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"Love Is Strong"
Single by the Rolling Stones
from the album Voodoo Lounge
B-side
  • "The Storm"
  • "So Young"
Released4 July 1994 (1994-07-04)
GenreRock
Length3:49
LabelVirgin
Songwriter(s)Jagger–Richards
Producer(s)
The Rolling Stones singles chronology
"Jumpin' Jack Flash (live)"
(1991) 		"Love Is Strong"
(1994) 		"You Got Me Rocking"
(1994)
Music video
"Love Is Strong" on YouTube

"Love Is Strong" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones, released as the opening track, and first single, from their 20th British and 22nd American studio album, Voodoo Lounge (1994). Issued as a single on 4 July 1994 by Virgin, the song preceded the release of Voodoo Lounge by a week. "Love Is Strong" peaked at No. 14 in the band's native United Kingdom and at No. 2 in Canada and Finland but stalled at No. 91 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Despite this, it peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. The song's accompanying music video received heavy rotation on MTV Europe.[1]

Inspiration and recording

Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, "Love Is Strong" is a brooding number about an encounter between the singer and an unnamed person which leads the singer to a "love/lust at first sight" immediate attraction and longing for the couple to unite despite the obstacles.

Your love is strong and you're so sweet;
You make me hard, you make me weak;
Love is strong and you're so sweet,
And some day, baby, we've got to meet...

What are you scared of, baby?; It's more than just a dream;
I need some time; We make a beautiful team...

The song was written in Ireland by Richards and originally had the name "Love is Strange". Popular bootlegs of the sessions abound, as Ron Wood, Richards, Ivan Neville and producer Don Was worked the song while Jagger was supporting his record Wandering Spirit. Later takes have Richards changing the title to "Love is Strong"; although the final release was significantly altered by Jagger's added lyrics and use of a harmonica, a trademark instrument for him rarely utilized in the Stones' middle period work. Jagger said at the time of its release, "We ran through it a bunch of times and I was playing harmonica, and I started singing through the harmonica mike, so you get this strange sort of sound. And then I started singing down an octave, so you get this kind of breathy, sexy tone... It was good to put harmonica on a track like this. You always think of playing it on a 12-bar blues, and it's kind of fun to put it on one which is not. It's good to work with another sequence."[2]

Recording began in September 1993 at Wood's home studio in Ireland and continued at A&M Recording Studios in Los Angeles in 1994.

Release

Released as the first single from the album, "Love Is Strong" performed below expectations, barely making it into the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the US. It became the lowest charting first single ever by the band and marked a change in the composition of the singles chart as well as the Stones role on it. Despite this, the song remains one of the band's well-known songs from the 1990s. Five years earlier "Mixed Emotions" was a Top 5 pop chart single. Considerable promotional expense was spent on the Voodoo Lounge CD release, as it was the first on Virgin Records, including a popular music video directed by David Fincher and edited by Robert Duffy at Spot Welders; the black and white video shows giant versions of the Stones, as well as a few residents locked in romantic embraces, rambling about New York City. It received heavy rotation on MTV Europe in August 1994.[1]

The single's weaker-than-expected lead dampened CD sales, despite positive critical reviews and a Grammy Award win for Best Short Form Music Video. In time, the track proved popular in Europe going to No. 14 in the UK and received significant airplay in the US, but only peaked at No. 91 on the Billboard Hot 100. The commercial response in Canada was considerably stronger, where the song reached No. 2 on the RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart on 19 September 1994.

The Rolling Stones performed the song at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards. Although it had disappeared from several recent concert tours setlists in favour of the more live-friendly "You Got Me Rocking" (the follow-up single from Voodoo Lounge), the Stones reintroduced "Love Is Strong" to their A Bigger Bang Tour setlist on 22 July 2007 at their Brno, Czech Republic show and at their Hamburg show in August. The song was included on their 2002 career compilation album, Forty Licks.

Critical reception

Steve Baltin from Cash Box named the song Pick of the Week, writing, "With U2 and R.E.M. making so many great records already this decade, it’s hard to call the Rolling Stones the “world’s greatest rock ’n’ roll band” anymore. However, they’re still the Stones, and this is one cool song." He added, "Trademark Jagger all the way vocally, the song oozes the sex appeal that made the man a legend. In addition, it’s hard to ignore any Keith Richards riff, and this song opens with the classic Richards’ styling. It may not be “Satisfaction” or “Gimme Shelter”, but whaddaya want—it’s still the Stones."[3] Everett True from Melody Maker said, "It's only rock'n'roll, but I don't like it."[4] David Quantick from NME named it Single of the Week, commenting, "This time round, with a new contract and without the scabrous Bill Wyman sniffling at the back, the Rolling Stones have scented fresh money and made their best record for years. Pissing as they do on yer Black Crowes and that, "Love is Strong" wheels out Keith's Slow Riff of Evil and a threatening Jagger vocal, sticks to it the slow trawling "The Storm" and the curiously spry boogie "So Young" and the result is quite extraordinary. Who'd a thought it?"[5] David Sinclair from The Times wrote, "As well as a typically salacious vocal, Mick Jagger contributes reedy blasts of harmonica which intertwine loosely with the sinuous chop and grind of Keith Richards's suspended-seventh chords. The lyric seems a shade unadventurous. Isn't there something that these 50-year-olds can get excited about other than how big and strong their love still is?"[6]

