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61. 'Hackney Diamonds' - The Rolling Stones (2023)
78 Plays1 year ago
‘Sweet Sounds Of Stones’
Dubbed as their best work in decades, The Rolling Stones are back with a brand new album!
‘Hackney Diamonds’ is their 24th (UK) studio album and is their first original work since 2005’s ‘A Bigger Bang’.
Receiving great critical praise and enjoyed by the fans, Laz & Felipe ask: how did The Rolling Stones create another brilliant album so deep into their career?
Episode Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0pzCCtCpHnfUafRkWInTye?si=040fcb1b8647466a
LONG LIVE ROCK ‘N’ ROLL
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Sweet Sounds of Stones'
00:00:11
Speaker
Hello there and welcome back to another episode of the Long Live Rock and Roll podcast with your host Mr. Laz Michael Eadis here and on the screen opposite me, Mr. Felipe Ammerim. How are you doing, man? Doing great, man. How are you doing? Very well, thank you. Hello, everyone. All good. Yeah, we're back with another album episode and the title of this episode is Sweet Sounds of Stones.
The Making of 'Hackney Diamonds'
00:00:31
Speaker
And if the title didn't give away, we are going to be doing the brand new Rolling Stones album, which is called Hackney Diamonds.
00:00:38
Speaker
Now the album came out on October 20th, 2023, and it was recorded over 2019, 2020, and then between December, 2022, and January, 2023, across a multitude of studios as well, wasn't it Felipe? New York, LA, London, even the Bahamas. The genre is your typical Rolling Stones kind of blues rock. It comes in at 48 minutes and produced by Andrew Watt.
The Stones' Musical Evolution
00:01:04
Speaker
So Felipe I mean I think the answer is kind of obvious but do you want to tell us even more why you chose this album for this week's episode? Well we keep talking about like old bands releasing new stuff or if they even should be touring or releasing or recording stuff and I love the fact that like our heroes are still around
00:01:26
Speaker
doing something. And I would be happy if the Stones were only touring or appearing on TV from time to time. But when they decide to go out there and record an album, which is, if I'm not wrong, the first album of new songs in 18 years. Yeah, so the last album full of originals was 2005. I think it was a bigger bang, is that what it's called?
00:01:50
Speaker
But yeah, because they did an album in 2016, but that was Covers, wasn't it? So this is brand new, originally written material. Yeah, the last album that is Blue and Lonesome. I think that's the name of the album. So that was a Blues Covert album. I'm going to start by talking about that album, you know, because that has, I mean, just what I read about it was that they got together with the intention of writing new stuff, and they started jamming.
00:02:19
Speaker
you know, playing the stuff that you listen to, like the blues songs they love so much. They never went too far from the blues, right? That's the one beautiful thing about the Stones, they managed to innovate and be extremely creative without never sounding too much different from the blues. It's not easy to do, right? To keep that root in a style that is like,
00:02:45
Speaker
you know the blues has its rules and it has its normal form and structure and they they've managed to do something really really unique departing from the blues but but not going too far and so when they were jamming to that kind of stuff they were obviously recording because you know those guys they got a lot of a lot of money and
00:03:10
Speaker
loads of time.
Blues Influence and Innovation
00:03:11
Speaker
So they're there in studio. So whatever you do, just press record, you know, they don't, they're not they're not spending tape, right? Or, or they have enough money to pay us on engineer to be there for the whole day as well. So, so they recording whatever they jam into. And in the end, I don't know if it was a producer or someone involved in the project just said, like, guys, you've got a whole album, you don't need to write anything. So your jams are good enough to be released as a blues cover album.
00:03:38
Speaker
And that's what they did. And I think it was a really, really nice album. It's like it's very loose. It's very like relaxed. They're just literally just having fun, which I think it's missing a lot in modern music. People just having fun and playing whatever they want to play. But that was it. Yeah, exactly.
00:03:59
Speaker
Yeah, there's this kind of search for perfection in modern, especially modern radio music. Everything's got to be, you know, it's got to follow a certain rule for length of the song, no guitar solos and other stuff. And the Stones are just like, we're going to play some blues. And they recorded it. And now I think they were like, fuck it, let's do something new.
The Stones vs. Music Movements
00:04:20
Speaker
And they did it. And I'm glad it came out at the end of the year. I'm glad they did something.
