Those jubilant sounds you hear on “Sweet Sounds of Heaven,” the penultimate track on the Rolling Stones’ stunning new album, Hackney Diamonds, are Mick Jagger and Lady Gaga trying to outdo each other vocally.
Towards the end of the jubilant “Sweet Sounds of Heaven”, the penultimate track of The Rolling Stones’ stunning new album Hackney Diamonds (yes, NEW), we hear what sounds like a vocal contest between two newcomers: one Mick Jagger and one Lady Gaga .
“Oh yes!” they sing with increasing urgency. “Come on!” Are they fighting here? In fact, Jagger confirmed that there was a competitive spirit flowing when they finished the track.
To which we say: let the games continue! The competition symbolizes the joyful energy that fills the Stones’ first collection of original music in 18 years, which will be released Friday. This is their best new work in decades – tight, focused, full of soul and swagger.
This all seems like a pretty big deal for longtime Stones fans. It seems that there has long been an unspoken agreement between them and the band: you continue to tour, and we will come. You’ll play the hits, maybe dust off a few surprises to keep things fresh. That’s enough because, yes, you are the Stones! Jagger will continue to move like, well, Jagger is technically 80 years old. Keith Richards, just 79, will remain a nimble and brilliant guitar player alongside Ronnie Wood, a child at 76. And we will come until you stop – which you won’t.
New music? That wasn’t part of the equation. (How well do you remember 2005’s “A Bigger Bang”?)
But now, on “Whole Wide World,” when Jagger sings, “And you think the party’s over,” it feels like the whole album is one big answer: Hmm, no!
And maybe, just maybe, we have a hint of an opportunity to shake up the arena setlist. A key candidate might be the aforementioned gospel-tinged “Sweet Sounds of Heaven.” show. Like Gaga and Stevie Wonder, who joins the track on keyboards (“Play me something, Stevie,” you hear). But the song also tests how energetic Jagger’s voice remains.
Another party guest: Elton John, who plays piano on two tracks. In one song, “Get Close,” Jagger croons, “I’m walking around town at midnight with the past strapped to my back.” (Tethered, good, but don’t constrict blood flow.) The lyrics aren’t always that poetic, but when they are, it’s often a dialogue with the past. Like when Richards sings on “Tell Me Straight,” his high-pitched vocal line is, “Is my future in the past? Just tell me straight.”
On the furious “Bite My Head Off,” the band’s guest is none other than their old friend Paul McCartney—yes, the same guy who recently called them a “blues cover band,” to the amusement and perhaps annoyance of them. Here it is, just the Beatles on bass. No important matters.
The late, great Charlie Watts, who died in 2021, appears posthumously on two of the 12 tracks. On one song, “Live by the Sword,” former bandmate Bill Wyman joins in on bass, creating an emotionally powerful reunion. Steve Jordan, Watts’ chosen successor, takes over as the favored drummer for the rest of the album. Most tracks were written by Jagger and Richards; they’re joined by pop producer Andrew Watt (known for his work with Post Malone and Justin Bieber), who clearly shows a golden touch throughout this project.
Is this the last new album? Most likely no. But if that were the case, the last words would be “roll” in a poignant Muddy Waters cover that reminds us of the blues albums Mick was carrying with him on that fateful day when he met Keith at the train station.
“She said, ‘I’m having a boy… he’ll be a tumbleweed,’” the last line says.
Do you think the party is over? It has.