Talk Is Cheap
Studio album by Keith Richards
Released	3 October 1988
Recorded	August 1987 – May 1988
Studio	Air Studios, Montserrat;Le Studio, Morin-Heights, Quebec
Genre	Rock & roll hard rock roots rock funk rock
Length	47:01
Label	Virgin
Producer	Keith Richards Steve Jordan
Keith Richards chronology
Talk Is Cheap (1988) Live at the Hollywood Palladium, December 15, 1988 (1991)

Talk Is Cheap is the debut solo album by English musicianKeith Richards, the guitarist ofthe Rolling Stones, released in 1988. Recorded and released during a long-standing falling out withMick Jagger,Talk Is Cheap received positive reviews upon its release.

Relations between Jagger and Richards had grown tense during the 1980s as they began to disagree on the musical direction of the band; "You Don't Move Me" would be written about their feud. The image-conscious Jagger was keen to follow the trends and keep the Rolling Stones current, while Richards wanted to preserve their reputation and roots. When Jagger was more interested in pursuing his solo career instead of touring forDirty Work in 1986, Richards began a solo project for the first time.

Richards teamed up withSteve Jordan, who had worked onDirty Work and eventually became the Rolling Stones' touring drummer followingCharlie Watts' death in 2021, and the pair wrote several new songs. One of which, "Almost Hear You Sigh", would be placed on the Rolling Stones'Steel Wheels in 1989 (with lyric modifications by Jagger). Recording began in August 1987 atLe Studio inMorin Heights, Quebec, and continued sporadically until the following May with visits toMontserrat andBermuda. In order to assert his independence further, Richards signed withVirgin Records, while the Rolling Stones were under contract toSony Music (they followed him to Virgin in 1993).

The core of the band, called the X-Pensive Winos, consisted ofWaddy Wachtel,Ivan Neville,Charley Drayton andJordan, with many guest artists taking part in the recording, includingSarah Dash,Bootsy Collins,Maceo Parker,the Memphis Horns andPatti Scialfa, and the only musician from the Stones to appear, guitaristMick Taylor.

A live version of "Make No Mistake" performed at the Hollywood Palladium was later featured in an episode ofThe Sopranos and on the 2001 soundtrack albumThe Sopranos: Peppers & Eggs: Music from the HBO Original Series.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Blender	[2]
Chicago Tribune	[3]
Los Angeles Times	[4]
NME	3/10[5]
Q	[6]
Record Collector	[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
Uncut	7/10[9]
The Village Voice	B+[10]

Released in October 1988,Talk Is Cheap was met with critical acclaim, with some reviews half-jokingly calling it the best Rolling Stones album in years. TheHouston Chronicle noted that "if Richards can't sing and his songs are unexceptional, he co-opted those potential problems by providing these sessions with a looseness that borders on the feel of a demo tape, an ingenious antidote to the day's polished pop (why eight studios then?)."^[11] It peaked at No. 37^[12] in the UK and No. 24 in the US,^[13] where it went gold.^[14] Reflecting on the record in 2022,Far Out wrote, "Sometimes the popular opinion is the right one:Talk Is Cheap is the best of the solo albums, and it ranks with much of the best work The Rolling Stones put to tape."^[15]

All tracks written byKeith Richards andSteve Jordan.

Side one

1. "Big Enough" – 3:17
2. "Take It So Hard" – 3:11
3. "Struggle" – 4:10
4. "I Could Have Stood You Up" – 3:12
5. "Make No Mistake" – 4:53
6. "You Don't Move Me" – 4:48

Side two

1. "How I Wish" – 3:32
2. "Rockawhile" – 4:38
3. "Whip It Up" – 4:01
4. "Locked Away" – 5:48
5. "It Means a Lot" – 5:22

1. "Blues Jam" (Keith Richards, Steve Jordan, Mick Taylor, Joey Spampinato, Johnnie Johnson, Chuck Leavell, Bobby Keys) – 4:39
2. "My Babe" (Willie Dixon) – 3:13
3. "Slim" (Richards, Jordan, Taylor, Spampinato, Johnson, Keys) – 10:18
4. "Big Town Playboy" (Little Johnny Jones) – 4:19
5. "Mark on Me" – 5:51
6. "Brute Force" – 4:00

The 2019 reissue features six previously unreleased tracks.

The X-Pensive Winos

• 1988 debut albums
• Keith Richards albums
• Virgin Records albums
• Albums recorded at Le Studio

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