Here I go talking about octogenarians again. A couple weeks ago it was 80-year-olds Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon: An Epic Telling of a Sinister Conspiracy). And now, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (Keith will officially hit 80 next month). The Rolling Stones just released their 26th U.S. studio album, the first one of new material since 2005’s A Bigger Bang. (I now have 17 of them.) Yes, I know…eye roll here. The band that never stops touring is releasing a new album. Does anybody care anymore? And if they do, how can it be anything other than a parody of themselves at this point? Well, I’m here to tell you that the Stones still sound like the Stones. And that’s a good thing.
The new album is the musical recipe the band has used for decades: rock, blues, country, gospel, and ballads. The interlacing guitars of Richards and Ronnie Wood (a spry 76) distinctly stand out putting Hackney Diamonds in the rock n’ roll territory. Exhibit A of smashing riffs is the blazing first single and opening track, “Angry.” “Whole Wide World,” “Get Close,” and “Driving Me Too Hard” are other fine examples of the twin-guitar attack. “Dreamy Skies” is country honk, “Depending on You” a lovely ballad, and “Tell Me Straight” the Richards solo composition. “Mess It Up” has a touch of disco and Charlie Watts on drums; one of two final tracks he recorded with the band before passing away in 2021. (Steve Jordan ably fills in on the other songs.) For a fleeting moment, “Live by the Sword” takes us back to the ’70s heyday with Watts on drums and Bill Wyman on bass. The A-list of guest stars includes Paul McCartney, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, and Lady Gaga. Gaga channels Merry Clayton (“Gimme Shelter”) on the sweeping soul ballad, “Sweet Sounds of Heaven.”
When a veteran band releases a new album after a long layoff, it’s a common reaction to excessively praise it as a “return to form.” Return to what form? The Rolling Stones have arguably the greatest run of albums in history beginning in 1968 with Beggars Banquet, Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and Exile on Main Street (Goats Head Soup too?) I’m not going to indulge in the “their best album since…?.” But the Stones have earned it that we acknowledge their legacy and age. Hackney Diamonds is taut, punchy, and dare I say, fresh in 2023. And given their sixty plus years as a band, extraordinary. The final track is a little acoustic version of Muddy Waters’ “Rolling Stone Blues.” They have never covered the song on record that gave them their name. What a fitting end to their illustrious career, right? Ha, we’re talking about the Rolling Stones. The writing and recording sessions of Hackney Diamonds must have been productive. Jagger says the follow-up album is 75% done.
Rating ◼◼◼◼☐
Trivia: Which Stones album, containing “Under My Thumb” and “Paint it Black,” was their first one of entirely original material?
Trivia: The Stones have been subjects of many documentaries. Who directed Shine a Light, the film of the band’s performances at New York’s Beacon Theater in 2006?
Trivia answers below
Check out the “Angry” video starring the Sunset Strip and Sydney Sweeney (White Lotus “Hawaii” season).
Answers: Aftermath and Martin Scorsese