The Rolling Stones
Undercover

1983, dawn of the plastic decade not yet fully revealed.

"Undercover" is the title chosen to fill a sweltering Sunday in Alto Monferrato. I don't know why, out of everything I could choose from, I decided to put on a neglected and mostly forgotten work by the Rolling Stones. But between an overplayed "Tatoo You" and AC/DC's "Back In Black", I opted for grooves less worn by the needle. "Undercover" is an album released at the threshold of MTV's overwhelming success and its damn music-killing video clips. The Stones follow trends, mostly led by the super-accountant skilled at making money and forging connections, Mick Jagger. Keith Richards is now detoxed and gradually begins to complain about the direction the band is taking, too inclined to wink at contemporary passing trends. Moreover, Jagger keeps his desire to release solo works hidden, and the two begin to clash. Thus, the final product is a tug-of-war between reggae, funk, and blues rock, all too fast and without bite, yet classily managing to fill alarming creative voids and weary repetition. A few extra percussions, a splash of funky rock, and the chart-topping single is "Undercover Of The Night", one of the band's last classics that manages to save the listen mainly due to the curious and hypnotic percussive part and Richards' jarring guitar — the same goes for "Too Much Blood", opening side B, a track that merits attention only for the part embellished by Keith. The rest is less refined stuff like the closing "It Must Be Hell" or the empty "She Was Hot".

My knowledge of the Stones extends to the subsequent "Dirty Work," which I remember as a bit more uniform and raw, but the '80s buried them too.