The Rolling Stones - Undercover [CD]

With Afro-Cuban percussion and dub textures scattered throughout, UNDERCOVER sounds like a soundtrack to a bloody Caribbean coup d'etat. The machine-gun rattle of Linn drums on "Feel on Baby," the viciously dubbed-out guitars of the title track, and Jagger's reliance on sado- masochism as a central lyrical theme ("Tie You Up" and "Pretty Beat Up" being the most obvious examples) add to the notion that the Stones were reflecting a world gone wrong back upon it's audience. But past it's bleakness, UNDERCOVER is among the last exciting bits of music the Stones ventured to make.