Tracklist front / back album covers
Side one
1. "Sad Sad Sad" 3:35
2. "Mixed Emotions" 4:38
3. "Terrifying" 4:53
4. "Hold On to Your Hat" 3:32
5. "Hearts for Sale" 4:40
6. "Blinded by Love" 4:37
Total length: 25:55
Side two
7. "Rock and a Hard Place" 5:25
8. "Can't Be Seen" 4:09
9. "Almost Hear You Sigh" 4:37
10. "Continental Drift" 5:14
11. "Break the Spell" 3:06
12. "Slipping Away" 4:29
Total length: 27:00
The Rolling Stones Band Members / Musicians
Mick Jagger – lead vocals (except 8 & 12), backing vocals (1, 2, 9, 12), guitar (1, 2, 4–7, 11), harmonica (5, 11), shakers (2, 3), keyboards (10)
Keith Richards – acoustic guitar (10), classical guitar (9), guitar (except 9 & 10), backing vocals (2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 12), lead vocals (8 & 12), bicycle spokes (10)
Ronnie Wood – guitar (2, 3, 5–9, 12), bass guitar (1, 4, 11), acoustic bass (10), dobro (11), backing vocals (9)
Bill Wyman – bass guitar (2, 3, 5–9, 12)
Charlie Watts – drums (all tracks)
Chuck Leavell – organ (1–3, 6, 8, 12), piano (1, 2, 12), keyboards (7, 9), Wurlitzer (8)
Matt Clifford – electric piano (12), piano (6), keyboards (3, 5, 7, 9, 11), clavinet (8), harmonium (6), percussion programming (10), strings (12)
Sarah Dash – backing vocals (2, 7, 9, 10, 12)
Lisa Fischer – backing vocals (2, 3, 7, 9, 10, 12)
Bernard Fowler – backing vocals (1, 2, 5–10, 12)
Luis Jardim – percussion (2, 6, 8, 9)
Phil Beer – mandolin (6), fiddle (6)
The Kick Horns – brass (1, 2, 7, 12)
Roddy Lorimer – trumpet (3)
The Master Musicians of Jajouka led by Bachir Attar
Farafina – African-Moroccan instruments (10)
Sonia Morgan – backing vocals (10)
Tessa Niles – backing vocals (10)
Chris Jagger – literary editor (6, 9)
Recording engineer – Christopher Marc Potter
Assistant engineer – Rupert Coulson
Recorded at Air Studios, Montserrat
Mixed by Michael Brauer, Christopher Marc Potter, Chris Kimsey
Art direction and design – John Warwicker
Logo design – Mark Morton
Mastering – Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, NYC
Steel Wheels is the 19th British (and 21st American) studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. Released on 29 August 1989, it was the final album of new material that the band would record for Columbia Records.
Heralded as a major comeback upon its release, Steel Wheels is notable for the patching up of the working relationship between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, a reversion to a more classic style of music and the launching of the band's biggest world tour to date. It is also the final full-length studio album to involve long-time bassist Bill Wyman, preceding the announcement of his departure in January 1993. Wyman's final tenure with the band would be on two studio tracks for the 1991 album Flashpoint. Steel Wheels was also the first album not to feature former member and frequent contributor on piano Ian Stewart, who died shortly before the release of their previous album Dirty Work. It was produced by Richards and Jagger, along with Chris Kimsey, who had previously produced the Stones' 1983 Undercover.
After the relative disappointment of their prior two albums, Steel Wheels was a hit, reaching multi-platinum status in the United States, Top 5 status in numerous markets around the world, and spawning two hit singles: "Mixed Emotions", which peaked at No. 1 in Canada and No. 5 in the United States, and "Rock and a Hard Place", the band's last Top-40 hit in the US. Critics were generally lukewarm towards the album, exemplified by Stephen Thomas Erlewine: "It doesn't make for a great Stones album, but it's not bad, and it feels like a comeback."
