The 1980 Listening Post - The Rolling Stones - Emotional Rescue

 Reviewed by Jon Rosenberg

Released: June 20 1980 The Rolling Stones Emotional Rescue Genre: Rock Allen’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Jon’s Rating: 3.75 out of 5 Highlights: Emotional Rescue She’s So Cold Send It to Me Indian Girl The Stones hit their 80’s! No, wait. I meant to say the Stones hit THE 80’s. Only Bill Wyman has yet hit the eight decade mark. Mick, Keith, Charlie, and Ronnie are still firmly ensconced in their ‘70’s. And so is this record. When “Emotional Rescue” came out in the summer of 1980, it was an immediate hit. You could not get through a day without hearing the title track or “She’s So Cold” on the radio. I’m not going to try to convince anyone that these are great songs, but they both infiltrated my psyche at a young age and always bring a smile to my face. “Emotional Rescue,” the song, is basically the Stones taking another stab at disco (full disclosure: I kinda like disco) the way they did on their previous album with “Miss You.” Clearly, all that time Mick was spending at Studio 54 was taking its toll. Not much guitar action happening here, but Bill and Charlie’s tight rhythm section keep things chugging. Mick’s falsetto vocals are a bit off-putting, and things get even weirder when he switches back to his regular voice to intone “I will be your knight in shining arrrrr-mor, coming to your eee-motional resc-yoo.” It’s ridiculous, but I love it. “She’s So Cold” is a more traditional Stones song: an old-school rock and roll boogie with goofy (perhaps slightly misogynistic?) lyrics about not being able to get laid. Mick still can’t get no satisfaction! In a similar vein, “Send It to Me” is a reggae-tinged paean to mail-order brides. Or prostitutes, I’m not quite sure. But the groove is bouncy and fun, and that’s good enough. The real surprise is “Indian Girl,” which on the surface seems like a sweet love ballad to a Native American woman. The song has a light, Latin vibe to it, but when you pay attention to the lyrics, all of a sudden you realize it’s a song about American imperialism in Central and South America! Slightly deeper than the opener “Dance – Part 1.” Then again, don’t forget that this is the band who gave us “Street Fighting Man” and “Gimme Shelter.” The rest of the album is fine. Nothing special. Second-rate Stones, to be sure. But even second-rate Stones is better than a lot of other bands’ first-rate material.