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List Price: $13.98 | | Label: UMe
Salesrank: 2593
Released: June 9, 2009 |
| Our Price: $7.82 |
| Used Price: $5.99 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Tattoo You Track Listing:
1. Start Me Up
2. Hang Fire
3. Slave
4. Little T&A
5. Black Limousine
6. Neighbours
7. Worried About You
8. Tops
9. Heaven
10. No Use In Crying
11. Waiting On A Friend
Editorial Review:
Tattoo You is another undisputed classic and rightly topped the US charts for nine weeks on its original release in 1981. Its opening track and first single, Start Me Up, remains one of the band's best loved songs and a mainstay of their live set. The cleverly sequenced Tattoo You comprises six rock tracks, including the US Top 20 hit Hang Fire, the fast blues of Black Limousine, Richards' lead vocal on Little T & A, and the sneering Neighbours, but the five ballads which follow - and formed the second side of the original vinyl - really lift it into another league. The sweet soul of Worried About You, Tops and the sublime Waiting On A Friend, featuring jazz great Sonny Rollins on saxophone, in particular show what a fine singer Jagger is. Corriston's cover design won a Grammy Award for best album package.
Tattoo You Reviews:
Start Me Up, Please 
2009-11-05 - Hey, in 2009 no one, including this reviewer, NEEDS to comment on the fact that The Rolling Stones, pound for pound, have over forty plus years earned their place as the number one band in the rock `n' roll pantheon. Still, it is interesting to listen once again to the guys when they were at the height of their musical powers (and as high, most of the time, as Georgia pines). This album from the tail end of their most creative period , moreover, unlike let us say Bob Dylan who has produced more creative work for longer, is the "golden era" of the Stone Age. The album, however, is a little uneven in spots reflecting, I think, a certain exhaustion of material that they could call their totally their own unless the time when they owned a big chunk of rock 'n'roll in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The age of a more sedate music (at least technically) was approaching and I think there was some confusion about whether to embrace it or "spoof" it. Still the "Start Me Up' track, a staple of their live concerts and a great way to rev up the 1960s aging children is a Stones "greatest hits" " number, right? "Worried About You" and "No Use In Crying" are stick outs in this CD. I do not think anything else here qualifies for their "greatest hits" vault.
The Last Great Rolling Stones Album 
2009-10-27 - Some say that Exile on Main Street is the last great Rolling Stones album, others say it's Some Girls, but Tattoo You is really the last one to have songs which have remained unsurpassed.
Unlike Some Girls and Emotional Rescue, there's not a trace of disco on this one. Infact, the album could be considered as a sequel of sorts to Sticky Fingers. Many of the songs mirror ones from that album. Instead of 'Brown Sugar,' we're given 'Start Me Up,' which was the Stones' best rock single since then. Instead of 'Can't You Hear Me Knocking,' we're given 'Slave,' a jam that also features a superb blend of guitar and saxophone. Indeed, the sax makes its most triumphant return here, courtesy of the great Sonny Rollins and Bobby Keyes. Instead of 'You Gotta Move,' we're given 'Black Limosine,' and so on. Also like Sticky Fingers, Tattoo You features just as many rockers as slow numbers.
To dismiss Tattoo You as simply an album of out-takes is ignorant. It delivers in a way that no other Stones album has been able to since, partly because it is the last one to have that "classic Stones" sound, made better than ever by the 2009 remastering. In addition, it can't be denied that great talent went into the tracks. Tattoo You features no less than 4 amazing gutiarists - Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Wayne Perkins, and Mick Taylor. The book "According to the Rolling Stones" even lists Pete Townshend among the credits (backing vocals on 'Slave'). Perkins does a superb guitar solo on 'Worried About You' and Taylor appears on 'Tops' and 'Waiting on a Friend.'
Considering what came after it (Undercover, Dirty Work, Steel Wheels), it's no wonder that Tattoo You is considered the last great Stones album. Steel Wheels is better than Undercover and Dirty Work, but not great. Voodoo Lounge, while not a complete failure, is littered with filler and Bridges to Babylon has hip-hop overtones in spots. Only until A Bigger Bang did the band finally release an album that was fairly consistent in quality. Tattoo You is definitely worth buying and I also recommend Still Life, an underrated live album from their 1981-1982 tour.
I Love Rock & Roll
2009-10-20 - If you love sax, you'll love this album. It's a mellow and sublime CD.
The 2009 Remaster Rocks!
2009-08-15 - Great remaster and as another reviewer said, it's all about the Bass and the Drums. Much greater clarity and depth and a noticeable improvement over the 1994 Virgin issues. This is my 5th Stones remaster so far from this 2009 reissue campaign and I haven't been disappointed in any of them so far.
"...I Don't Need The Aggravation...I'm A Lazy Slob...Hang Fire..."
