Sometime after
the Rolling Stones
wrapped up their 2022 tour -- the second they completed since the 2021 death of their drummer
Charlie Watts
--
Mick Jagger
decided the band had spent enough time working on their first record of original material since 2005's
A Bigger Bang
.
Jagger
gave
Keith Richards
, the only other surviving founding member of
the Stones
left in the band, a deadline of Valentine's Day 2023 for wrapping up the sessions that had been dragging on for years. The ultimatum worked: by October of that year,
released
Hackney Diamonds
, their first collection of new songs in 18 years. The album doesn't entirely consist of material
cut early in 2023 -- two tracks feature
, including "Live by the Sword," which has original bassist
Bill Wyman
guesting on a
Stones
record for the first time in 30 years -- yet it bears the unmistakable imprint of a record delivered on a deadline. There's little hesitation, no thoughtful pondering here:
just barrels ahead with a clean efficiency. Although they're largely working with a new producer --
Andrew Watt
, who came recommended by
Paul McCartney
don't attempt new tricks anywhere on
, save maybe "Whole Wide World," whose bizarre neo-new wave vibe gets odder thanks to
singing in an exaggerated cockney accent. Even that is a slight nod to the band's mall-rat rock of the early '80s, one of many different guises
adopt over the course of
. While a good portion of the record is devoted to straight-ahead rock & roll, they also find space for ragged country ("Dreamy Skies") and acoustic blues ("Rolling Stone Blues"), not to mention "Sweet Sounds of Heaven," a showstopping ballad featuring
Lady Gaga
. That track is a good indication of how
plays. At first, it seems like a solid evocation of "Beast of Burden," but it's a slow burn, a song that sounds stronger with each repeated listen. So is of the rest of
. Because it has no grand conceptual hook and because
so thoroughly integrate their superstar guests -- not only are
Gaga
and
Wyman
here but so are
Stevie Wonder
,
Elton John
, and
McCartney
-- it doesn't overwhelm upon an initial listen the way the lengthy
Voodoo Lounge
or
do; that small scale is its strength. At its heart, it's nothing more than
knocking out some good
Rolling Stones
songs, which seems like a minor miracle after such a long wait. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine