Keith Richards is not a man you want to be cross with you. After two decades of occasionally uneasy give and take between
Richards and
Mick Jagger,
the Rolling Stones seemed on the verge of imploding when, after making himself scarce during the recording of 1986's
Dirty Work,
Jagger made it clear he not only wasn't going to tour with the band, he was going to devote his time to promoting his second solo album, 1987's
Primitive Cool, including playing some shows on his own in Japan. If
Jagger threw down a gauntlet,
Richards could be said to have picked it up and slapped
Mick hard with it, going into the studio to cut his solo debut, 1988's
Talk Is Cheap. To the surprise of absolutely no one,
Talk Is Cheap often resembles a
Rolling Stones album ("Take It So Hard" could pass for the best
Stones single since "Start Me Up"), but part of its charm is that even when it strays far from the band's template -- such as the churning funk of "Big Enough" or the
Chuck Berry tribute/rip-off "I Could Have Stood You Up" -- it still beautifully captures what
Richards brought to the band as a guitarist and songwriter, only in different surroundings and fresh contexts. It always sounds like
Keith, even when it doesn't sound like
the Stones, and he's passionate, engaged, and effortlessly cool on every track, with his trademark rhythm-as-lead guitar front and center throughout. The stellar band that accompanies
Richards --
Waddy Wachtel,
Steve Jordan,
Mick Taylor,
Bernie Worrell,
Johnnie Johnston, and
Ivan Neville -- have a mind and an approach of their own, but they understand the root of what
Richards does is about the groove, and they don't let him down for a moment.
Talk Is Cheap was good, raucous, high-attitude fun in a way a
Stones album hadn't been since
Tattoo You in 1981, and if
Primitive Cool unwittingly revealed
Mick Jagger wasn't entirely sure what his musical identity was outside of
the Stones, this album made it clear that all
Richards needed to make a good record was to be himself. [In March 2019,
Richards released an expanded edition of
Talk Is Cheap to celebrate the album's 30th Anniversary, though he was actually five months late. In addition to expanded artwork and more elaborate packaging, the reissue included a bonus disc featuring six unreleased tracks from the
Talk Is Cheap sessions. Most of the tracks are fine but unremarkable (the fact that one is called "Blues Jam" should tell you something), but the musicians are in fine fettle, and "Slim" is a superb showcase for
Johnnie Johnson's piano. The bonus cuts aren't quite essential, but anyone who loves the thrust and parry of
Keith's guitar will enjoy them, and the original album is still a gem.] ~ Mark Deming
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