• AllMyVinyl #112
• Band: The Rolling Stones
• Album Title: Hackney Diamonds
• Release Date: 20 Oct 2023
• Date purchased: 6 Sep 2023
• Location purchased: Amazon
• Color of vinyl: translucent green
• Number of discs: 1
• Links: [ Wikipedia | Discogs | Band Website | Complete album on Youtube ]

This is an album that came out of left field for me when first announced.  I was a bit floored that the Stones were doing a new, full proper studio album in 2023.  The last album they had before this was in 2016 called “Blue & Lonesome”, and that was just an album of old blues covers.  The last “proper” studio album by the Stones was in 2005 with “A Bigger Bang”, which I felt was somewhat underwhelming.  The last one they did I really liked was back in the 90’s with “Bridges to Babylon” in 1997.  So it’s been awhile since a proper studio album. This one also surprised me a little as it came out after the death of Charlie Watts.  He’s a core member, so that they didn’t stop after the death of Watts tells me the only thing that will take down the Stones will be the death of either Jagger or Richards.  But this album was them going full on proper studio album.  Something most legacy bands don’t do anymore, they just cash it in and play the hits – not doing anything new.  But the Stones didn’t go that way here. Admittedly it’s been 18 years since their last proper album, but when they do it, they do it.  Full album (12 songs, 49 mins long), with videos, promotion, the big sexy (read $$$$$) tour…  They went all in this time.

Given it was such a high profile album, they had retail exclusives all over the place – depending on where you bought it, the album was a different color.  Mine was from Amazon and was translucent green, but I’d seen a ton of other colors at other large retailers (purple at Target, etc) – heck they had an entire series of white vinyl prints through Major League Baseball of all places.  So there was going to be no missing that the Stones had a new album out.  I of course didn’t and bought a copy – mine came from Amazon.

But the thing that means more for me with this album is very personal.  As you probably know I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in earlier 2023, and my radiation treatments were in the fall.  My treatments started right around the time this album was released, so I listened to it A LOT while driving back and forth to the medical facility where I got my goodies zapped.  I have some visuals stuck in my head about what intersection I was at when I heard the song they did with Paul McCartney for the first time – that kind of thing.  So a lot of my thoughts lean in that direction – the album has an emotional tie to me.  Of course you can’t play the vinyl while driving, but I can listen to the music.

The other interesting thing to me is that the Stones are still going.  As I write this the three surviving core members are well, getting up there.  Mick Jagger is 81, Keith Richards is 81, & Ronnie Wood is 77.  I can never hear the Stones without thinking of what my mom called ’em when I was much younger and first getting into Black Sabbath.  Her response there was “at least it’s not those awful Rolling Stones”.  hahaha.  No mom, the Stones are still going 40+ years later.

The thing I liked most about this album is that it all works.  It’s not just one, maybe two or three song and some filler – there’s only a single track on this album I don’t care for.  11 out of 12 is a very high percentage – most bands would kill for that kind of ratio.  And on their twenty fourth studio album overall?  Yeah, they can still bloody bring it – even into their 8th decade of life (and for some of them heart surgery).  Good on them.  Lets get to some tunes.

Angry – The lead single, and perfectly encapsulated everything that’s great about a Stones song.  It may not be the best song of theirs (or even the best one on this album), but it’s perfectly suited to be the lead single to bring you in to the album.  And like an old school album, it’s slated first on the record.  It’s a simple riff and vocal delivery.  Yet at the same time it’s super catchy in its music.  It’s basically a Stones song.  I thought it as the perfect way to launch this album’s promo cycle.

Speaking of that it came with a proper music video.  While not conceptual, it’s got some nice visuals.  A lot of that is down to Sydney Sweeney.  The video is basically Sweeney sitting in the back of a red car as it goes down a street passing a ton of billboards for the Stones – which include CGI clips of the Stones over the years on them while she dances (writhes?) around in the open hood car.  It’s a distinct visual, because well..  she’s smoking hot.  I’m sure that helped to get a few eyeballs on the song, and it worked.   Good song, fun video to watch.

Got Close – The first song to feature a guest vocalist – and there’s several on this album.  This one is Sir Elton John.  This one starts off with a nice simple Keith riff before the vocals start.  That riff keeps going in the background through the song, so that works for me.  Simple track with a driving riff that is accented by Mick’s vocal delivery.  As I said in the last song..  THat’s basically the definition of a traditional Stones song.   There’s some horns in the middle of this where the guitar solo would go, which is a nice sound to it.  Elton doesn’t actually sing on this one – he plays piano.  I mean Elton is a pianist for sure, but when I saw his name on the guest list I figured there’d be some vocals, and there wasn’t, so that was a minor surprise.  Still, simple yet classic sounding Stones song.

Depending on You – The third song on the album,, and the third in a row written by Jagger / Richards / Watt – that’s something yo didn’t see much. Most Stones songs are traditionally just Jagger / Richards.  This one is a slower track – a ballad more or less.  Even for a Stones ballad it still has a power to it that some do not.  I find it hard to write about it – not a bad song, just hard to describe it beyond “Stones ballad”.  It does end stronger than it starts in terms of how much power it’s bringing to the table.

