Album Essentials: The Rolling Stones - "Hackney Diamonds"
By Dave Swanson - Summit FM Contributor
For this week's Summit Essential, we bring you the latest release from AARP upstarts and arguably, the greatest rock and roll band that ever walked the earth. Yes kids, it's The Rolling Stones, and unless you've been in hiding, you are probably aware they have released their first album of new material in nearly 20 years. Taylor Swift was only 16 when 'A Bigger Bang' was released and now she owns the world. Time flies as it changes shapes.
With the death of original drummer Charlie Watts, in 2021, the membership of vintage Stones is down to three; guitarist Ronnie Wood (who joined in 1975) and founding members guitarist Keith Richards and vocalist Mick Jagger. Surely, you've all heard of these fine folks. Well, they have released a new album and truth be told, it's not half bad! The approach the band has used for the past many years is still in place, in other words, you can't always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need, or so I've heard.
'Hackney Diamonds' was produced by Andrew Watt, a 33 year old hipster producer, best known for his work with non-rockers like Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa, and Post Malone, among others. Watt was brought in, apparently, to give the new tunes a bit of modern polish for this Tik-Tok streaming world I’ve heard about. Remember, Jagger is 80, with Keith right behind, and Wood is a sprightly 76, and honestly, they don’t need to play that game, but that’s where we are. So then, things kick off in fine form with the first single, 'Angry,' a riff driven rocker firmly out of the Stones playbook. It's instantly recognizable as our dear ol' Rolling Stones with its driving riff and Jagger snarl sounding half his age.
Throughout the album, the vintage presence rears its head. 'Get Close' and 'Whole Wide World' both rev up classic sounding riffs, while 'Depending On You' has some nice slide guitar to sweeten the deal. Elsewhere, 'Live By The Sword' (featuring Elton John) falls flat, and 'Bite My Head Off', with the much talked about appearance of Paul McCartney on bass, suffers from the 'it's just a riff, it's not a song’ dilemma the band has often been guilty of.
That being said, the real highlights of the album shine with the country tinged 'Dreamy Skies,' the Keith sung 'Tell Me Straight' and the Muddy Waters cover of 'Rollin' Stone Blues.' The high-water mark of the album, however, comes on the penultimate track, 'Sweet Sounds Of Heaven,' which features a Lady Gaga duet with Jagger. It's on this song in particular that The Rolling Stones sound like The Rolling Stones. It's a gospel blues not far removed, in spirit at least, from the ‘Sticky Fingers’ era Stones. Jagger sounds totally at home, and Gaga adds a dynamic soulful performance that rides tandem with Mick perfectly. Mix in Stevie Wonder on keyboards and it's the crown jewel of the album.
Original bassist, Bill Wyman, along with Watts, both make an appearance on this new album by the way, but like the Elton and McCartney collabs, it's more about the credits than the performances. The truth on The Rolling Stones is, if they had called it a day after their first decade of recordings, exiting after 'Goats Head Soup' in 1973, their legend would have remained the same in terms of quality. Everything they did in those years not only cemented their reputation, but all their recordings from that first decade still rank among the greatest rock and roll records ever made by anyone, so anything else added to the catalog is just icing on the cake.
The final tally is that it really is an alright record, much better than many expected. The sheer fact that they can deliver at this level, 60 years into their career is pretty damn amazing, Mick still defies gravity with not only his physique, but with his vocal chops. If 80 is the new 60, bring it on! The band will defy gravity as well when they hit the road in support of ‘Hackney Diamonds,’ as they continue to break any rules or taboos surrounding aging in rock and roll. So while it's not going to replace 'Beggars Banquet,' 'Exile On Main Street,' 'Aftermath,' or any of their many other classic albums, it's a strong late journey entry that stands up tall enough to catch a view other bands have never even attempted, and we God bless them for it!