Rolling Stones
Undercover

"In the end, I think rock is a great frivolity" (Mick Jagger).

From a musical point of view, the entrance into the decade of the 80's was very controversial, especially for many artists with a long history behind them. The heterogeneous expressiveness of the new wave and the immediate destructive force of punk are not negligible elements. Even the Rolling Stones, who had traveled a long road, encountered a musical reality where one could not be content to be extras, and it was not at all easy to become protagonists. The reaction to the punk is the excellent "Some Girls" (1978), which reflects the rediscovery of a natural compositional vein by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, capable of producing a complete product where rock blues will always be fundamental, while not disdaining the inevitable dance approach that would find more fertile ground in the decent "Emotional Rescue" (1980), finally leaving the cunning of "Tattoo You" (1981) to almost perfectly combine rock 'n' roll and ballads with a bluesy flavor. 1981 was the opportunity to embark on a new tour and publish its highlights on "Still Life" the following year, offering the opportunity for enthusiastic fans to sit in a cinema and comfortably enjoy the exploits of their favorite band in the documentary film "Let's Spend The Night Together" (in Italy "Time Is On Our Side") by Hal Ashby.

During the recordings of the next studio album, the internal contrasts due to the routine alternation between recording albums and promotional tours, which exacerbates the ordinary misunderstandings between the two (mostly) creative souls of the band, become evident, in which Richards, who carries on his vein as a traditionalist rocker, cannot help but clash/confront the perennial attitude of the innovative musician, which Jagger, always open to grasp and develop musical innovations, ideally embodies with pros and cons.

The desire and courage to explore different paths take the name of the initial "Undercover of the Night", characterized by a bubbling rhythm where the funky contamination dominates an agitated evolution of sounds, exemplarily transposed in the tempestuous video clip by Julien Temple where the protagonists are death squads and contras, bringing the English group closer than ever to themes of a political nature. A less exasperated rhythm leads us to the boogie-woogie of "She Was Hot" (where it's not difficult to see the same DNA as "Summer Romance" from "Emotional Rescue"), a mirror of that unbridled and animalistic expression that guarantees the best result in those already favorably tested musical territories. On the same tones moves "Wanna Hold You", which (personally) lowers the tone of appreciation, if it were not for an impassioned vocal interpretation by Keith in a possible dedication to the very sensual (…but unfortunate…) wife Patti Hansen. With "Too Much Blood", it is funky that returns home, letting the band go free with plenty of danceable sounds, trying to enhance everything with an effective horn section and giving a sense of continuity to the unity of the work with the subsequent "Pretty Beat Up", where the genuine rhythm 'n' blues finds space again, which does not lift the fate of an uncertain album in its overall result. The riff of "Too Tough" will not leave anyone indifferent and brands with fire a track that has nothing out of place and is able to synthesize the state of grace of the five that wanes in the lively appearance of "All The Way Down" and is partially recovered among the always amiable strumming of the concluding "It Must Be Hell".

"Undercover" is another confirmation that the band is aware of making its own those capabilities that allow it to ride the trend of the moment, without undermining the glorious past upon which it has built an indestructible reputation. Being able to polish one's own qualities is not something for everyone and what saves this album from inadequacy is precisely that inexhaustible energy that allows Jagger and Richards to regenerate with the creation of that pair of tracks (always present in every album…) that do not disappoint faithful followers and fans of the last hour always searching for that ancient greatness that has led them to ascend to the title of the greatest and (perhaps) unsurpassable rock band on the planet.