Flashpoint was released Feb 2, 1991. It was recorded on the Steel Wheels (American) and Urban Jungle (European) tours during 1989-90. It was their 6th live album (the most recent had been 10 years earlier - Still Life). The tracks on the album were actually recorded as follows:
.....11-25-89 Jacksonville
.....11-26-89 Clemson SC
.....12-19-89 Atlantic City
.....2-26/27-90 Toyko
.....6-14-90 Barcelona
.....7-6-90 Wembley (also filmed for the IMAX film and their 1st DVD release)

There was a special quad gatefold edition of the album (which is now out of print) that included a 2nd disc (titled Collectibles) of rare, extended version, or dance mix tracks previously released only on 12" vinyl singles or as B sides.

Many reviewers consider this either their best live album or the 2nd best (after the 1970 release Get Your Ya Ya's Out). The album includes the UK single Highwire and the US single Sex Drive, both of which are studio tracks added to the live tracks from the tour. In addition it has the live version of Ruby Tuesday that was released as a CD single in the UK along with Play With Fire, You Can't Always Get What You Want, and Undercover Of The Night (all live versions from the album). Flashpoint also includes what many people think is the best version they ever did of Little Red Rooster (it features Eric Clapton on lead). Most people know the music, so in my reviews I try to give you data on the sessions and interesting facts connected with the songs and the album. Here we go:

Interesting notes include:
.....the 115th show of the combined Steel Wheels and Urban Jungle tours at Wembly Stadium in London was the last live performance with Bill Wyman (it was filmed on IMAX cameras and is available as the DVD The Rolling Stones Live at the MAX)
.....the Steel Wheels tour set a new American attendance record of 3.4 million, they sold out 10 shows in Tokyo, and the Urban Jungle tour included their 1st shows in East Germany and Czechoslovakia where a ticket was recognized as a one day passport for Hungarians and Poles...the combined tours grossed $200 million
.....the first show of the tour (at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia) was loud enough they blew a generator (causing 3 minutes of silence in the middle of Shattered)....they dropped the song from the setlist for the remainder of the tour
.....this was the first gargantuan stage tour....Steel Wheels featured blow up bimbos (named Angie and Ruby) during Honky Tonk Women and a diversionary lightning effect while Mick rode an elevator 8 stories up to a high stage where he sang Sympathy in a hellishly lighted cloud of smoke (because there were already so many live versions of these two songs on other albums, neither made it to the CD releases)....Urban Jungle featured two rabid canines (with erections) to go with the recently released single Terrifying.

This information comes from "It's Only Rock And Roll: The Ultimate Guide To The Rolling Stones" by Karnbach and Bernson and from my own collection, with some of the notes from Davis' "Old Gods Almost Dead." Both books are available from amazon.com.

I had heard some of the Stones' songs on the radio and my dad had played them around me, but I never really thought them to be that great. I received 'Flashpoint' as a gift and thought I'd give it a whirl. It totally turned me on to the Stones and now I'm a die-hard fanatic. This album is essential to the CD collection of ANY and EVERY music fan. The energy is amazing, notably on 'Rock and a Hard Place.' This album contains excellent versions of such classics as 'Jumpin' Jack Flash'(my favorite song of all-time), 'Satisfaction,' and 'Paint it black.' 'Flashpoint' is undoubtedly the best live compilation the group has ever released, and definitely in the realm of their top five albums.

"Steel Wheels" was, almost certainly, one of the hardest rocking Stones' albums ever. Well, here it is live. Like a series of controlled nuclear explosions, these patron saints of all-things-good-about rock redefine live rock and shame every other concert band in the process.

Just assume that every cut from Steel Wheels is better live, which they are, and further assume that "Rock and a Hard Place" is now, in its Flash Point itteration, the new standard for what can be accomplished with a guitar...and consider how this all segues into the most chilling (and savage) version "Paint Black" ever recored (legally, at least.)

Long before anyone had ever heard of Reel Big Fish, the Stones were using brass sections as musical weapons, and that brutal application has never been more pronounced than on "Rock and a Hard Place," but is also nicely employed on a ripping "Sad, Sad, Sad."

It may be with this album that the Stones perfectly demonstrate that brilliant song writing can be combined with brutal execution with compellingly sophisticated but savagely explosive results.