Bite My Head Off – Of all the songs I listened to going back and forth to my radiation treatments, this one I remember the most because it’s most like my preferences.  It’s a harder edged song.  Not metal per se, but it’s got a grittier, fuzzier guitar riff than most Stones songs.  Quite like that.  Mick’s vocals have a harder edge to them – overall a much different vibe than the traditional Stones song, and one I really enjoyed.  Bonus here, this is the song with Paul McCartney on it.   He plays bass on this song.  Man I’d love to see footage of them recording that.   Man, love the dirty/fuzzy sound here.  All hail Paul.

Whole Wild World – I like this song, but it’s not my favorite.  I do particularly like Mick’s vocal delivery on the chorus, but other than that, the song’s just kind of there.  I do kind of like the guitar solo though.  So many of those over the decades by Keith for sure.

Dreamy Skies – A good old slow almost country song.  Something that harkens back to the music Mick & Keith liked when they were kids when they first met.  The guitar riff that runs through this just reeks of something like Muddy Waters or another musician of that era.  Very good song.   Even the lyrics are a throwback a bit as it talks about listening to AM radio. There’s not a ton to say about it beyond the vibe of it just oozes out of every part of this song.   Really like this one a lot – and I shouldn’t.  But here we are.

Mess It Up – Another “guest” song – this one is a bit of a loose use of the word “guest”.  That’s because it’s the first of two tracks with OG Stones drummer Charlie Watts on it.  Charlie died in 2021, and did lay down some drum tracks after the last tour, but right before his death.  This is one of them.  The song has a VERY catchy chorus.  It’s almost one of those songs that you wish was 100% chorus, as  I really dig that part of the song.  The rest of it is fine too, but when the chorus comes on, I want to sing to it.  Good track for sure.  It has a music video, but the Stones themselves aren’t in it – I’m not even sure what the video is ABOUT – except maybe people in life messing up their lives?  Kind of hard to tell – we’re dancing on a beach – and the way it ends? The video confuses me.  Song’s good, though.

Live By the Sword – Elton John track #2.  As with the other track, he just plays piano, no vocals – which I have to admit is a little disappointing, I would have loved to have heard him sing with Mick.  The song we have is a good solid rock track.  Nothing top shelf, nothing bad – good solid rock and roll from the Stones.  With Elton John banging away at the ivories in the background it makes for a good 3:59 wall of sound.  Nice smooth guitar solo, too.  Do love the way Elton’s piano work mixes with Keith’s guitar in places – they complement each other well.  This is the other track with Charlie Watts on it as well.  An era ends.  I don’t know how much unused Watts material they have in the vaults, but one has to think his Stones career ends here?

Driving Me Too Hard – The guitar riff that starts this song off has a nice clean sound to it.  Some of it sounds like it would fit on albums from the past like “Let it Bleed”.  I listened to this twice right now, so I enjoyed it – but I can’t find words for it.  I already wrote about a song being good but not super memorable.  this is kind of what I feel here too, but I’m struggling to find unique words to write about it.  But don’t mistake me, it’s not like it’s bad – I enjoyed it enough to listen to it back to back.  It’s good.

Tell Me Straight – The second shortest song on the album at 2:57.  Another slower Stones song – ballad #2 on the album.  Didn’t enjoy this as much as the other ballad on the album.  It’s “ok”.  Decent change of pace song, and I think it was chosen on the album’s order of songs because of what comes after.

Sweet Sounds of Heaven – Now this one I was totally figuring I would dislike.  It’s got Lady Gaga on lead vocals along with Mick. It’s still mostly Mick, but she’s on a healthy percentage of the song, especially as we get into the back half.   It’s not just her – it also has Stevie Wonder on piano – so it’s an epic song insofar as musical talent.  Boy does it deliver.  It’s probably my favorite song on the album – it grabbed me in a way I didn’t expect.  Mostly because of Gaga to be honest.  As much as I don’t care for her musical choices, man can she sing.  She brings that to the table in spades here – the vocal duet with Mick is off the charts amazing.  To those who say the glory days of Stones music is decades in the past..  WRONG.  This song is Exhibit A in the court of Stones musical relevance six decades after they started.

As I said, I wasn’t expecting to like it – if you’re going to dismiss it out of hand based on who is on it, don’t.  I thought that too, and it hooked me in completely.  Excellent song, goes up there with some of the best in the overall Stones entire musical catalogue.

There is an animated music video for this, but it contains an edited of the song.  The video is 5:07, and the album version of the song is 7:23.  Listen to the longer version.

Rolling Stone Blues – The last song on the album is a cover track of an old Muddy Waters track from 1950 which itself was a version of a song from the 1920’s called “Catfish Blues”.  It’s the one song on the album I don’t care for at all.  Could have just ended after Sweet Sounds, IMO.  Read somewhere that the Stones took their name from the 1950 Waters track – can’t verify, though.

This album surprised me.  A lot.  I wasn’t expecting much from the Stones given their last two albums prior to this were a covers album and a middle of the road album from 18 years prior.  But they pulled it together and knocked it out of the park.  This is a banger of album filled with great tracks – even the ones I was indifferent towards were good solid songs, the kind of tracks some other bands would kill to have on their albums.  It does make me wonder if this is it for the Stones.  The three stalwarts are now in their 80’s, and Father time waits for no man.  But I truly believe these guys will go until either Mick or Keith drops.  I mean what else should the Rolling Stones do?

They keep on rolling on.