2009-06-25 - With the old Virgin 1994 remaster and this new 2009 Polydor version 'both' clocking in at exactly 44:26 minutes, I immediately had my suspicions about this latest rehash masquerading as something new for soppy Stones fans like me and a million others. But this 2009 Polydor CD is a FANTASTIC IMPROVEMENT in sound over its 1994 predecessor - it really is...
If I were to nail down what's different - it would be the BASS and DRUMS. They're suddenly so clear now - and in some cases like "Worried About You" - it's truly startling how good they sound. In fact if feels like every single track has been uplifted out of its former rhythm section muddiness. The clarity and punch is great on everything really. STEPHEN MARCUSSEN and STEWART WHITMORE at Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California did the transfers and they're to be praised for their work...
As you've no doubt already read, "Tattoo You" was a ragbag of outtakes from previous albums with a few new tunes thrown in - Rockers on the A with Ballads on the B. Yet it worked - I played it to death on release - loved it - especially the soulful Side 2.
Unfortunately, the new packaging is a bit of a joke. The 'furry boot' inner sleeve that came with the original LP is reproduced in a paltry gatefold inlay, but there's no lyrics (there's a European LP that has a lyric sheet insert - they could have used that). The startling Christian Piper tattooed 'Three Paintings' are reduced to a point where the credits on the green-coloured rear sleeve are barely legible. The inlay beneath the see-through CD tray is blank - wow - push the boat out boys! But much worse - and like so many Stones LPs - guest musicians who contributed incredible work at the time are now not mentioned on reissues at all. So with all that in mind, here's a detailed breakdown to get a better lay of the land...
1. Start Me Up [begun in 1975, returned to in 1978 as a "Some Girls" possible]
2. Hang Fire [another "Some Girls" outtake, features IAN STEWART on Piano]
3. Slave [This is an Extended Version - see PS below]
4. Little T&A [Lead Vocals and Bass by Keith Richards, Ian Stewart on Piano - T&A is street slang for certain parts of a woman's anatomy]
5. Black Limousine [the only track on the album co-credited to RONNIE WOOD, it features Mick Jagger on Lead Vocals and Harmonica with Ian Stewart on Piano - backing track dated as far back as "Exile" in 1972]
6. Neighbours [features' both' the legendary SONNY ROLLINS and BOBBY KEYES on Saxophones]
7. Worried About You [features BILLY PRESTON on Piano, WAYNE PERKINS on Lead Guitar and SOLO and OLLIE BROWN on Percussion]
8. Tops [features MICK TAYLOR on Guitar with NICKY HOPKINS on Piano; a Mick Taylor "Exile" outtake - wasn't given a writers credit - sued and won]
9. Heaven [co-producer CHRIS KIMSEY plays Piano on this]
10. No Use In Crying [features Nicky Hopkins on Piano]
11. Waiting On A Friend [features Mick Taylor on Guitar, Sonny Rollins on Saxophone and JIMMY MILLER of "Sticky" fame on Percussion]
The clarity of the guitar solo on "Slave" is awesome as is the swirling magic of "Heaven", but best of all is the beautiful axework by Wayne Perkins on the Side 2 opener "Worried About You". I think it's the best guitar solo on a Stones album anywhere and its clarity now is fabulous.
To sum up - I know the packaging and presentation leave a lot to be desired, but as I listen to the lovely Piano tinkering of Nicky Hopkins on "No Use In Crying" and the three lads harmonising on Backing Vocals - I don't care - I love it. The sound is wonderful and a major improvement over what went before.
The buggering truth is that once you hear these remasters, you're screwed - you'll have to have them all... Damn!
Despite niggles, it's recommended - big time.
PS: there's an anomaly worth noting...
When "Tattoo You" was originally released on Vinyl and Cassette in August 1981 (Rolling Stones CUNS 39114 in the UK and COC 16052 in the USA), the 3rd track on Side 1 "Slave" clocked in at about 3:20 minutes. So when the first ever CD version of it came out on CBS in 1989 it naturally reflected that timing.
However the May 1994 Virgin remaster put out an anomaly without telling anyone - their CD version was inexplicably extended to 6:31 minutes - that error is repeated here - and very much to the benefit of fans because the "Extended Version" of "Slave" is sensational. With the legendary Sonny Rollins playing on Saxophone and Billy Preston on Keyboards, the lengthy mix now sounds like "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" Part 2 from "Sticky Fingers". A huge chunky guitar riff throughout, great Jagger vocals, Sax wailing - it absolutely rocks (apparently there's a version with Jeff Beck on guitar in the can somewhere too).
What should have happened here of course is that the original LP timing be used on this CD - with both the Jeff Beck mix and the Extended Version put on as bonus tracks at the end, but that's for another day and another reissue...
