It’s been one month since the lads released their 26^th US album, Hackney Diamonds. I have not stopped playing it since. It’s that good. And I am not just saying this because I am an obsessed fan. I am an obsessed fan. But I’m no schoolboy. I know what I like. My favorite flavor is cherry red, and you better believe I can do the hip shake baby.

Like most Stones albums, this one encompasses various musical styles and genres and demonstrates that, no matter how OLD they are, they still know what they’re doing.

According to the interviews the Stones have been giving as publicity to coincide with the release, they recorded the bulk of Hackney Diamonds over the course of only a few months. This is not a collection of discarded outtakes that have been recycled for the sake of putting something out, as evidenced by their new drummer, Steve Jordan, who is on most of the tracks. Charlie Watts, who died in 2021, is on two of the songs, and the album is dedicated to him. The whole album does indeed sound fresh, like it was recorded without too much fuss. It’s not over-produced. It is however, very Stonesy. And I like it, like it, yes I do!

My thoughts and notes:

• The songs with the most Jagger swagger are Live By the Sword and Whole Wide World.
• The songs with the grooviest Keith Richards riffs are Angry and Get Close. The latter features a wonderful bit of saxophone.
• The hardest rocker is Bite My Head Off, a punk song. Paul McCartney appears on this one, and about halfway through, if you listen VERY closely, you can hear Mick call on the beloved Beatle: “Alright Paul, let’s hear some bass.”
• According to the liner notes, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts appear on Live By the Sword. Elton John is also on Live By the Sword, as well as Get Close.
• The album is produced by a 33-year-old whippersnapper named Andrew Watt, whose parents I’m guessing had not even met yet when Tattoo You came out! Whatever Andrew Watt did, I give him much praise. He shares songwriting credit with the Glimmer Twins on three of the songs, and he plays bass on a few as well. Daryl Jones is not on the album at all.
• The dramatic crescendo of the album is Sweet Sounds of Heaven, a gospel song featuring Lady Gaga on vocals. Stevie Wonder is on piano, and if you listen very closely after the pause toward the end, you can hear Mick whisper softly, “Play me something, Stevie.”
• The final track on the album is a cover of the Muddy Waters song Rolling Stone Blues, which is the blues song from which the band derived its name. This sounds like it is just Keith on acoustic guitar and Mick on vocal and harmonica. They do it so very well, because the Delta blues is embedded in their souls.

My personal favorite is Depending On You, one of two country songs on the album. This song moves me more than any of the others, because it makes me think of my dear friend Steven S. Couse, who died in 2021, not long after Charlie. Steve, who was even more in tune with the Stones than I ever could hope to be, would have been very into this album. I do wish that he were here now to listen with me. I miss you, Steve!

You can call Hackley Diamonds a comeback album if you will. Most recently the Stones released Blue and Lonesome, a collection of blues covers, in 2016. Before that their most recent album of newly written material was A Bigger Bang, which was also a very strong album, back in 2005.

But in my view, this is the most important album the Stones have released in a long time. You think the party is over but it’s only just, only just begun! Yes, these songs are strong enough for the band tour on. Angry will fit nicely in the set list between Honky Tonk Women and Start Me Up. Whole Wide World, Bite My Head Off, Live By the Sword, and Mess it Up all absolutely, 100 percent need to be played live. And Sweet Sounds of Heaven will be fantastic as the show’s closer. Speaking of which, if you haven’t yet seen the 7-minute rendition of Sweet Sounds of Heaven with Lady Gaga, recorded live before 700 lucky attendees on Oct. 19 at their surprise album launch gig at Racket in NYC, it is highly recommended. You can find it on YouTube without too much trouble.