How the music press reviewed 'Dirty Work' (1986) while the band was falling apart

By early 1986, the Rolling Stones were less a band than a battlefield. Mick Jagger was deep into building a solo career—his first solo album She’s the Boss had come out a year earlier—and Keith Richards was openly furious about it. Dirty Work was recorded in fits of tension, with Jagger often absent or distracted, and the press didn’t miss it.

Most reviews treated the album as a document of dysfunction. Critics noted the disjointed feel: Jagger’s vocals were often buried or half-hearted, while Richards’ songs (like “Too Rude” and “Sleep Tonight”) sounded more focused. *Rolling Stone