After the departure of Wyman, the Stones chose not to officially replace him as a band member and continued as a four-piece with Mick Jagger (vocals), Charlie Watts (drums), Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood (both guitars).

Sections of the Keith Richards song "Thru and Thru" from Voodoo Lounge are woven throughout the HBO television series The Sopranos' second-season finale "Funhouse" (episode no.

Following the release of Keith Richards' Main Offender and Mick Jagger's Wandering Spirit respectively in 1992 and 1993, both leaders of the Rolling Stones began composing new songs in April 1993, deciding upon Don Was as co-producer for the upcoming sessions.

In November, after rehearsing and recording at Ronnie Wood's house in Ireland that September, the Stones shifted to Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin and began cutting Voodoo Lounge.

Although not joining the band officially, Darryl Jones would be taking Bill Wyman's place as the group's regular bassist, at the suggestion of drummer Charlie Watts.

Don Was, noted for his retro rock production sensibilities, was reportedly responsible for pushing the band towards more conventional territory in an attempt to reproduce the archetypal "Rolling Stones" sound.

David Cavanagh of Q Magazine wrote that "musically, these 15 songs represent the Stones at their all-time least newsworthy," adding that "Voodoo Lounge is no classic, but nor is it the resounding hound it could have been."

Though he was disappointed in the inconsistency of the album's second half, he called the trio of opening rockers "exuberant and on the warm side" despite their lyric shortcomings and hailed the next four songs as an extremely good stretch with "Out of Tears" in particular showing "tantalizing glimmers of genius.

"[9] Writing for Vox magazine in August 1994, Steven Dalton thought that the album's strongest tracks were filled with "echoes of the band's halcyon days", most notably 1972's Exile on Main Street and 1978's Some Girls.

[12] Jon Pareles of The New York Times found Voodoo Lounge to be disappointing, arguing that the album "rings hollow, as if it were made not to shake things up but simply to fuel the machine."

He harshly criticized the songwriting, arguing that "for much of the album, Jagger and Richards seem determined to write the most generic love songs possible...Flip over the sentimentality, and the Stones offer some of their least convincing leers.

"[16] Robert Christgau didn't believe the album warranted a full review, consigning it to his column's list of "honorable mentions" and commenting only that the Stones had become the "world's greatest roots-rock band.

"[17] David Marchese of New York expressed a similar criticism, writing that Voodoo Lounge "would’ve killed at 45 minutes" while pointing out the weakest songs as he reviewed the album track-by-track.

The song "Thru and Thru", which features Keith Richards on lead vocals, appears several times in "Funhouse", the second-season finale of The Sopranos, including over the end credits.