00:04:27
Speaker
uh like uh uh now you know let's say before it's too late yeah i i agree with you man i think something that's really got to be said about the Rolling Stones is you were touching on on their blues and sort of how they had the blues in their music i think the Rolling Stones are one of those bands that actually fit in the middle of a lot of movements so if you think you know
00:04:52
Speaker
with the hard rock and, I don't know, not heavy now, with the hard rock movement, you kind of got Led Zeppelin, haven't you, doing that hard rock and bluesy kind of thing. Rolling Stones were kind of edging their way in there as well. You've also got the Beatles and the Kinks doing pop music, you know, so while Zeppelin was focusing on hard rock, the Beatles and the Kinks kind of went on the poppy side. The Stones did that as well. So I think they're quite an important band, would you agree?
Influence on Modern Music
00:05:16
Speaker
And especially in that, in those early sixties of really helping pop music
00:05:22
Speaker
become intertwined with rock, but also giving hard rock its own avenue of success. Yeah, I think let's put the Beatles in the same category as the Stones. I would say that the Beatles and the Stones were as important to modern music or popular music
00:05:46
Speaker
as bands as Sinatra and Elvis were as solo singers. Before you had rock bands, it was all about singers like Elvis.
00:05:58
Speaker
or Chuck Berry or Johnny Cash. And then you have the two major rock bands in the world from the UK, which is quite remarkable. I think the Sweetos and the Stones. And I think for different reasons, they were the two most important bands for a whole decade of rock and roll.
00:06:20
Speaker
I'd add two more names to that. I'd add The Who and The Kingness. As in though, the group of bands that, like you said, really took away from what we thought fifties pop music was and kind
American Influence and Unique Style
00:06:33
Speaker
of just went on our own new path of bands playing instruments and the band mattering, not just who was singing the song, wasn't it?
00:06:40
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And I think, yeah, I think this, again, it's interesting that they were highly influenced by American music. But coming from a different cultural background, you can't just sound like the Americans. So they found their own way of doing stuff like this. Under stones, there's, they do have a lot of country and folk influence as well. I think even more than the Beatles. Definitely. Yeah.
00:07:06
Speaker
Excellent, so I did the album info already. Do you know what? Before, I've said to you, you can leave this episode as in take us in the direction you want. But one thing I wanted to touch on that I found really crucial about this album was the producer.
Andrew Watt's Fresh Production
00:07:23
Speaker
Because have you done any research into this? No, I don't know who the producer is. Okay, so the producer is a gentleman called Andrew Watt, who is five years older than me. So he's a young guy, you know, like, I'm not going to give my age away.
00:07:36
Speaker
And again, I'm younger, I'm younger anyway, I don't have to worry about that. He's, I think he's 33 or something. He has over the last few years been producing albums for old bands, doing new stuff.
00:07:51
Speaker
So this is what he's done. He's done Iggy Pop's Every Loser, which was a couple of years ago, Ozzy Osbourne's last two albums, Patient No. 9. Oh yeah, I know who you're talking about. And he did Elton John's The Lockdown Sessions and he did Eddie Vader's Earthling. Now I just think this is incredibly important because we've got here a gentleman in Andrew Watt who is
00:08:14
Speaker
taking these older bands and these older artists and refreshing and giving them like a new, I don't want to say it's a new sound but it's certainly fresh and exciting and I think half of what works
00:08:29
Speaker
Half of what makes Hackety Diamonds as good as I think it is, is the production.
Album's Fresh Sound
00:08:35
Speaker
Because I don't feel like, I mean tell me if you disagree Felipe, but I don't feel the Rolling Stones are changing much of their songwriting formula. It's not like they're now going to write a prog album and they went from being a heavy metal band, you know, they've stuck with a formula for the past 60 years and it's worked. And I think if your production isn't right,
00:08:56
Speaker
playing with the same songwriting formula can get very, very boring. Yet the production on this album, and as I've pointed out the other stuff, you know, Ozzy Osbourne's last couple of albums, it's so good. But I think even though we're getting the same songwriting formulas, it's sounding fresh and exciting. What do you think? I agree with you. I would add that even though there's like a clear search for quality, you know, quality of recording and sound,
00:09:26
Speaker
and effects. I don't think it sounds like more than pop music. I don't think he tried to push his own agenda into the band. Can I add something quickly?
Modern Collaborations
00:09:38
Speaker
The interesting thing is that before he did these older artists, he produced the likes of Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus. So he's come
00:09:47
Speaker
from a radio-friendly pop music that you're saying it doesn't sound like and he's gone if it started producing blues, hard rock, rock and roll and even sort of heavy metal if you want to talk about was the Osborne.
