After Mick Jagger's first solo album (she's the boss), after Dirty Work, the Stones got together and did a pretty good album.
Mixed Emotions and Rock and a Hard Place were the most immediate hits of that record. But they're not necessarily the best songs. Continental Drift is an expected piece from the Stones and one which testifies how broad they can be when they want to.
The best song in the album - recorded live in Stripped few years later and now a staple in most live performances by the Stones - is Slipping Away. It's a great great song. It's very basic and yet very intriguing. It's - possibly - a turning point in Keith Richards' songwriting. It opened a new line of songs -- Losing My Touch (in Forty Licks); The worst as well as thru and thru (voodoo lounge); thief in the night (bridges to babylon)--
that has expended the Stones'musical vocabulary.
It's a nice comeback.

Steel Wheels is much maligned these days because of its polish I guess. Actually, there's some great songwriting to be found on such tracks like Almost Hear You Sigh, Slipping Away, Mixed Emotions, Hearts For Sale, etc.... There's also a spirit of adventure on Continental Drift and a burst of Exile On Main Street-like fury on Sad Sad Sad. All around, this is a wonderfully complete set from the latter day Stones. This is much better than any of the other latter day Stones post Undercover. Go ahead and give it try, it's worth the listen!

This is a terrific album, I saw the Stones' Steel Wheels concert a few times in Boston back in '89 and this album is as satisfying then as it is now. "Almost Hear you Sigh", :Terrifying", "Slipping Away","Continental Drift","Can't Be Seen" and "Rock and a Hard Place" are great, great songs. BTW, I also think this has been their best album of original material in the past 20 years (since "Some Girls") - nothing they have done since this album has been quite as good.

This album is rock solid beginning to end. It doesn't have any huge mega-hits on it, but every song is excellent in its own way. The Keith Richards numbers really sparkle. Though 'Slippin' Away' is very popular and Keith plays in it concert frequently, the India-influenced 'Continental Drift' is a fascinating and way-different piece of Stones work--almost sounds like something George Harrison would have come up with. The drumming is excellent throughout as well, thanks to Charlie Watts. A recommended album for any Stones fan. If you are not a big Stones fan or Richards fan, this may be one you could pass over.
A fun album. Four stars.

Let me start off by saying that "Tattoo You" is NOt the best Rolling Stones album of the 80's. In my opinion, "Steel Wheels" beats it by far. Unlike "Tattoo You", "Steel Wheels" is packed with fast-paced rockers instead of some rock songs and some long and tedious ballads.

The highlights of the album include the opener, "Sad Sad Sad" which is a typical Rolling Stones rocker and is one of the best songs on this album. There is also the melodic rocker, "Mixed Emotions", a timeless song that one never tires of. "Hold On To Your Hat" is the second best song which is very heavy and rather catchy. "Rock and a Hard Place" is rock mixed with some disco. This song sounds a little bit like Phil Collins' "Heat On the Street", also from 1989. "Continental Drift" is the internationally-inspired epic and is really an original Rolling Stones song that shows how versatile they can be.

Again, great album.