Unless you’ve lived under a rock, which I largely did in the ’90s when it came to music, by now, you’ve heard The Rolling Stones are out with their long-awaited new album. Hackney Diamonds dropped on Friday, October 20, and I’ve since spent some time with it. I guess you already figured out my overall sentiment is pretty positive. To me, Hackney Diamonds represents a late-stage highlight in the Stones’ remarkable 61-year career, which sounds surprisingly dynamic and fresh!
When I listened to the first single Angry about a month ago, I certainly wasn’t mad, thinking it sounds like the Stones but I wasn’t exactly floored either. The second upfront single Sweet Sounds of Heaven, which I covered here around the time it was released, definitely got my attention and raised expectations about the album. So did the punkish Bite My Head Off, featuring Paul McCartney on bass. I included that song in my latest weekly new music review.
Hackney Diamonds is the Stones’ first album with new material since A Bigger Bang, which dates back to September 2005 – that’s a whopping 18 years! They released a blues covers collection, Blue & Lonesome, in December 2016, after abandoning their initial plan to create new music. I immediately liked Blue & Lonesome for what it was and posted about it at the time. To me, it felt like the Stones had come full circle with their early days when they actually were a blues cover band.
When reading Hackney Diamonds features prominent guests, including Elton John, Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder, Bill Wyman and Paul McCartney, you could be forgiven to think it’s a playbook we’ve seen before, especially by more mature artists. In this case, I don’t feel this had any negative impact on the overall outcome but will add you really wouldn’t know that Elton John, Stevie Wonder or Bill Wyman are on the album, if they wouldn’t be listed in the credits.
I wish these artists would be more noticeable, particularly John and Wonder with their distinct piano and harmonica sounds, respectively. By contrast, Lady Gaga provides compelling backing vocals on Sweet Sounds of Heaven, the same song on which Stevie Wonder plays keyboards and piano. If it wasn’t for Mick Jagger who says, ‘play me something, Steve,’ at around 5:30 minutes into the track, frankly, it would be easy to miss Wonder. McCartney, on the other hand, is way more noticeable with a short punkish fuzz bass solo on Bite My Head Off. As such, he and Gaga not only were able to showcase their chops but also added to what are two highlights on the album.
Another key player I’d like to call out is producer Andrew Watt. The 33-year-old, who McCartney suggested to Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, has produced for a remarkable variety of artists, including Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Ozzy Osbourne, Pearl Jam and Iggy Pop, among many others. Watt also is a multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar in the Earthlings, Eddie Vedder’s backing band for solo endeavors.
While Watt is a talented musician, I was surprised to see him listed in the credits as playing bass instead of the Stones’ longtime bassist Darryl Jones. Last year, American Songwriter reported the Stones including Jones and their current drummer Steve Jordan had laid down basic tracks for the album in New York. Evidently, whatever was recorded then with Jones didn’t make the final mix. I also like to call out two other individuals listed in the credits: Benmont Tench (Hammond organ), previously with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers; and prominent producer Don Was who co-produced album track Live by the Sword.
Time for some music! I’m skipping Angry and go right to Get Close. It very much feels like a classic guitar riff-driven Stones song without coming across as dusty – kudos to Watt! Mick Jagger’s vocals sound outstanding, which also is the case on all of the other tracks. James King throws in a nice saxophone solo. Get Close is the first of two songs featuring Elton John on piano, except you can’t hear him. Perhaps the caveat here is I have some high-frequency hearing loss, so I cannot make out John’s piano, not even with headphones, but maybe others can when they get close! 🙂
On Dreamy Skies, the Stones remind us of their country chops, which they illustrated a long time ago on songs like Dear Doctor, Country Honk, Sweet Virginia and, of course, Dead Flowers. While the guitar work doesn’t reach the brilliance of the latter, Dreamy Skies still is a song I could well picture on my all-time favorite Stones album Sticky Fingers, released in April 1971.
Mess It Up is one of two tracks featuring drums by the late Charlie Watts thanks to modern technology. It’s great to hear the man again! The guitar work is pretty solid and resembles classic Stones. I also like the funky vibe of the song, which would fit well on Steel Wheels. Their August 1989 album saw the Stones return to a more classic style after they had embraced a commercial ’80s sound on their two previous albums.
Live By the Sword not only is the second track on Hackney Diamonds with drums by Watts, but it also pairs them with bass provided by Bill Wyman, thus recreating the Stones’ classic rhythm engine. The song, which as noted above was co-produced by Don Was, also is the second track to feature Elton John. Unlike Get Close, at least I can hear the piano man occasionally in the background. Once again, I feel it would have been even better to give Sir Elton at least a short solo or make his honky piano more prominent in the mix.
Next up is Tell Me Straight, another highlight on the album, featuring Keith Richards on lead vocals. I have to agree with various reviews I read that noted Richards hasn’t sounded as good in many years. I also think the song’s reflective lyrics are noteworthy:…I need an answer, how long can this last?/Just tell me straight/ Don’t make me wait/Is my future all in the past? Yeah, tell me straight, tell me straight…
This brings me to the final track I’d like to highlight, even though it’s “only a cover.” In fact, it’s the sole cover on the album, Rolling Stone Blues, an obvious nod to the past. Originally titled Rollin’ Stone, it was recorded by Muddy Waters in 1950, who in turn based it on Catfish Blues, a delta blues dating back to the 1920s. The Stones worshipped Muddy Waters, and it was that very song that inspired the name The Rolling Stones.
“We had a lot of material recorded, but we weren’t very excited with the results,” Jagger told Spanish daily newspaper El País in a recent interview about the album. “Some of the songs were okay, but they weren’t great. We said, ‘We’re going to work harder and we’re going to set a deadline.’ And that’s when the magic started to happen. We recorded the whole thing in three or four weeks. We wanted to make the record fast and keep ourselves excited the whole time. And I think we achieved our goal.”
During the same interview, Jagger was also very complimentary about producer Andrew Watt. “Andy is fantastic because he’s young and he plays guitar, bass, he sings… He knows the history of music. When he talks to me, Keith, or Ronnie, you can tell he knows all of our records. He knows all the chords to Tumbling Dice or any song. He’s not someone who approaches recording from an intellectual or electronic point of view.”
Overall, Hackney Diamonds has been well received. Variety called it the best album by the Stones since 1981’s Tattoo You, which is widely considered their last great album. I would perhaps characterize it as their most compelling work since the aforementioned Steel Wheels, an album I’ve always enjoyed. Regardless which of the two albums you want to use, the Stones sound remarkably classic, vital and fresh on Hackney Diamonds.
Now perhaps to the obvious question: Is it the last time we will have heard new music by the greatest rock & rock band in the world? It goes without saying the Stones don’t have the luxury to wait for another 18 years; even another seven years (the time span between Blue & Lonesome and Hackney Diamonds) look like a stretch. Based on the speed Hackney Diamonds ultimately came together, there may be some reason to be optimistic. In case Hackney Diamonds should turn out to be their final studio album, it would mean The Rolling Stones certainly ended on a high note.
Sources: Wikipedia; American Songwriter; El País; Variety; The Rolling Stones website; YouTube; Spotify
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