00:10:01
Speaker
I think he did a phenomenal job. I think the sound of this album is great. And with all of the technology available, I think it still sounds really raw, and it sounds like a band. And we keep talking about this, and I love bands that sound like a bunch of friends playing together, like in a room.
Album's Pacing and Rock Feel
00:10:22
Speaker
Although obviously there's overdubs, there's all the...
00:10:27
Speaker
production and post-production that you have, but you can hear the sounds of the instruments. Everyone is perfect, isn't it? And it sounds like a rock band, not too heavy, not too soft. And the other thing,
00:10:45
Speaker
which is part of production more than some writing because like you can write a song start to finish and after you like you you think you you believe you finish writing it and you're ready to record you can decide to change the tempo
00:11:01
Speaker
That's a really big thing in a song. You can turn a great song into crap by picking the wrong tempo, if it's too fast or too slow. And I think there's an overall pace for this album. It's like medium fast. There's maybe three ballads out of like 12 songs, but no.
00:11:22
Speaker
You know, they into the folk side of folk and gospel side of things, but not not I don't I don't feel like it slows down too much. So for me, it was a pleasant experience start to finish. Regardless of like some songs being better than the others, the overall pace of the album makes you listen to the album without skipping songs. I have that feeling. I don't know if you had the same. No, no, I completely agree. Yeah. Like like you said, there was some songs I actually
00:11:49
Speaker
I wouldn't say I didn't enjoy because it's an enjoyable album, isn't it? I mean, is it the best Rolling Stones work ever? No, but it comes close, man. I mean, I think we should sum it up in our thoughts at the end, but man, to produce an album like this 60 years after your first one is just a great job they've done. And I think, yeah, like you said,
00:12:10
Speaker
the pacing of the album is what keeps you hooked and interested. And even if there's songs that you don't enjoy as much as others, you're gonna carry on and you don't end up skipping any. That's what I find. Also the songs are short. Yeah. I love that. Like straight to the point, you know, verse chords, there's no long intros at all for the whole album. Yeah. They play a couple of bars and they go straight into the vocals, you know, delivering the message straight away and talk about the message. I mean,
00:12:38
Speaker
What would you think is the most rock and roll thing about this album? Do you think it's the lyrics? Is it like guitars? You can say more than one thing. What do you think makes this album a rock album? The vibe, the jamminess. Like you said, it sounds like a band.
00:13:01
Speaker
or a bunch of guys playing music that they've been rehearsing in their garage for a few weeks and they're now getting to record it. So yeah, I suppose that comes down to the performance of the production. What about you? Yeah, I think, yeah, I think there's a lot of that. I think for me, I'll tell you what it is.
00:13:16
Speaker
It's really easy to sound cliche when you're trying to be rock and roll, but I think what they did was a genuine attempt of doing a rock album. We're gonna try to sound rock and roll without using the cliches of rock and roll with good taste.
00:13:35
Speaker
I don't I don't I can't find a better way of describing this but there's loads of references to drinking and smoking right that's like and you can't when you listen to the album it feels like you you you're in a club in London and and someone is just smoking you know it's like like back back in the day when people could smoke
00:13:54
Speaker
I don't smoke, by the way, so I don't like it. But it feels like you smoke. Someone is smoking in the bar, having a drink and talking and discussing their relationship because quite a few lyrics about breakups and like relationships not going well. But it's a different take when someone older is talking about those things. Like as the first song suggests, like, OK, things are not going right, but I'm not angry. I'm not pissed off. You know, I just I feel like
00:14:23
Speaker
if most lyrics come from Mick Jagger, I believe it is. He sounds like someone who accepts getting old and accepts that he's lived the best part of his life and he's still a rock star, but he's approaching the end of this. I've got a question to ask. I hope it's not insensitive, but how? How is he still alive?
00:14:51
Speaker
him and Keith Richards, my god. Maybe that's a whole other episode. Yeah, Keith Richards. This is very live, that shouldn't be. Yeah, we should do like an episode about the immortal musicians. Yeah, that's it. I can't believe how good his vocals sound on this album. Did you agree? Yeah. They sound phenomenal. And even on the episode at the end of last year that we put out of the now and then, the Beatles, the new Beatles song,
00:15:20
Speaker
I complained about how, although I enjoyed it, I complained how Paul McCartney sounded. I thought his voice sounded quite old in the recording. Yeah, Nick Jagger, man. Wow. Obviously there's a difference between his first album, the first album in 64 and this one. But my God, man, his voice at 80 years old
00:15:42
Speaker
Yeah, the thing with Mick is his vocals are all about expression, right? He doesn't have a huge range or like an exceptional technique, although he is technically good, I'm not saying he's not, but he's got a tone, he's got that way of like sometimes
00:16:04
Speaker
screaming at the microphone and he would attempt some high pitch notes like and it's super cool when he does it but he doesn't do that he doesn't overdo it and it's just like it it's like he is feeling the lyrics it's not like yeah i'm just like um
00:16:22
Speaker
reading from a piece of paper, you know, he really expresses the feelings behind the lyrics and he can hear that. And again, his choice of words for most of the lyrics are just, yeah, absolutely poetic. Excellent. And do you want to lead this?
