The most widely anticipated album in recent years is clearly the best collection of original material from the Stones since the whole ‘Some Girls’/’Tattoo You’ period.
It’s finally here … almost. Of course I’m talking about what is the most widely anticipated album in recent years (decades actually), The Rolling Stones’ Hackney Diamonds. If you liked the song “Angry,” you’re going to love the rest of the album. If you liked “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” (featuring Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder), you’ve going to love the album. And if you thought The Stones could never pull off an album of this caliber again, you’re going to be surprised — and rewarded — with what is clearly the best collection of original material from the band since the whole Some Girls/Tattoo You period.
Yes, that’s a very audacious statement to make, but this album is that good. Quite frankly, it’s a delicious surprise from the band, proving that you sometimes can get what you want. The first word that comes to mind while listening to Hackney Diamonds is “synergy.” This is a great example of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood working together as a band. This is not some disjointed album where either Mick or Keith comes up with a basic track in one part of the world, sends it to the other so they can put overdubs on it. When asked about the famous relationship that so much has been written about, Jagger simply said, “I think we got along on this record really well. Of course we have disagreements about how things should be, but I think that’s pretty normal,” with Richards adding, “We’re a weird pair, man. I love Mick dearly, and he loves me dearly, and let’s leave it at that.”
You can tell that this album is a collaboration in the manner that all Stones fans came to love very early on. The album sounds as though the entire band was in the room when they recorded it, because they were. Yes, Charlie Watts is on the album, which will be comforting to many. Yes, Paul McCartney is on a track, and Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder are on Sweet Sounds Of Heaven, but they aren’t there because The Rolling Stones needed bolstering or are trying to “stay relevant.” With this album, the band is relevant. They are present and relevant and in fine form.
There is definitely something new (or something old) in the air with Hackney Diamonds, and it proves that The Stones are far from over. Think about the last time any of their contemporaries (if you can find one) were able to write and record something that would garner the amount of hits that “Angry” has. Nobody from the 1960s is writing music like this anymore, and that’s a shame, but at least The Rolling Stones are staying true to their winning formula.
This album is a collaboration in the manner that all Stones fans came to love very early on
Details of Charlie and the “additional” musicians are as follow: The late great Charlie Watts appears on “Mess It Up” and “Live By the Sword,” the latter being the track that original bassist Bill Wyman appears on. As everyone has heard by now, “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” features an amazing vocal duet between Sir Mick Jagger and Lady Gaga, with keys and piano being provided by Stevie Wonder. Sir Paul McCartney appears on “Bite My Head Off,” and finally, Sir Elton John appears on “Get Close” and “Live By the Sword”.
“Bite My Head Off” sounds similar to a recent Jagger/Grohl collaboration titled “Eazy Sleazy,” but when you add Sir Paul’s bass, it cooks. It also shows that all Beatlemania and Wings superlatives aside, the man can play bass, and has always been one of the most underrated bass players in rock. On this track, Sir Paul gets to just lock in and do what he does best.
With “Rolling Stone Blues,” the band returns to the form that started the band, an as-close-to-original rendering of a blues classic that one can get. 2016’s Blue & Lonesome was a more modern take on the old blues classics, but on this track the vocals are raw and it sounds like it was recorded in 1962 at Chess Records. A perfect way to close out this album. Producer Andrew Watt remarks that on “Rolling Stone Blues” they did a total of six takes, but the one that made the cut for the record was take number four, commenting, “As they went through each take, they moved closer and closer together.”
What can fans expect from Hackney Diamonds when the entire album drops on October 20th? Classic Stones is what they can expect. Contemporary? Yes and no. If The Stones do it now, it’s contemporary. They definitely aren’t moving in a backward direction; this album is very much forward-looking and sounding, but they clearly have not forgotten what it is that makes the band tick. There are punk, modern rock, rock and roll, and blues sensitivities contained throughout the album. In short, it’s the Stones as you would want them. This is what fans have thirsted for going back decades. As Ron Wood put it recently, “This is a really in-your-face album.” Even the title, Hackney Diamonds is a kind of in-your-face title, referring to the bits of broken glass that are splattered all over the streets of Hackney after someone smashes in your windshield. “A lot of the tracks on the album have that explosion!” says Wood. Agreed.
“The band has regained a sense of urgency,” said Jagger from Paris recently. Even though there is no tour booked at this time, most fans are certain that a tour of the United States is coming in the spring of 2024. So, without the looming tour pushing the band to finish the album, Jagger himself set a deadline of February 14, 2023 to have the album done. He is also quoted as saying, “We’re going to go out and tour it.” According to Keith Richards, the album was put together much more quickly than he was used to, commenting that “We worked fast, but that was the idea. I’m still recovering. It was like a blitzkrieg.”
So how did an album by the “World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band” come to have this much vitality? Producer Andrew Watt is the answer to that. A self-proclaimed uber-fan, Watt “kicked us in the arse” as Jagger put it at the press conference at the Hackney Empire earlier. Watt was named producer of the year by The Grammy Awards in 2021, and has worked with Miley Cyrus, Ozzy Osbourne, and Iggy Pop. Most fans would agree that it was time for a change in producers and this turns out to be exactly what was needed, a fresh look. Watt apparently is not only a huge Stones fan, but also plays guitar and has studied every lick in the band’s catalog. He apparently owns an entire wardrobe of tongue T-shirts, and showed up to the studio every day wearing a different one. I wonder if Mick or Keith took note of that. Watt described working with the Stones as a “life-changing experience,” as he recounted that “things really got going as Mick Jagger started taking his clothes off.” No, Sir Mick didn’t do a striptease in the control booth, he just works up a sweat when he works and sheds layers of shirts.
This is the first album by The Rolling Stones since the death of original drummer Charlie Watts, but thankfully he is very much a part of the album, although according to Keith Richards, “I think we had to make a new mark with Steve [Jordan]. To reset the band was important. There would have been a Rolling Stones without Charlie Watts, but without Charlie Watts there wouldn’t have been The Rolling Stones. He was so tolerant of other people. He would actually stop me from murdering people. That baton being handed over to Steve Jordan from Charlie… that was a very special moment.” I think Keith Richards perfectly summed up the key part that Charlie had played in the band, along with his thoughts on Jordan’s playing when he stated, “Rhythm is the most important thing in your goddamn life. A lot of what you hear ain’t what you hear – it’s what you feel. And that’s a matter of rhythm.”
As most certainly know now, the album will contain a total of 12 tracks:
01. Angry
02. Get Close (featuring Elton John)
03. Depending On You
04. Bite My Head Off (featuring Paul McCartney)
05. Whole Wide World
06. Dreamy Skies
07. Mess It Up (with Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman)
08. Live By the Sword (with Charlie Watts and Elton John)
09. Driving Me Too Hard
10. Tell Me Straight
11. Sweet Sounds of Heaven (featuring Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder)
12. Rolling Stone Blues
In closing, not only do fans have a tour in 2024 to look forward to, but this is not the last we will be hearing from The Rolling Stones in regards to recorded material. They have been stockpiling new material since 2005’s A Bigger Bang and most likely have hundreds of songs in the vault. The collaborations with producer Don Was alone would probably fill multiple double albums.
The album was recorded “in various locations around the world,” including Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles, Metropolis Studios in London, Sanctuary Studios in The Bahamas, Electric Lady Studios, and The Hit Factory/Germano Studios, both in New York City. It will be available on Geffen Records October 20th.
