Voodoo Lounge

Voodoo Lounge
The Rolling Stones
Released 11 July 1994
Recorded September, 3 November – 11 December 1993, 15 January – 23 April 1994
Genre roots rock
Length 62:08
Language English
Label Virgin
Producer The Glimmer Twins
The Rolling Stones chronology
Steel Wheels
(1989)
Voodoo Lounge
(1994)
Bridges to Babylon
(1997)
Singles from Voodoo Lounge
  1. Love Is Strong
    Released: 5 July 1994
  2. You Got Me Rocking
    Released: 26 September 1994
  3. Out of Tears
    Released: 1 November 1994
  4. I Go Wild
    Released: 1995

Voodoo Lounge is the 20th British and 22nd American studio album by The Rolling Stones, released in July 1994. As their first new release under their new alliance with Virgin Records, it ended a five-year gap since their last studio album, Steel Wheels in 1989. Voodoo Lounge is also the Stones’ first album without long-time bassist Bill Wyman, who left the band in early 1993. In 2009, the album was remastered and reissued by Universal Music.

Contents

[edit] Background

Following the release of Darryl Jones would be taking Bill Wyman’s place as the group’s regular bassist.

Rolling Stone:

“…there were a lot of things that we wrote for “Voodoo Lounge” that Don steered us away from: groove songs, African influences and things like that. And he steered us very clear of all that. And I think it was a mistake.”[1]

Was responded that he was not, “…anti-groove, just anti-groove without substance, in the context of this album. They had a number of great grooves. But it was like, ‘OK, what goes on top of it? Where does it go?’ I just felt that it’s not what people were looking for from the Stones. I was looking for a sign that they can get real serious about this, still play better than anybody and write better than anybody.”[2]

The result was an essentially classicist recording that drew on the blues, R&B, and country that had informed the Stones classic late 1960’s/early 1970’s recordings. Jagger would insist on a more diverse, contemporary production cast for the subsequent Bridges to Babylon. Nevertheless, Was (who has produced several Grammy-winning records) remains the Stones producer to this day. After a period of recording in Los Angeles in the first few months of 1994, Voodoo Lounge was complete and The Rolling Stones moved onto the rehearsals for the (yet another massive, worldwide) Voodoo Lounge Tour which would begin in August.

During the recording of the album, Richards adopted a stray cat in Barbados which he named Voodoo, because they were in Barbados, and the kitten had survived the odds. He dubbed the terrace of the house, the Voodoo Lounge. “Sparks Will Fly” was written by Richards after a blow up with Jerry Lee Lewis in Ireland. Richards invited Lewis to Wood’s home to jam on a few songs. Lewis took it seriously and thought they were making an album, and upon playback of the session, he started to pick apart Richards’ band, which outraged Richards.

[edit] Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3.5/5 stars[3]
Robert Christgau (2-star Honorable Mention)[4]
Rolling Stone 4/5 stars[5]
Vox (8/10)[6]

Released in July 1994, Voodoo Lounge received strong reviews and debuted at #1 in the UK (their first chart-topper there since 1980’s Emotional Rescue) and #2 in the US where it went double platinum.

Writing for [6]

Robert Christgau commented “world’s greatest roots-rock band”

In early 1995, while the Voodoo Lounge Tour was still in full force (not finishing until August that year) Voodoo Lounge won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album.

Singles

Love Is Strong“, which was inspired by Richards’ solo “Wicked As It Seems”, was released as the first single, reaching #14 in the UK. However, although the track was a hit on US rock radio, it stalled on the overall US singles charts at #91, and (at least in the US) became the Rolling Stones’ worst performing lead single from an album to that time. Two follow-up US singles also received strong rock radio airplay, but failed to cross over into top 40 hits: “Out of Tears” peaked at #60, and “You Got Me Rocking” fared even worse, peaking at #113. Consequently, Voodoo Lounge would be the first Rolling Stones album to not produce significant hits in the US, even with two million copies sold. In the UK, “Love Is Strong”, “You Got Me Rocking”, “Out of Tears”, and “I Go Wild” were all top 40 chart hits.

[edit] Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge CD ROM Interactive

An interactive CD-ROM was released using early QuickTime video technology. A Windows/Macintosh game entitled Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge CD ROM published by GTE Interactive Media in 1995.[7]

In 2009, Voodoo Lounge was remastered and reissued by Universal Music.