Special Guests and Rock Edge
00:16:41
Speaker
What do you want to talk about with the songs? I want to talk about the songs and also about another thing that makes this album really rock and roll, which is the special guests, right?
00:16:52
Speaker
They have a list of guests. Before we do that, can you tell us about the title? We're talking about that. Being the resident, listen, I am from London. I was born there and lived there for the first few years of my life, but Felipe is now the Long Live Rock and Roll Podcast's London resident. Can you explain to us what a hackney diamond is, Felipe?
00:17:14
Speaker
Yeah, I'm the broadcast ambassador in London. Yeah, it had to be a foreign, isn't it? I don't want to miss the joke. Yeah, so yeah, so hacking in diamonds is an expression to people, you know, when someone breaks into a shop, or maybe if they break into someone's car, so they basically criminal activity, like what they leave behind is, you know, pieces of glass. So
00:17:41
Speaker
So those are Hackney Diamonds. So Hackney is a neighborhood in London. There's a piece of grass left over from a break-in. It's really rock and roll. So I imagine like people in America, they're like, what the hell is Hackney Diamonds? And if they know that Hackney is a place, they might just think, oh, you know, it's proper.
00:18:01
Speaker
But as rolling stones, they went from working class boys to being rather posh, didn't they? Talking about diamonds. No, people, it's the opposite. It's the opposite. It's about breaking into something and leaving broken glass on the floor. Yeah. Do you know, speaking about that, there's an interesting contrast between our
00:18:24
Speaker
his reflections on life in the big city. And my absolute favorite song in the album, which is track number six, Dreamy Skies.
Standout Tracks and Themes
00:18:35
Speaker
Oh, yeah, yeah. That's a lovely one, isn't it? Because that's like, it's about, you know, I don't want to be in the city, you know, I want to be in the country. And it's a
00:18:47
Speaker
I think it's that kind of feeling when you got too old for the chaos of the big city and just want some peace of mind. But I think the nice question to ask with that song Dreamy Skies is where does he want to retire? Does he want to retire to the English countryside where he's from or, as the music would suggest, America?
00:19:07
Speaker
like you know it's got a very nice American country feel doesn't it with like yeah harmonica solo feels like a bit of pedal steel and the Dobro guitar as well lovely song I thought yeah actually do you know what because we don't have to follow in his crypts I want to start talking about that song yeah because that one is the most like different one in the whole album
00:19:27
Speaker
sounds like it's unique, it's the unique one. So we're talking about production, it's such a simple one that I can hear some brushes, I might be wrong, I didn't listen to it. As a musician, I was listening to the whole album as a fan of the Stones, I'm not like
00:19:46
Speaker
or trying to figure out what the drummer is doing or whatever. So I think there's brushes like acoustic guitar, it sounds a lot like American music, like folk and country. And there's a line in it, an old AM radio is all that I've got. It just plays Hank Williams and some bad honky tonk. Lovely.
00:20:10
Speaker
And then yes, yeah, he's clearly talking about life in the country in America. If you have an AM radio, the only thing you get is Hank Williams, which is good, right? It's not a bad thing to have a radio player. I wouldn't mind. So it's just, yeah, I think there's that feeling of, oh, my God, I'm an old man. I just want to be in the country and relax. But I think there's a it's there's a conflict there. Like, you know, I can't get away from the city. For me, for me, most of the album is like,
00:20:39
Speaker
all the smoking and drinking and playing rock and rolling clubs and touring with my band and then go to the country and come back. I don't know, maybe it's the end of the Stones. Maybe they're kind of indicating that they're going to finally call it a day. I mean, if this is their last studio album, I'm really, really satisfied with it. I mean, how can you not be? Yeah, how can you not be? Where do you want to take us?
00:21:08
Speaker
Well, let's talk about Charlie Woods, right?
