How Dave Jerden Gave the Stones a Modern Edge on 'Steel Wheels'

Dave Jerden was an odd choice for the Rolling Stones in 1989—he’d made his name mixing alternative and metal records for Jane’s Addiction, Alice in Chains, and the Offspring. But the Stones wanted to shake off the ’80s radio-polish of their previous few albums and sound alive again. Jerden’s approach was shockingly simple: record the band playing live in the studio (no click tracks, no endless overdubs), then mix with the aggressive clarity he used for hard rock, not classic rock.

He treated Mick Jagger’s vocals as another instrument in the riff, not the star, and slammed the drums with gated reverb and tight compression—especially on Charlie Watts’ kick and snare. That gave “Mixed Emotions” and “Rock and a Hard Place” a punch that felt more late-80s than mid-70s. At the same time, Jerden kept Keith Richards’ rhythm guitars dry and slightly ragged, refusing to double-track them into a shimmer. The result was the Stones’ best-sounding record since Some Girls: loud, live, and unmistakably them, but built for arenas in the MTV era.

Jerden later said the biggest challenge was convincing the band—especially Jagger—to trust a mix that wasn’t “pretty.” He made Keith Richards’ guitar cuts on “Almost Hear You Sigh” sound almost punk, and let the bass on “Slipping Away” sit dirty and low. The album became a template for how older acts could hire a young engineer to bring edge without losing identity.