Release and Reception
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | link |
| Blender | link |
| Robert Christgau | C+ link |
| Rolling Stone | link |
Undercover was released in November 1983 to generally warm reviews and reached #3 in the UK and #4 in the US. It was a relative disappointment however, breaking a streak of eight #1 albums (excluding compilations and live albums) in the US and failing to spawn any huge singles. Its cover artwork was covered with real peel-off stickers on the original vinyl edition, which when removed revealed other patterned geometric shapes.
"Think I'm Going Mad" was a track first recorded during the Emotional Rescue sessions of 1979. It finally arrived as the b-side to "She Was Hot". It was not included on the Rarities 1971–2003 collection and has never appeared on CD.
Undercover continues to divide critics and fans alike. Although it was largely praised on release, many fans came to regard it as among the Rolling Stones' weaker releases, a view echoed by Jagger himself in later interviews. While some critics tend to blame the then-contemporary production and eclecticism, a large part of the album was done in a hard-rock style ("She Was Hot", "Too Tough", "All The Way Down", and "It Must Be Hell"), leading many to fault the generally inconsistent material. A great deal of the tension during the recording of the album stemmed from the fact that Richards had emerged (to an extent) from his destructive lifestyle of the previous decade, and thus sought a more active role in the creative direction of the band.
Read more about this topic: Undercover (The Rolling Stones Album)
Famous quotes containing the words release and, release and/or reception:
“We read poetry because the poets, like ourselves, have been haunted by the inescapable tyranny of time and death; have suffered the pain of loss, and the more wearing, continuous pain of frustration and failure; and have had moods of unlooked-for release and peace. They have known and watched in themselves and others.”
—Elizabeth Drew (1887–1965)
“If I were to be taken hostage, I would not plead for release nor would I want my government to be blackmailed. I think certain government officials, industrialists and celebrated persons should make it clear they are prepared to be sacrificed if taken hostage. If that were done, what gain would there be for terrorists in taking hostages?”
—Margaret Mead (1901–1978)
“But in the reception of metaphysical formula, all depends, as regards their actual and ulterior result, on the pre-existent qualities of that soil of human nature into which they fall—the company they find already present there, on their admission into the house of thought.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)