Does the world need a new Rolling Stones album? one like Hackney Diamonds, Yeah. The British band published their first work in 1964. There are 24 studio albums in six decades. Only four of them could already lie in a hammock tied between coconut trees (be careful, Keith) watching life go by: Beggars Banquet (1968), Let It Bleed (1969), Sticky Fingers (1971) and Exile on Main St. (1972). But no, they previously put them in stores Out of Our Heads (1965) and Aftermath (1967), and subsequently It’s Only Rock and Roll (1974), Some Girls (1978), Tattoo You (1981) and even Bigger Bang (2005), all notable works. We had enough, Mick, Keith, you didn’t have to try harder. How lazy to go back into a studio and compose another eleven songs. But they have done it and, damn, they are still capable of writing bad rock.
Hackney Diamonds It’s not just an album worthy of self-indulgent octogenarians. It is a cantankerous, aggressive rock work, with high guitars and furious vocals. There is a lot of rock pride on the album, an excited sound. Despite their age (an issue that is unavoidable when talking about them) it seems that the Stones have a flamethrower in their composing room. The album, the first with new songs in 18 years, starts with “one, two, three, four…” by Jagger and then enters those corrosive guitar chords by Richards. Is the song angry, that they already released as a preview a few weeks ago and that they will surely incorporate live (they will tour, yes) mixed with Jumpin’ Jack Flash either Satisfaction.
Get Close reminiscent of themes like slave, of Tattoo You: those rough and lazy rhythms so sexy. Depending On You It fulfills the function of a Jaggerian ballad, with a particularly brilliant chorus. Bite My Head Off is possibly the most punk song in Stones history, with Paul McCartney playing like he’s knocking down a wall with his bass! Hey, Paul, let’s make the Sex Pistols pale. The album is a delight for those who enjoy what Richards calls “the art of weaving guitars”: he and Ronnie Wood each playing on one channel of the stereo and playing apparently to the ball. There is no rock band that achieves this special and, paradoxically, so compact sound. The frame remains solid, despite the osteoarthritis.
Many pieces of wild rock sound, up to six (half of the album). Also a part time guy Tumbling Dice that if it were on one of his albums from the seventies, nothing would happen. Is called Driving Me Too Hard: Do yourself a favor and click it in the car. He could look pathetic, but it’s absolutely heartwarming to hear Jagger (remember: 80 years old) sob over girls who don’t love him. “Look what you’ve done to me, baby.” Because he begs for it with a youthful and sly voice. It was Jagger who called producer Andrew Watt, a 32-year-old guy who has brought Dua Lipa and Miley Cyrus to success, in addition to rejuvenating the latest albums by Iggy Pop and Ozzy Osbourne. The sound is current, but not offensive to the rock crowd.
It is the vocalist of the Rolling Stones who, like many other times, has pulled the machinery to release a new album. With his well-known penchant for pop, Jagger is clever enough to right his own creation with a guitar lick from Richards just when the song seems like it’s going to go off the rails. Curiously, the weakest part of the album falls on the guitarist’s side: this time his ballad, Tell Me Straight, does not excite.
The collaborators are cautious. Neither Elton John nor Stevie Wonder nor Bill Wyman nor Paul McCartney sing solo: they limit themselves to playing their instruments to help the song grow. Only Lady Gaga, who displays her vocal power in Sweet Sounds Of Heaven, steals some of the limelight. But the 7.22-minute song does well with the duel between Jagger and her. Special mention for Charlie Watts, who died in August 2021, from whom two recordings for as many songs are rescued. Do you notice the blow with swing from Charlie? Indeed: Mess It Up and above all, Live by the Sword They walk on the rails marked by Watts’ drumsticks.
Hackney Diamonds closes with Rolling Stone Blues, the Muddy Waters piece from which the unfortunate Brian Jones took the group’s name in the early sixties. That old blues locks Jagger and Richards, alone, in a room and they sound as sullen and genuine as Waters himself. Yes, they are rheumatic dinosaurs, but they resist extinction with touching courage.
All the culture that goes with you awaits you here.
Subscribe
Babelia
The literary news analyzed by the best critics in our weekly newsletter
RECEIVE IT
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_
#world #Rolling #Stones #album #Hackney #Diamonds #yeah