Steel Wheels by The Rolling Stones

Steel Wheels, released in the US on 29 August 1989 and in Britain on 11 September, is the sound of the Rolling Stones deciding they still need each other. After two albums that let people down, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards patched up their working partnership, produced the record themselves alongside Chris Kimsey, who had done the same job on 1983's Undercover, and steered the band back toward the classic Stones strut.

With Charlie Watts driving, Bill Wyman on bass and Ronnie Wood and Richards trading guitar, it was greeted as a big comeback, even if the critics sounded more relieved than thrilled. "Mixed Emotions" went to number one in Canada and number five in the US, and "Rock and a Hard Place" became their last US Top 40 hit. It sold multi-platinum in America and launched the biggest tour they had ever mounted. It was also Wyman's final full studio album with the band and their last set of new songs for Columbia.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.