{"id":1508,"date":"2008-06-23T17:42:26","date_gmt":"2008-06-23T21:42:26","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2010-03-28T10:22:46","modified_gmt":"2010-03-28T10:22:46","slug":"every-picture-tells-a-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/every-picture-tells-a-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Every Picture Tells a Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

While the Rolling Stones continue to battle Rod Stewart and the Faces in the 1970s and once more find the merits of their later work in question in the Rock Town Hate<\/a> thread, this seems as good a time as any to take a closer look at the oft-maligned cover of their 1986 Dirty Work<\/i> album.<\/p>\n

\"They<\/p>\n

As photographed by Annie Leibovitz<\/strong>, the Dirty Work<\/i> cover could be viewed as testament of what had gone wrong for the Stones. Lounging about in garishly bright outfits, the band seemed to embody the ideas of 1980s excess and lack of taste. Indeed, this was something of a sign of the times, as the band photo was reportedly a record label mandate, and Dirty Work<\/i> may have been the first Stones album to be released on both vinyl and compact disc.<\/p>\n

Though perhaps not the most popular album cover in the Stones\u2019 catalog, Dirty Work<\/i> does stand as not just a symbol of the times, but also a commentary on the band itself. As someone once sang, every picture tells a story<\/em>.
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\nIn 1996, a Usenet poster<\/a> \u2013 and founder of the Dirty Work Defense Rescue Squad<\/b> \u2013 explored some of the symbolism on the Dirty Work<\/i> cover:<\/p>\n

After all the chic fashionable covers with faces concealed, tattooed, or photographed in Infrared here they are again, very clearly for all to see: The Rolling Stones gathered round a modern curved sofa, dressed in highly contrasting colors: yellow, pink, red, blue and green. Look at their faces, this picture tells a lot. It’s KR who’s in charge here, I think, and Mick doesn’t like it. Bill has a bad time and Charlie doesn’t even want to look up. Okay, this is all just interpretation. But after reading a bit about this period – they were on the verge of a break-up – the picture seems to tell a big story. Apart from that it’s just beautiful and straightforward.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Engaging your abilities of critical analysis, what do you<\/i> see in the Dirty Work<\/i> album cover? <\/p>\n