Track listings

Personnel

Charts

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United Kingdom 4 July 1994
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 Virgin [38]
United States 5 July 1994
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 [39]
Japan 20 July 1994 Mini-CD [40]

References

  1. ^ a b "Station Reports > MTV Europe/London" (PDF). Music & Media. 27 August 1994. p. 22. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  2. ^ "Love Is Strong". Time Is on Our Side. Retrieved 25 September 2006.
  3. ^ Baltin, Steve (20 August 1994). "Pop Singles — Reviews: Pick of the Week" (PDF). Cash Box. p. 7. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  4. ^ True, Everett (9 July 1994). "Singles". Melody Maker. p. 29. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  5. ^ Quantick, David (2 July 1994). "Singles". NME. p. 41. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  6. ^ Sinclair, David (2 July 1994). "Pop Singles; Recordings". The Times.
  7. ^ Love Is Strong (UK & Australian CD1 liner notes). The Rolling Stones. Virgin Records. 1994. VSCDX 1503, 7243 8 92555 2 2.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. ^ Love Is Strong (UK & Australian CD2 liner notes). The Rolling Stones. Virgin Records. 1994. VSCDT 1503, 7243 8 92507 2 5.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. ^ Love Is Strong (Japanese CD single liner notes). The Rolling Stones. Virgin Records. 1994. VJCP-15001.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ^ Love Is Strong (UK 7-inch single sleeve). The Rolling Stones. Virgin Records. 1994. VS 1503.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  11. ^ Love Is Strong (UK cassette single sleeve). The Rolling Stones. Virgin Records. 1994. VSC1503, 7243 8 92507 4 9.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. ^ Love Is Strong (European CD single liner notes). The Rolling Stones. Virgin Records. 1994. VSCDE1503, 7243 8 92522 2 4.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  13. ^ Love Is Strong (US maxi-CD single liner notes). The Rolling Stones. Virgin Records. 1994. V25H-38446.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. ^ Love Is Strong (Canadian CD single liner notes). The Rolling Stones. Virgin Records. 1994. V2 38446.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. ^ Love Is Strong (US 12-inch single sleeve). The Rolling Stones. Virgin Records. 1994. Y-38446.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  16. ^ Love Is Strong (US 7-inch single vinyl disc). The Rolling Stones. Virgin Records. 1994. NR-38446.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  17. ^ Love Is Strong (US cassette single sleeve). The Rolling Stones. Virgin Records. 1994. 4KM 38446.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  18. ^ "The Rolling Stones – Love Is Strong". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  19. ^ "The Rolling Stones – Love Is Strong" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  20. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2599." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  21. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 11, no. 30. 23 July 1994. p. 11. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  22. ^ "Adult Contemporary Europe Top 25" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 11, no. 34. 20 August 1994. p. 30. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  23. ^ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  24. ^ "The Rolling Stones – Love Is Strong" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  25. ^ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (4.8.–10.8. '94)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 4 August 1994. p. 16. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  26. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 31, 1994" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  27. ^ "The Rolling Stones – Love Is Strong" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  28. ^ "The Rolling Stones – Love Is Strong". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  29. ^ "The Rolling Stones – Love Is Strong". VG-lista. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  30. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  31. ^ "The Rolling Stones – Love Is Strong". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  32. ^ "The Rolling Stones – Love Is Strong". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  33. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  34. ^ "The Rolling Stones Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  35. ^ "The Rolling Stones Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  36. ^ "RPM Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1994". RPM. Retrieved 24 June 2018 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  37. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1994" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  38. ^ "Single Releases" (PDF). Music Week. 2 July 1994. p. 25. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  39. ^ Atwood, Brett (2 July 1994). "Stones, Mix-A-Lot, Connick Set to Roll in July". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 27. p. 12. The lead single, 'Love Is Strong,' will be available commercially July 5.
  40. ^ "ラブ・イズ・ストロング | ザ・ローリング・ストーンズ" [Love Is Strong | The Rolling Stones] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
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