Unless you’ve been gathering moss living under a rock, you’ll know that the Rolling Stones have a new album out. You would also have heard that it is 18 years since A Bigger Bang, the Stones last album of original music, and that the new album, Hackney Diamonds is the Stones’ best album in 40 years. When A Bigger Bang (2005) came out I contacted my friend Hilton, the most committed Rolling Stones fan I know, to ask if he’d listened to the album. He said he had, but he found it sad and stale.
When Blue & Lonesome (2016) came out, it received decent reviews. It was an album of blues covers. I listened to it a couple of times, then filed it away. I wasn’t taken by Jagger’s singing. I found it contrived. This time is different and the Stones know it. They have a dynamic, engrossing, and powerful album on their hands. An album that taps into the essence of the Stones but also sounds contemporary. This is an LP they can get behind and promote. Our first video is from the NYC launch party:
In an interview with Sky News, Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood said that the collaboration with Lady Gaga was a result of Lady Gaga recording in the same studio complex. Gaga happened to have sung with the Stones once before. On the Stones 50 and Counting tour, Lady Gaga sang Gimme Shelter with the band on 14 December 2012. On that tours’ 5 shows, different female singers joined Jagger on the song (Mary J. Blige and Florence Welch also had turns).