues right here right now.  Tattoo You!

When we broke down Some Girls, I asked whether it was considered the band’s last great album.  If it isn’t, Tattoo You is the only other contender, no?

Peter: I probably prefer Voodoo Lounge, but yes, the official position of Stones fans everywhere is that this is the last great Stones album (if you’re not going with Some Girls).

Are you familiar with it?

Tyler: I knew it from a couple listens back in the late ’00s/early ‘10s, during a period when I was filling my iTunes library with illegal downloads of unfamiliar classics.

Peter: Okay. I had it on CD back in the day, but it wasn’t a favorite of mine. Did you do any “prep” for this or are we doing this live?

Tyler: Oh, I listened good and plenty.  Classic P&T.

I have an absolute concession to make right off the bat.  I’ve come to enjoy “Start Me Up.”

Peter: I don’t hate “Start Me Up,” but it’s hard to hear it with fresh ears. It’s such a staple of classic rock radio.

Tyler: I’d avoided it so completely for so long that I was able to get back into it this time around.

Not that I’m excusing “You make a dead man come.”  Zing!

Peter: It has some pretty silly lyrics.

It’s probably their last #1 hit? Or close to #1?

Tyler: It hit #2 on Halloween of ’81.  Thanks, Billboard.com!

Peter: Well, there you go! Not too shabby.

Tyler: Looks like my cherished “Miss You” was the last chart-topper.

Peter: “Start Me Up” is left over from earlier sessions. Most (all?) of the basic tracks here are from earlier sessions.

Tyler: I was under that impression as I listened.  The album as kind of an odds ’n sods patchwork.

Peter: I really like the next track, “Hang Fire.”

Tyler: This was the lone track other than “Start Me Up” that I recalled from those old early listens.  It’s damn good.

Peter: What about “Waiting On A Friend?”

Tyler: Y’know, it’s outlandish, but I barely know “Waiting On A Friend.”  Somehow it escaped my ears for pretty much all my life.

Peter: It’s like that movie where only one guy knows about The Beatles and everybody else has never heard of them. Except, the opposite. And instead of a whole band, it’s just one song.

Kind of.

“Hang Fire” is one of the real high points on this album.

Tyler: It’s catchy, it’s got some great “doo-doo-doo”s.  The lyrics are butt-stupid and about nothing.  What does it mean to “hang fire?”

It doesn’t matter.  Excellent track.

Peter: I also like the next one.

“Slave.”

Tyler: Absolutely a sleeper.  At first glance it seems long and repetitive, but man, dig into it and there’s a real strutting jam to behold.

Peter: I didn’t like this song when I first heard it, but it’s grown on me.

Tyler: I know we get a rise outta slagging Black and Blue, but “Slave” is like a much better execution of the jamming they tried out there.  Those Black and Blue jams didn’t work, including “Hey”—eugh—“Negrita,” a song that could be a demo of “Slave.”

Peter: This album has no right to be as good as it is. It could’ve been “Black & Blue II.”

Black & Blue Too?

Black & Blue Part Deux?

Tyler: Black & Two?

I really came into Tattoo You expecting a middling experience.  It punched way above that grade.

Peter: When I first heard it I was expecting more. That was part of the problem. It’s not in the conversation with Exile, Sticky Fingers, Let It Bleed, Beggar’s Banquet, Aftermath, etc.

It’s one of their best “not great” albums?

Tyler: It’s strong all the way through.  The songs just aren’t quite there, and the production’s kinda compressed and slick.

Peter: Yeah.

The next one’s got some pretty silly/bad lyrics!

Tyler: “Little T&A.” Not Keith’s best.  It’s catchy as hell, but it ain’t much else.

Also, Keith hollering “tits and ass” is, just, not very palatable.

Peter: I like the tune, but the lyrics are just dumb. He was like 40 years old at the time!

It’s gross. As someone over 40, I can say that. It’s not ageist.

Tyler: “The bitch keeps bitching” ain’t aged well.

Peter: Like “Start Me Up,” it comes close to crossing over to parody.

Tyler: Not good!

“Black Limousine,” the next song up, sounds excellent in the wake of “T&A.”  It’s not the sturdiest upon closer inspection, “Limousine,” but it’s got real musical power in it.

Plus, Mick’s really committed.  He’s taking a light lyric and giving it sneer and piss and vinegar.

Peter: Yes! Ron Wood got credited on this one, which 100% means he wrote the music.

Mick and Keith are notoriously stingy with writing credits. Mick Taylor got stiffed on the reg.

I love when the latter day Stones play the blues. Good stuff.

Tyler: Next comes “Neighbours.”  It’s fine.

It’s like “Lies Lite.”

Peter: Right. I’ve never been big on this one. It’s okay. It closes out the first side of the album. I guess they liked it?

Keith got evicted several times for playing music too loud. Mick wrote this about that.

Tyler: I love Keith, but I would not abide that shit.

Peter: I know! Can you imagine living next door to Keith? Mayhem.

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