Voodoo Lounge

Infobox Album | Name = Voodoo Lounge
Type = Album
Artist = The Rolling Stones


Released = 11 July 1994
Recorded = September 1993,
3 November-
11 December 1993,
15 January- 23 April 1994
Genre = Rock
Length = 62:08
Label = Virgin
Producer = Don Was and
The Glimmer Twins
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:7so20r2at48p link]
*"Rolling Stone" (not rated) [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/therollingstones/albums/album/233034/review/5942670/voodoo_lounge link]
Last album = ""
(1993)
This album = "Voodoo Lounge"
(1994)
Next album = "Stripped"
(1995) |

"Voodoo Lounge" is an album by The Rolling Stones and was released in 1994. As their first new release under their new alliance with Virgin Records, it ended a five-year gap since their last studio album, "Steel Wheels" in 1989. "Voodoo Lounge" is also The Rolling Stones' first album without founding bassist Bill Wyman, who departed the line-up in early 1993.

History

Following the release of Keith Richards' "Main Offender" and Mick Jagger's "Wandering Spirit" in 1992 and 1993 respectively, both leaders of The Rolling Stones began composing new songs in April 1993, deciding upon Don Was as co-producer for the upcoming sessions. In November, after rehearsing and recording at Ronnie Wood's house in Ireland that September, The Rolling Stones shifted their gear to Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin and began cutting "Voodoo Lounge". Although not joining the band officially, Darryl Jones would be taking Bill Wyman's place as the group's regular bassist.

After a period of recording in Los Angeles in the first few months of 1994, "Voodoo Lounge" was complete and The Rolling Stones moved onto the rehearsals for the (yet another massive, worldwide) Voodoo Lounge Tour which would begin in August. "Love Is Strong" - which was inspired by Richards' solo "Wicked As It Seems" - was released as the first single, reaching #14 in the UK. However, although "Love Is Strong" was a hit on US rock radio, it stalled on the overall US singles charts at #91, and (at least in the US) became The Rolling Stones' worst performing lead single from an album to that time. Two follow-up US singles also received strong rock radio airplay, but failed to cross over into top 40 hits: "Out of Tears" peaked at #60, and "You Got Me Rocking" fared even worse, peaking at #113. Consequently, "Voodoo Lounge" would be the first Rolling Stones album to "not" produce significant hits in America. In the UK, meanwhile, "Love Is Strong", "You Got Me Rocking", "Out Of Tears", and "I Go Wild" were all top 40 chart hits.

Released in July 1994, "Voodoo Lounge" received strong reviews and debuted at #1 in the UK (their first chart-topper there since 1980's "Emotional Rescue") and #2 in the US where it went double platinum. Many observers noted that - while the album was again considered to be calculated as a classicist piece to recall earlier triumphs - it was a much more sparse recording, contrasting with the slick sound of "Steel Wheels".

Producer Don Was, noted for his retro rock production sensibilities, was reportedly responsible for pushing the band towards more conventional territory in an attempt to reproduce the archetypal "Rolling Stones" sound, and moving them away from the rockabilly and African grooves they had reportedly been leaning on during the writing and early recording phases of "Voodoo Lounge". The result was an essentially classicist recording that drew on the blues, R&B, and country that had informed the Stones classic late 1960s/early 1970s recordings. Although this approach pleased critics and the Stones rock-oriented fanbase, Jagger in particular expressed some dissatisfaction with Was' aesthetic, and would insist on a more diverse, contemporary production cast for the subsequent "Bridges to Babylon". Nevertheless, Was (who has produced several Grammy-winning records) remains the Stones producer to this day.

In early 1995, while the Voodoo Lounge Tour was still in full force (not finishing until August that year) "Voodoo Lounge" won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. Although it is not considered to be a truly outstanding piece of work on a par with "Let It Bleed" or "Some Girls", many observers consider "Voodoo Lounge" to be more of a comeback than "Steel Wheels" was touted to be.

Track listing

All songs by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

#"Love Is Strong" - 3:50
#"You Got Me Rocking" - 3:35
#"Sparks Will Fly" - 3:16
#"The Worst" - 2:24
#"New Faces" - 2:52
#"Moon Is Up" - 3:42
#"Out of Tears" - 5:27
#"I Go Wild" - 4:23
#"Brand New Car" - 4:15
#"Sweethearts Together" - 4:45
#"Suck on the Jugular" - 4:28
#"Blinded by Rainbows" - 4:33
#"Baby Break It Down" - 4:09
#"Thru and Thru" - 6:15
#"Mean Disposition" - 4:08

Personnel

* Mick Jagger - Vocals, Backing Vocals, Electric Guitar, Harmonica, Acoustic Guitar, Maracas, Castanets
* Keith Richards - Electric Guitar, Backing Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Bass, Tambourine
* Charlie Watts - Drums, Tambourine
* Ronnie Wood - Electric Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar, Slide Guitar, Backing Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Lap Steel Guitar

* Chuck Leavell - Piano, Organ, Harmonium, Harpsichord
* Darryl Jones - Bass
* Bernard Fowler - Backing Vocals
* Max Baca - Bass
* David Campbell - String Arrangement
* Lenny Castro - Percussion
* Pierre de Beauport - Acoustic Guitar
* Frankie Gavin - Fiddle, Pennywhistle
* Mark Isham - Trumpet
* Luis Jardim - Percussion, Shaker
* Flaco Jimenez - Accordion
* Phil Jones - Percussion
* David McMurray - Saxophone
* Ivan Neville - Backing Vocals, Organ
* Benmont Tench - Organ, Piano, Accordion
* Bobby Womack - Backing Vocals

Charts

Album

Singles

succession box
before = "Music for the Jilted Generation" by The Prodigy
title = UK number one album
years = July 23, 1994 – July 29, 1994
after = "" by Wet Wet Wetsuccession box
before = "Purple" by Stone Temple Pilots
title = Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
years = July 31 - August 6 1994
after = "In Pieces" by Garth Brooks