Ignorant arguments about how old the Stones are ignore the fact that the Stone pretty much invented modern rock, and every day the Stones get older, they simply demonstrate that good rock is apparently ageless.

Why the first-line rockers like Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley became irrelevent is something of a mystery, but we owe them a debt of gratitude for getting the ball rolling. Rock was a child's game in those days, and it must have seemed odd to see adults playing it. Rock has matured since then, and there is nothing strange at all about watching Keith Richards smoke through some of the most celebrate music of the last 50 years.

Rock isn't a childs game anymore, and on Flashpoint the Stones demonstrate, again, why they are rocks most celebrated vetrans.

Long live rock.

This album is a fatiguing experience, and a soothing trip to "Exlile on Main Street" may be a nice methadone-like come-down withdrawl aide.

The Rolling Stones were promoting STEEL WHEELS when recording this album. It opens with an introductory excerpt of CONTINENTAL DRIFT from SW. Then there's START ME UP from 1981's TATTOO YOU. Then there's another SW track,SAD SAD SAD. MISS YOU is a "hot rock" from 1978's SOME GIRLS. It also became one of FORTY LICKS. Also from SW is ROCK AND A HARD PLACE. RUBY TUESDAY was a hit from 1965 and is also a "hot rock" and another of FORTY LICKS. YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT is from 1969's LET IT BLEED,also a "hot rock" and a "lick". FACTORY GIRL is an old country tune that the Stones don't perform live very often. Frontman Mick Jagger asked bassist Bill Wyman what album it was from. Neither Jagger nor Wyman remembered. Then it hit Jagger. "It's from BEGGARS' BANQUET.",Jagger quipps. On another SW track,CAN'T BE SEEN,lead guitarist Keith Richards takes the lead. Willie Dixon's LITTLE RED ROOSTER is cool. PAINT IT BLACK is another oldie-but-goodie from 1966(another "hot rock" and "lick"). SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL is pretty cool. From 1971's STICKY FINGERS is BROWN SUGAR,another "hot rock" and "lick",of course. JUMPING JACK FLASH is a "gas,gas,gas",as mentioned in the song. Peter Frampton recorded that one live on his FRAMPTON COMES ALIVE! album. That was a cover hit for Aretha Franklin. (I CAN'T GET NO)SATISFACTION is another "hot rock" and "lick". Then there's two new studio tracks,HIGHWIRE and SEX DRIVE. U2's RATTLE AND HUM is both a studio and live album also. This album is a sequel to 1982's LOVE YOU LIVE which was recorded while promoting TATTOO YOU. Also it was originally released on Rolling Stones Records,a division of Sony,originally Atlantic Recording Corporation. All Rolling Stones albums are on Virgin now. Several years ago,Virgin bought ownership rights to the Stones' albums.

After getting back on the right track with "Steel Wheels", The Rolling Stones embarked on their first concert tour in 7 years, and what a tour. The band was playing better than they had in a long time, and just about every show was a completely sold out. The result of that tour was an Imax film and this live album.

"Flashpoint" is very fun and energetic. It start off with the brief "Continental Drift" before leaping out of the starting gate with "Start Me Up". The album loses its balance a bit with the clunker "Sad Sad Sad", but it comes roaring back to life with a high - octane "Miss You". "Rock And A Hard Place" is in your face and "Ruby Tuesday" is revived here, with pure beauty conveyed in the instruments and vocals. "You Can't Always Get What You Want" comes off flawlessly, especially at the end with Kieth's signature speed guitar. "Factory Girl" was a real surprise, especially for hardcore fans. A great track from "Beggars' Banquet" that was never heard in concert before. "Little Red Rooster" features a great Eric Clapton solo. What comes next is a glorious selection of hits that starts off with a stupendous "Paint It Black". "Sympathy For The Devil" edits out a whole verse, but stays afloat thanks to Kieth. The version of "Brown Sugar" is probably the best live version of the song ever. "Jumpin' Jack Flash" comes next, and again, it's probably the best live version ever. The same can be said for "Satisfaction", which, as usual, sounds great.

Two studio recordings round out the album. "High Energy" deals with war and ommunism, while "Sex Drive" is a libidinous and ultimately ludicrous dance number that soudnds vaguely like "Emotional Rescue's" "Dance, Part One". Overall, "Flashpoint" is a brilliant album. It is very enjoyable.