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Voodoo Lounge
Studio album by The Rolling Stones
Released	11 July 1994
Recorded	September 1993, 3 November- 11 December 1993, 15 January- 23 April 1994
Genre	Rock
Length	62:08
Label	Virgin
Producer	Don Was and The Glimmer Twins
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Rolling Stone (not rated) link
The Rolling Stones chronology
Jump Back: The Best of The Rolling Stones (1993) Voodoo Lounge (1994) Stripped (1995)

Voodoo Lounge is an album by The Rolling Stones and was released in 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 Rolling Stones' first album without founding bassist Bill Wyman, who departed the line-up in early 1993.

Following the release of Keith Richards' Main Offender and Mick Jagger's Wandering Spirit in 1992 and 1993 respectively, both leaders of The Rolling Stones began composing new songs in April 1993, deciding upon Don Was as co-producer for the upcoming sessions. In November, after rehearsing and recording at Ron Wood's house in Ireland that September, The Rolling Stones shifted their gear to Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin and began cutting Voodoo Lounge. Although not joining the band officially, Darryl Jones would be taking Bill Wyman's place as the group's regular bassist.

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. "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 "Love Is Strong" 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 America. In the UK, meanwhile, "Love Is Strong", "You Got Me Rocking", "Out Of Tears", and "I Go Wild" were all top 40 chart hits.

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. Many observers noted that - while the album was again considered to be calculated as a classicist piece to recall earlier triumphs - it was a much more sparse recording, contrasting with the slick sound of Steel Wheels.

Producer Don Was, noted for his retro rock production sensibilities, was reportedly responsible for pushing the band towards more conventional territory in an attempt to reproduce the archetypal "Rolling Stones" sound, and moving them away from the rockabilly and African grooves they had reportedly been leaning on during the writing and early recording phases of Voodoo Lounge. The result was an essentially classicist recording that drew on the blues, R&B, and country that had informed the Stones classic late 1960s/early 1970s recordings. Although this approach pleased critics and the Stones rock-oriented fanbase, Jagger in particular expressed some dissatisfaction with Was' aesthetic, and would insist on a more diverse, contemporary production cast for the subsequent Bridges to Babylon. Nevertheless, Was (whose has produced several Grammy-winning records) remains the Stones producer to this day.

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. Although it is not considered to be a truly outstanding piece of work on a par with Let It Bleed or Some Girls, many observers consider Voodoo Lounge to be more of a comeback than Steel Wheels was touted to be.

All songs by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

1. "Love Is Strong" – 3:50
2. "You Got Me Rocking" – 3:35
3. "Sparks Will Fly" – 3:16
4. "The Worst" – 2:24
5. "New Faces" – 2:52
6. "Moon Is Up" – 3:42
7. "Out of Tears" – 5:27
8. "I Go Wild" – 4:23
9. "Brand New Car" – 4:15
10. "Sweethearts Together" – 4:45
11. "Suck on the Jugular" – 4:28
12. "Blinded by Rainbows" – 4:33
13. "Baby Break It Down" – 4:09
14. "Thru and Thru" – 6:15
15. "Mean Disposition" - 4:09

• Mick Jagger - Vocals, Backing Vocals, Electric Guitar, Harmonica, Acoustic Guitar, Maracas, Castanets
• Keith Richards - Electric Guitar, Backing Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Bass, Tambourine
• Charlie Watts - Drums, Tambourine
• Ron Wood - Electric Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar, Slide Guitar, Backing Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Lap Steel Guitar
• Max Baca - Bass
• David Campbell - String Arrangement
• Lenny Castro - Percussion
• Pierre de Beauport - Acoustic Guitar
• Bernard Fowler - Backing Vocals
• Frankie Gavin - Fiddle, Pennywhistle
• Mark Isham - Trumpet
• Luis Jardim - Percussion, Shaker
• Flaco Jiminez - Accordion
• Darryl Jones - Bass
• Phil Jones - Percussion
• Chuck Leavell - Piano, Organ, Harmonium, Harpsichord
• David McMurray - Saxophone
• Ivan Neville - Backing Vocals, Organ
• Benmont Tench - Organ, Piano, Accordion
• Bobby Womack - Backing Vocals

Album

Singles