THE ROLLING STONES - BLINDED BY LOVE

BLINDED BY LOVE

THE ROLLING STONES

SONGWRITERS: KEITH RICHARDS & MICK JAGGER

COUNTRY: U. K.

ALBUM: STEEL WHELES

LABEL: ROLLING STONES

GENRE: HARD ROCK

YEAR: 1989

 

      The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Diverging from the pop rock of the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, heavier-driven sound that came to define hard rock. Their first stable line-up was vocalist Mick Jagger, multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones, guitarist Keith Richards, drummer Charlie Watts, and bassist Bill Wyman. During their formative years Jones was the primary leader: he assembled the band, named it, and drove their sound and image. After Andrew Loog Oldham became the group's manager in 1963, he encouraged them to write their own songs. Jagger and Richards became the primary creative force behind the band, alienating Jones, who developed a drug addiction that interfered with his ability to contribute meaningfully.

       Rooted in blues and early rock and roll, the Rolling Stones started out playing covers and were at the forefront of the British Invasion in 1964, also being identified with the youthful and rebellious counterculture of the 1960s. They then found greater success with their own material as "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (1965), "Get Off of My Cloud" (1965) and "Paint It Black" (1966) became international No. 1 hits. Aftermath (1966) – their first entirely original album – is considered the most important of their formative records. In 1967, they had the double-sided hit "Ruby Tuesday"/"Let's Spend the Night Together" and experimented with psychedelic rock on Their Satanic Majesties Request. They went back to their roots with such hits as "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (1968) and "Honky Tonk Women" (1969), and albums such as Beggars Banquet (1968), featuring "Sympathy for the Devil", and Let It Bleed(1969), featuring "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "Gimme Shelter". Let It Bleed was the first of five consecutive Nº 1 albums in the UK.

     Steel Wheels is the 19th British (and 21st American) studio album by British rock band the Rolling Stones. Released on 29 August 1989, it was the final album of new material that the band would record for Columbia Records.

          Heralded as a major comeback upon its release, Steel Wheels is notable for the patching up of the working relationship between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, a reversion to a more classic style of music and the launching of the band's biggest world tour to date. It is also the final full-length studio album to involve long-time bassist Bill Wyman, preceding the announcement of his departure in January 1993. Wyman's final tenure with the band would be on two studio tracks for the 1991 album Flashpoint. Steel Wheels was also the first album not to feature former member and frequent contributor on piano Ian Stewart, who died shortly before the release of their previous album Dirty Work. It was produced by Richards and Jagger, along with Chris Kimsey, who had previously produced the Stones' 1983 Undercover.

        After the relative disappointment of their prior two albums, Steel Wheels was a hit, reaching multi-platinum status in the United States, Top 5 status in numerous markets around the world, and spawning two hit singles: "Mixed Emotions," which peaked at No. 1 in Canada and Nº 5 in the United States, and "Rock and a Hard Place", the band's last Top-40 hit in the US. Critics were generally lukewarm towards the album, exemplified by Stephen Thomas Erlewine: 'It doesn't make for a great Stones album, but it's not bad, and it feels like a comeback.'

 The queen of the Nile

She laid on her throne

And she was drifting downstream

On a barge that was burnished with gold

Royal purple the sails

So sweetly perfumed

And poor Mark Antony's

Senses were drowned

And his future was doomed

 

He was blinded by love

The Philistines paid

For Samson's blind rage

The secrets that two lovers share

Should never have been betrayed

 

He was blinded by love

He was blinded by love

 

Now it's no use crying or weeping

You better lock up your soul for safe keeping

Promise me

The poor Prince of Wales

He gave up his crown

All for the trivial pursuit of

A parvenu second-hand lady

So lovers beware

If you lose your heart

Careful now, don't lose your mind

Don't mortgage your soul to a stranger

 

Don't be blinded by love

Don't be blinded by love

 

Blinded by love

Blinded by love.