Charlie Watts' Legacy and Steve Jordan
00:21:11
Speaker
Because Charlie, well, sadly, left us, like, and,
00:21:17
Speaker
Well, he had this amazing career with the Stones and he was, you know, the foundation of that sound for so long. And my God, what a groove, man. I saw that man playing for two million people in Copacabana Beach in 2006. And he was the heart and soul of the Stones. You can say whatever, you know, like, yeah, he bought Mick Jagger's, you know, Dancing Steps and all that stuff.
00:21:46
Speaker
uh it's it it's the groove that that makes them who they are and i was going to say he bought the back he bought the backbone of motown drumming yeah to rock music yes and in my opinion would you agree with that as a drummer yeah yeah yeah he just kind of kept it so simple not many fills nothing too intricate just was the backbone of the band so that the rest of them could thrive and do their thing
00:22:11
Speaker
Exactly. And he was like solid as a rock, you know, keeping the beat, keeping the pace for two hours whilst the guys are doing all the performance. He wasn't a performer in that sense. Charlie Watts wasn't a guy who would be like dressing like a rock star. You know, in a good way, he looked like a lawyer or an accountant, you know.
00:22:31
Speaker
It looked like, these are my clothes, I don't care. I don't want to be a rock star. It literally looked like he didn't give a shit and he was doing a great job for all those decades as their drummer. So you would think, well, after Charlie Ward's death, there's no more Rolling Stones. And I think, I mean, fair play for them to carry on without putting a new official member in the band replacing him. 2021, he passed away. Yeah.
00:22:59
Speaker
Yeah so basically they got Steve Jordan on drums who people might know from his work with John Mayer and even Eric Clapton, he did some stuff with him I guess, and he did loads of stuff with Keith Reaches in his solo career. He is a moot instrumentalist, he wouldn't surprise me if he played some of the guitars and basses in this album even if there's no credit to his name.
00:23:23
Speaker
Steve Drummer. Yeah, he does. So the thing is he joined them for the tour. He's one of my favorite drummers. I love him. Yeah. And did a great job live. I saw them in Hyde Park with him on drums and he's so respectful to the original arrangements.
00:23:42
Speaker
I'm not trying to prove that I have my own style or whatever he was just sounding like Charlie in a very respectful way with like really really quality groove and he's in the album you know but uh here's the thing Charlie Ward's recorded some stuff there that has been used in the album do you know which songs I don't know I do yes so he recorded uh mess it up and live by the sword so tracks seven and eight
00:24:08
Speaker
That's interesting. It is interesting because they're the most, I found Mess It Up to be, in my opinion, like for me, it was too poppy. It was the one I disliked most on the album. I thought that's interesting because normally you'd get, if you're missing some band members like through death or something,
00:24:25
Speaker
Well, that song to me, I don't know if you think of it, it sounds almost like disco, doesn't it? Yeah, it's very odd. Yeah, very poppy. But then the next one, Live by the Sword, that was, I thought that was one of the most classic Stones tunes, just had a real old style. This is the Rolling Stones feel to it. What did you think?
00:24:43
Speaker
Oh, that is my second favorite song in the album. Interesting thing about that song, I started listening to it. I love the lyrics, this is about facing the consequences of your choices, you know, it's like, it's like, you know, I don't remember the exact line, like, let me see, because I've got some, some of the lyrics here with me and I
00:25:06
Speaker
I want to check it out because I think it's beautiful. If you live like a whore, better be hardcore. If you live by the clock, well, you're in for a shock. If you're living for food, better lick up your plate. If you want to be in fashion, well, you'll be out of date.
00:25:23
Speaker
And it's it's it's a simple thing, you know, I mean, like, so, yeah, you want to be fashion. So, yeah, but you get you're going to be out of date. It's amazing that how simple it is and how cool the message is. But what surprised me about that song, it was there was there's a there's a psychedelic bit in the middle. Right. That reminds me.
00:25:46
Speaker
of what they did back in the 60s. There's this short, like, yeah, this is a half-time vibe. It only happens once in the songs, like the middle eight of the song, and builds up back to the original vibe of the song. You know, it's like, oh, what a cool groove and vibe. And it was like, my God, the piano sounds just like classic Stones, which brings me to the point I didn't know. I was just listening and enjoying the piano. So, oh, the piano is the best part of the song. And who is the pianist in that song?
00:26:15
Speaker
Elton John. That's it, yep. Brilliant. See, now I like this because you were going to before I asked you to talk to us about Hackley Diamonds, you were going to talk about the guests. And I think before you say what you have to say, I was really happy personally with the guests they had on and not because of who it was, but because of the appropriateness of the guest.
