Critic’s Corner

There has been a lot of debate as to which Rolling Stones album is their best. In fact, I have seen such debates go on for hours, only to end abruptly when the beer ran out and everyone went home.

Conversely, there is little debate as to which Rolling Stones album is their worst. The hands-down winner (loser?) is Dirty Work, released during that watershed year in popular music—1986.

One only has to start with the album cover (refer to photo) to see where things began to go horribly awry for Mick and the boys--although, even by this time, they were a lot closer to being cadavers than “boys”.

Here we have the group sitting in what can only be described as a very spiffy, albeit garishly colored, salon or parlor. It was as if the group went out together for makeovers (facial for Mick, highlights for Keith, a perm for Bill, etc.) only to find out that the ladies from the Westminster Mah Jong Club had beaten them to the time slot.

As a result, they apparently were forced to kill time lounging around the only sofa in the place. Good thing they remembered to wear their colorful, freshly pressed, unconstructed suits that day. Otherwise, they might have been mistaken for a gritty, blues-based, rock and roll band.

All this spiffiness on the album cover makes it hard to fathom exactly where the actual Dirty Work comes in--unless you count the poor lady who was unlucky enough to have to give Mick his pedicure. Notice how he already had removed his shoes and socks in anticipation of the main event.

And then, there’s the music.....Unfortunately, I cannot comment on this since I never really bothered to listen to the album. I mean, who can get past that awful-looking cover?