[edit] Track listing

All songs by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

Side one
No. Title Length
1. Love Is Strong”   3:46
2. You Got Me Rocking”   3:40
3. “Sparks Will Fly”   3:15
Side two
No. Title Length
4. “The Worst”   2:25
5. “New Faces”   2:50
6. “Moon Is Up”   3:41
7. Out of Tears”   5:25
Side three
No. Title Length
8. I Go Wild”   4:23
9. “Brand New Car”   4:13
10. “Sweethearts Together”   4:45
11. “Suck on the Jugular”   4:26
Side four
No. Title Length
12. “Blinded by Rainbows”   4:33
13. “Baby Break It Down”   4:08
14. “Thru and Thru”   6:00
15. “Mean Disposition”   4:09
  • Track 15 was only included on CD in 1994, but is also featured on the 2010 vinyl (2LP) release.[8]

[edit] Personnel

The Rolling Stones
Additional personnel

[edit] Chart performance

[edit] Album

Year Chart Position
1994 UK Top 75 Albums[9] 1
1994 The Billboard 200[10] 2
1994 Australian ARIA Albums Chart[11] 1
1994 French Charts 2

[edit] Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1994 “Love Is Strong” UK Top 75 Singles[12] 14
1994 “Love Is Strong” The Billboard Hot 100[13] 91
1994 “Love Is Strong” Mainstream Rock Tracks 2
1994 “You Got Me Rocking” Mainstream Rock Tracks 2
1994 “You Got Me Rocking” UK Top 75 Singles[14] 23
1994 “Out of Tears” The Billboard Hot 100[15] 60
1994 “Out of Tears” Mainstream Rock Tracks[16] 14
1994 “Out of Tears” UK Top 75 Singles[17] 36
1995 “You Got Me Rocking” Bubbling Under Hot 100 113
1995 “Sparks Will Fly” Mainstream Rock Tracks 30
1995 “I Go Wild” Mainstream Rock Tracks 20
1995 “I Go Wild” UK Top 75 Singles[18] 29

[edit] Certifications

Multi platinum award

Country Provider Certification
(sales thresholds)
United States RIAA 2× Platinum
France SNEP 2× Gold
United Kingdom BPI Gold
Germany IFPI Platinum
Preceded by
The Prodigy
UK number one album
23–29 July 1994
Succeeded by
Wet Wet Wet
Preceded by
Stone Temple Pilots
Australian number-one album
31 July – 6 August 1994
Succeeded by
Garth Brooks

[edit] References

  1. ^ Wenner, Jann. “”Jagger Remembers””. Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. http://www.jannswenner.com/Archives/Jagger_Remembers.aspx. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
  2. ^ “Voodoo Lounge”. Time Is on Our Side. http://www.timeisonourside.com/lpVoodoo.html. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
  3. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. “Review: Voodoo Lounge. Macrovision Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r202224. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  4. ^ Christgau, Robert. “Review: Voodoo Lounge (Capitol, 1994). http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=3845. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  5. ^ O’Dair, Barbara (11 August 1994). “Review: The Rolling Stones – Voodoo Lounge. Jann Wenner. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/voodoo-lounge-19940811. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  6. ^ a b c Dalton, Steven. “Review: Rolling Stones – Voodoo Lounge (Virgin V2750)“. Vox (IPC Media) (VOX47, August 1994): 93.
  7. ^ “Rolling Stones Voodoo Lounge CD-ROM – Moby Games”. Retrieved on 7 January 2009
  8. ^ 2010 2LP verion
  9. ^ “UK Albums chart history”. http://www.chartstats.com/albuminfo.php?id=11714. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
  10. ^ Ellis, Michael. “Stoned, But Not Dethroned: Elvis Remains on Top”. billboard.com. 10 October 2002.
  11. List of number-one albums in Australia during the 1990s
  12. ^ “”Love Is Strong” UK chart history-Rolling Stones singles”. http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=22082. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
  13. ^ Rolling Stones Singles on Billboard
  14. ^ “”You Got Me Rocking” UK chart history-Rolling Stones singles”. http://chartarchive.org/r/22106. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
  15. ^ Rolling Stones Singles on Billboard
  16. ^ Rolling Stones Singles on Billboard
  17. ^ “”Out of Tears” UK chart history-Rolling Stones singles”. http://chartarchive.org/r/22106. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
  18. ^ “”I Go Wild” UK chart history-Rolling Stones singles”. http://chartarchive.org/r/22921. Retrieved 18 September 2012.



This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Voodoo Lounge, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.