Why is the new Rolling Stones album so good?
High on the list of things I didn't think I'd say in 2023
Different people look for different things in the music they listen to. Some look for a better understanding of the world around them; others long to feel understood. Some look for thought-provoking lyrics and give little thought to harmonic or rhythmic content; others don’t care about lyrics and are more intrigued by complex instrumentals. Several only look for background noise. Speaking for myself, I like all of the previously mentioned elements. I like Dylan and late-60s post-bop just as much as the next guy, but above all, I look for fun in the music I listen to. More than anything else, I’m more focused on having a good time when I’m listening to music.
Life is too short to waste your time on music that you don’t enjoy. Granted, you have to go through a lot of music before you can figure out where your taste lies, but once that happens, you can better understand yourself as a listener and what you find fun to listen to. I find fun in a lot of different music because I’m often listening differently depending on the genre.
When it comes to rock and roll, I listen holistically. Unlike jazz, where I’m often focused on just one or two instrumentalists, I listen to the band as a whole and to the song as it’s being presented by the collective. If the band is tight and songs are rockin’, then I’m having a great time with rock music.
With their 2023 record Hackney Diamonds, The Rolling Stones are just as tight and rockin’ as ever. I touched on this in my IG write-up on Sticky Fingers but, they’ve made it clear that they’re still relevant after sixty-plus years. How impressive is that? Quite.
Something about Hackney Diamonds that stands out to me is how unpretentious it is. There’s no agenda, nor anything to prove, nor any attempts to tell the listener that these aging rockers have still got it. This album follows the rule all great films follow; show, don’t tell. When you listen to this new album, The Stones show you what they’ve got. The music shows you that the band is still going strong. Listeners aren’t being told anything about how good the record is - it’s being very clearly presented and backed up. The only thing that isn’t being presented particularly well is the official album cover but thankfully I was able to pick up the Paul Smith variant cover. I think this variant fits the album much better than any other cover available.
From my first time listening to Hackney Diamonds on October 20th, I loved it. I listened to it maybe four or five times that weekend. The following week I picked up the actual record and listened to it four times within two days. I was truly enamored by it. To make sure that I wasn’t just getting excited about something being shiny and new, I didn’t listen to the album for a couple of weeks. Upon revisiting the record to write this piece, I was immediately reminded of why I love it so much. I had to keep myself from flipping the record over and listening to it again.
Why is the new Rolling Stones record so good? Simply put, it’s a damn good time