Recorded across North America, Europe and Japan,
Flashpoint is also the first Rolling Stones release of the 1990s and, unlike previous live sets, includes two new studio tracks. "
Highwire" had been released as a single earlier in 1991 and was a comment on the
Gulf War. Although the live selections are mostly familiar hits mixed in with new tracks from
Steel Wheels,
Flashpoint also includes lesser-known songs like "
Factory Girl" from 1968's
Beggars Banquet and "
Little Red Rooster", originally a No. 1 UK hit single in 1964, featured here with special guest
Eric Clapton on guitar.
Bill Wyman's departure As
Flashpoint was the Rolling Stones' final release under their contract with
Sony Music, the band signed a new lucrative long-term worldwide deal with
Virgin Records in 1991, with the exception of
Bill Wyman. After 30 years with the band, the 55-year-old Wyman decided that he had other interests he wanted to pursue and felt that, considering the size of the recently completed
Steel Wheels project and tour, it was fitting to bow out at that time. Although he would not officially announce his departure until January 1993 – during the interim the rest of the band had repeatedly asked him to reconsider – he had talked about leaving the band for at least ten years. After Wyman's departure,
Ronnie Wood was taken off salary and made a full member of the Rolling Stones partnership, eighteen years after he joined the band. ==Release==