00:26:44
Speaker
You guys might remember that Ozzy Osbourne released an album called Patient Number Nine, like last year or the year before. And it, my issue was- Same producer, right? Same producer, yes, but my issue was every song had a special guest on. And so it kind of stopped being an Ozzy album. It felt like it's like Ozzy and Friends. It didn't really have anything personable about it. It didn't have six Ozzy songs and then six songs with guests. Okay, so it's mainly an Ozzy album and he's just having fun at the end.
00:27:13
Speaker
It felt a bit cheap, if I'm being honest. Whereas this, I'm glad that we're getting 80% of it is, well, I suppose all of it is Rolling Stones, but then you just get a guest here, five songs later, another guest, two guests on the second to last song. I liked that it was done tastefully and not oh, cause they could have got anyone, man. They're the Rolling Stones. They could have got every person, every old singer that's still going like Elton John, every new singer like Lady Gaga, they could have got them all to feature on a song. I'm really glad they didn't though.
00:27:42
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Because that would be an easy way to turn the album into a hit without having to put too much effort as songwriters or musicians. Like, well, what if we get one famous pop singer per song and just make it like a number one album based on the fact that we
00:28:04
Speaker
connecting with the younger generation or whatever. They didn't try actually anything like that. They jamming with their friends, people from, there's two guests from the same generation and one, you know, younger, which is not like, it's still not an up and coming artist. No, yeah, she's established. But anyway, yeah, but we talked, so I want to specifically talk about the song, bite my head
Legendary Collaborations
00:28:27
Speaker
off.
00:28:27
Speaker
which uh it's a punk song to me it's a relentless fast riff that just carries on for the whole of the song and the way they're using the guests that's what i'm saying it's not uh you know you know what the the cheesy thing to do it is oh you know i'm friends of pomacata despite people thinking um
00:28:50
Speaker
that there's a rivalry between Beatles and Stones, which is, you know, we all know it's not true. Mick Jagger could just have said, oh no, I'm friends with Paul. I'm going to get him to sing a song with me. And everyone would be talking about it. Oh, here's me and Paul singing together. No, he got Paul to feature on guitar. And bass.
00:29:09
Speaker
and bass. Okay. I didn't know he was, oh, you know, that really fuzzy bass. He goes, go on Paul. Like that. Oh, that's the bass. I thought he was okay. I thought he was doing the guitar solo. Really heavy, heavily fuzzy bass. But yeah, that's the bass. That's the bass. And it's funny. I'm saying I thought he did a guitar solo or something like that. No, he was on bass. Yes. Yeah. So that's the thing. So he could have Paul McCartney as a lead singer for the chorus. Like, Oh, here's Paul McCartney or singing a whole verse.
00:29:39
Speaker
And it's basically, no, no, he was playing an instrument, like he would play with the Beatles, he would play the taro bass with the Beatles, and that's what he's doing in the track. And also it's not like showing off, it's just playing what the song needs. And it's a really simple bass solo, if that's what you want to call it. Anyway, it's like, it's just, or maybe a groove is a better word. But again, really simple, there's no point of showing off, you're just doing it for the sake of the music. But I think actually it's really funny what you said about Bite My Head Off, because you labeled it punk, and whilst I wouldn't disagree,
00:30:09
Speaker
I've got notes here that I said, it feels like Mick has been unleashed on this song. And I love the idea that after decades of pandering to record labels, wants and wishes, you know, we want this album to sell, so please don't swear on it. It feels like Mick's just been allowed to go free and just, cause he's swearing all through the song. And this is the lyric I love that proves my point. I ain't on a leash, I ain't on a chain. And I thought that was a great, it's just a great lyric for a really good, over the top heavy hard rock song.
00:30:38
Speaker
Again, I think when you, okay, what I would say about the point they are in their careers now is like, if you forgot to this point, if you've got like multiple platinum albums and you're a multi-millionaire rock star, and you have all the time and money in the world available to record an album, it would be like really disappointing if it's not at least good, right?
00:31:07
Speaker
So I think they knew from the beginning, like there's no point going to a studio to do something that doesn't sound good enough to be a Stones album. And you have good producers. But the whole thing is they made the right choices. And it's all about that. You couldn't have great songs and get a producer that makes you sound like Taylor Swift. Or you could, nothing against Taylor Swift, by the way, I think she's good. But the thing is, it's not what the Stones are.
