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Flashpoint (album)

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Untitled

Flashpoint is a live album by British rock band The Rolling Stones. It was released in 1991, having been recorded throughout 1989 and 1990 on the mammoth Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour. It was the first live album by the group since 1982's "Still Life" (American Concert 1981). It was the first album to use binaural recording, a 3D audio effect using just two stereo speakers. This gives the effect the concert audience is behind the home listener. The audience cheer track was taken from the Rolling Stones' 1970 live album Get Yer Ya-Yas Out complete with an audience member shouting out a request "Paint It Black, Paint It Black you devil".

History

Recorded across North America, Europe and Japan, Flashpoint is also the first Rolling Stones release of the 1990s and, unlike previous live sets, includes two new studio tracks: "Highwire" and "Sex Drive"; the former was released as a single earlier in 1991 and was a comment on the Gulf War.

Although the live selections are mostly familiar hits mixed in with new tracks from Steel Wheels, Flashpoint also includes songs like "Factory Girl" from 1968's Beggars Banquet and "Little Red Rooster", originally a #1 UK hit single in 1964, featured here with special guest Eric Clapton on guitar.

Bill Wyman's departure

As Flashpoint was The Rolling Stones' final release under their contract with Sony Music the band signed a new lucrative long-term worldwide deal with Virgin Records in 1991, with the exception of Bill Wyman. After thirty years with the band, the 55-year-old Wyman decided that he had other interests he wanted to pursue and felt that, considering the size of the Steel Wheels project and tour, it was fitting to bow out at that time. Although he would not officially announce his departure until January 1993 - during the interim the rest of the band had repeatedly asked him to reconsider - he had talked about leaving the band for at least ten years. After his departure, Ronnie Wood was finally taken off salary and made a full member of the Rolling Stones partnership, 18 years after he joined the band.

Flashpoint was released in April 1991 and was generally well-received, with "Highwire" becoming a rock radio hit, and managed to reach #6 in the UK[citation needed] and #16 in the US[citation needed] where it went gold.

In 1998, Flashpoint was remastered and reissued by Virgin Records, and again in 2010 by Universal Music.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link
Rolling Stone link

Track listing

All songs by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, except where noted.

Compact Disc

  1. "(Intro) Continental Drift" – 0:26
  2. "Start Me Up" – 3:54
  3. "Sad Sad Sad" – 3:33
  4. "Miss You" – 5:55
  5. "Rock and a Hard Place" – 4:52
  6. "Ruby Tuesday" – 3:33
  7. "You Can't Always Get What You Want" – 7:26
  8. "Factory Girl" – 2:47
  9. "Can't Be Seen" – 4:17
  10. "Little Red Rooster" (Willie Dixon) – 5:15
  11. "Paint It Black" – 4:02
  12. "Sympathy for the Devil" – 5:35
  13. "Brown Sugar" – 4:06
  14. "Jumpin' Jack Flash" – 5:00
  15. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" – 6:09
  16. "Highwire" – 4:44
  17. "Sex Drive" – 5:07

Vinyl LP

Side one
  1. (Intro) "Continental Drift" – 0:29
  2. "Start Me Up" – 3:54
  3. "Sad Sad Sad" – 3:33
  4. "Miss You" – 5:55
  5. "Ruby Tuesday" – 3:34
  6. "You Can't Always Get What You Want" – 7:26
  7. "Factory Girl" – 2:48
  8. "Little Red Rooster" (Dixon) – 5:15
Side two
  1. "Paint It, Black" – 4:02
  2. "Sympathy for the Devil" – 5:35
  3. "Brown Sugar" – 4:10
  4. "Jumpin' Jack Flash" – 5:00
  5. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" – 6:08
  6. "Highwire" – 4:46
  7. "Sex Drive" – 4:28
  • "Rock and a Hard Place" and "Can't Be Seen", were not included on the vinyl version.

Other songs/B-Sides and Charity Single

The following songs were recorded during the same set of concerts and later released as B-Sides:

  • "2000 Light Years from Home" – 3:24 (14 June 1990; Olympic Stadium; Barcelona Spain) - Only released on "Highwire" singles
  • "Gimme Shelter" – 4:47 (26 November 1989; Death Valley Stadium; Clemson, South Carolina) - Charity single released in 1993
  • "Harlem Shuffle" (Bob Relf, Ernest Nelson) – 4:35 (27 February 1990; Korakuen Dome; Tokyo, Japan) - Only released on one of the variations of the UK "Ruby Tuesday" single
  • "I Just Want to Make Love to You" (Dixon) – 3:58 (6 July 1990; Wembley Stadium; London, England) - Only released on "Highwire" singles
  • "Play with Fire" (Nanker Phelge) – 3:31 (26 November 1989; Death Valley Stadium; Clemson, South Carolina) - Released on "Ruby Tuesday" single
  • "Street Fighting Man" – 3:43 (25 August 1990; Wembley Stadium; London, England) - Only released on "Jumpin' Jack Flash" Maxi-CD singles
  • "Tumbling Dice" – 4:12 (24 August 1990; Wembley Stadium; London, England) - Only released on "Jumpin' Jack Flash" singles
  • "Undercover of the Night" – 3:59 (19 December 1989; Atlantic City Convention Center; Atlantic City, New Jersey) - Released on the "Ruby Tuesday" single

All tracks besides "Gimme Shelter" released in 1990.

Personnel

The Rolling Stones
Additional personnel
  • Bernard Fowler – backing vocals on "Highwire"
  • Katie Kissoon – backing vocals on "Sex Drive"
  • Tessa Niles – backing vocals on "Sex Drive"
  • Studio tracks mixed by Chris Kimsey and Mark Stent
  • Engineered by Mark Stent
  • Art direction and design by Garry Mouat and David Crow

Chart positions

Album
Year Chart Position
1991 UK Top 75 Albums 6[citation needed]
1991 The Billboard 200 16[citation needed]
Singles
Year Single Chart Position
1991 "Highwire" The Billboard Hot 100 57[citation needed]
1991 "Highwire" Mainstream Rock Tracks 1[citation needed]
1991 "Highwire" Modern Rock Tracks 28[citation needed]
1991 "Highwire" Hot 100 Airplay 70[citation needed]
1991 "Highwire" UK Top 75 Singles 29[citation needed]
1991 "Ruby Tuesday" UK Top 75 Singles 59[citation needed]
1991 "Sex Drive" Mainstream Rock Tracks 40[citation needed]

Certification

Country Certification Sales
United States Gold 500,000
France 2× Gold 200,000
United Kingdom Silver 60,000
Germany Gold 100,000


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