00:31:33
Speaker
You could try to put some guests into the album that have nothing to do with the vibe of the songs. So all the choices from production to guests and effects on guitars and everything seem to be really good. There's one thing I found quite odd is the song. Let me find the title of the song here.
00:31:55
Speaker
I'll tell him straight. I think it's Keith Richards on vocals. It is. Yes, it is. Yeah. Yeah. I love his vocals. Super cool. But the guitar sounds really like 80s. That makes it so different from the rest of the album that I don't know how I feel about this song. It's funny you say that because the track number five, Whole Wide World, I felt the same. I've got very Brit Poppy, kind of like Pulp, the song Year 3000.
00:32:20
Speaker
Um, no, not year 3000. That's busted. What's the disco to disco disco 3000 year 3000. That's busted. That's crazy. That's that's 2000s punk. Anyway, but the guitar tone in that song, the whole wide world, it was really dire straight. See.
00:32:36
Speaker
Yeah, like kind of that really focusing your phone and going a bit technical. Listen to it again and you'll hear. Well, that song is essentially pop, isn't it? Yeah, that's what I'm saying. So it's not on the floor, groove, you know. Yeah, I think as what you've mentioned, as well as what I've mentioned is even now, not that I don't think the Rolling Stones rather like leaders of pioneering
00:33:00
Speaker
technology and guitar and innovations, but funny that they're playing with tones. Like you kind of think they could just come in and be like, right, this is Keith's tone. I'm not going to fuck with it. Just leave it. But you actually, as you said, he's played around a bit.
00:33:13
Speaker
And it just tells me that these guys still have appetite to try and do something different and to try new things. Yeah, exactly. And again, if they did a whole like disco slash pop album, I would be extremely disappointed. Not that I don't like that kind of stuff, but it's like, it's not the stones. Exactly. But they did a couple of songs, you know, and it's like, okay, I'll take that. It's fine. You know, I can, you know, also don't make it too long. That's fine. Three minutes, two and a half, whatever.
00:33:38
Speaker
So move on to the next song. The third track, depending on you, is an acoustic number that reminded me of Wild Horses and some of the acoustic, Angie, so those acoustic numbers they did back in the day. And I think that's intentional. That's one of the sound that you'll be like, shall we do something very like classic Stones acoustic number?
00:34:01
Speaker
So I think that was, that was the intention. It didn't disappoint me. Super cool. Like slide guitar, folk vibes, like the melody kind of reminded me of Bob Dylan, but not the chorus. They have a strong chorus. I think the choruses are, most of them, amazing, well written. That's also good. I feel like they're pop choruses, but done with a standard Rolling Stones backing. Brilliant stuff.
00:34:25
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, again, just to reinforce my opinion here, I don't think they are trying to sound modern. They're just being themselves. And that's what rock and roll should be. And well, I mean, I'm really glad these stones are, you know,
00:34:47
Speaker
willing to play their music for us and also they took the time to go out there and record an album and put it out despite knowing that everyone would say there would be like loads of people criticizing them you know we don't want to listen to new storm stuff or or they too old or this and that and i mean hats off to them well they've proven everyone wrong absolutely yeah exactly and okay uh we talked about the guests there's one that we haven't mentioned yet
00:35:16
Speaker
so uh and that was that that's that's a great song uh so then we're going to talk about the singles and is it only two singles from the album am i right i think that's one of them uh yes yeah so two singles and the one you're about to talk about
00:35:33
Speaker
Yeah, so the 11th track in the album, Sweet Sounds of Heaven, features Lady Gaga.
Lady Gaga's Gospel Contribution
00:35:39
Speaker
What do you think of it, Lars? I loved it, man. Oh, the record performance. Yeah, fantastic. Oh, her or it? Yeah. Well, the song... Put it in Lady Gaga's voice. If you hadn't told me Lady Gaga was on it, I wouldn't have known, which means she's done a brilliant job because she's done what they've asked of her and she's come in and put her vocals
00:35:58
Speaker
on a track, and I'm assuming she's been asked in a special way, can I spoil who the other guest is? Yeah. Yeah, so you've also got Stevie Wonder on keys and piano. Oh yeah, I forgot this. Yeah, so you are obviously, think about it, the Stones meet Stevie in terms of music. It's gonna be solely, it's gonna be kind of gospel-y in a sense. So when you've got these two legends, the Rolling Stones and Stevie Wonder doing a song together,
00:36:26
Speaker
It's so easy as someone as big as Lady Gaga to come in and just put her own style, not her own style, but what she's used to doing and her normal tone and timbre and singing voice onto a track and say, okay, well, Stevie's done his keys. The Stones are doing their music. I'm Lady Gaga. I'm going to do my thing. But she hasn't, man. She has come in and she has done some fantastic gospel singing, you know, to be honest. And the way that her vocals work with
00:36:54
Speaker
with Mick Jagger throughout the song is fantastic, really beautiful. I thought the song as a whole was brilliant, just showcasing the brilliant jamming abilities of the Stones, the arrangement, the horns at the end. To me it was just a celebration of the Rolling Stones.
00:37:15
Speaker
yeah I'll say more in my in my monologue at the end but it is just a celebration of everything they were good at from the past in one song it's bluesy it's soulful it's not really rocky because it's not that kind of song but like I said I'll say it a third time it's a celebration of the Rolling Stones yeah and there's some the lyrics there's some like I think really deep reflections of aging yeah I think there's some yeah listen to this part
00:37:45
Speaker
Let us sing, let us shout, let us all stand up proud, let the old still believe that they are young.
00:37:54
Speaker
Well, I actually didn't even think about what the song title could mean, but Sweet Sounds of Heaven, it's like, is this not- It's like heaven is calling, right? It's like, well, it's coming and I'm going to be ready for it because the sweet sounds are calling to me. So, oh man. Yeah, I'm going to get emotional again. I'll tell you how I got in touch with this song first. The single came out and there was, you know,
00:38:24
Speaker
as you are in London, scrolling on your phone, like on the tube, and it came like, oh, for people who don't live in London or the UK, the tube is the underground system, you know, the subway. So, you know, if you're listening from any other country. Yeah, so I'm there like on the underground listening, like just scrolling now, finding some news or whatever on the phone,
00:38:51
Speaker
and I came across like new Rolling Stones single featuring Lady Gaga and it was the first song from this album that I've listened to start to finish because it came immediately after the first single which we're going to talk about as well. So I'm waiting for my train.
00:39:08
Speaker
And I've got a Wi-Fi connection on the tube. And I want to listen to, oh, just a little bit. Let's have a taste of it. And I'm waiting to listen to Lady Gaga's voice, because I'm a big fan. I think she's a phenomenal singer. And all the collaborations she did with Connie Bennet and, you know, I think she's great. I love her voice. So I was like looking forward to listen to her voice. But then her voice is just in the background. Like she's a, you know,
00:39:36
Speaker
doing BVs for the band as the Stones did a million times before with great female singers like were there to be backing vocalists, to not take the lead. And that's what she's doing in a brilliant way. And the lyrics, the melody, the groove, the keyboards, everything, the whole atmosphere of that song made me stay on the platform until the end. I missed the train and I said, I want to get to the end of this song because this is absolutely beautiful.
00:40:05
Speaker
it is yeah it is and you have the the versions is in the album uh like so rock and roll because when they finish they keep jamming to the song yeah and she's improvising all the melody and he goes really high and they see they're just having a good time yeah they kind of it goes quiet for a bit and then steamy's keys shine through with lady yeah it's like as a musician you know that when you finish the song in a rehearsal done it's good and you're like you just keep jamming to the song because you enjoy the vibe you want to do
00:40:35
Speaker
And just one more thing about that. So I read something that she wrote, Lady Gaga wrote on her Instagram, I guess, about the experience of recording with the storms. That proves our point that everything they did was, was, you know, their own choice is not nothing like way too much planned. So basically, she was in the same studio recording in another room or something. And
00:41:00
Speaker
and I think it was her agent or producer, someone who was with her said, you know, there's stones around today recording. So you just do want to go there, say hi to Mick. So yeah, cool, that they, you know, they're friends. So she went there. And when she walked into the room, according to herself, they were they were jamming and Mick Jagger didn't just say, oh, hello, here's a microphone.
00:41:23
Speaker
grab a microphone. And here are the lyrics. It's like just we jamming to this thing. What do you think? And she was starting to hum along and she got the lyrics and they did that take. And she said they played live. So that's like the stones with the incredible Steve Jordan on drums and they have Stevie Wonder and they have Lady Gaga and they're just jamming and they finish. And and they're like, yeah, that was that was a good one. We're going to keep that take. And then she was like,
00:41:52
Speaker
cool but she didn't know you would actually made it but make it to the album was just like I'm jamming with my friends and I keep that track whatever I made it to the album and what she said and that has everything to do with
00:42:03
Speaker
uh what um what you said about you know not not trying to be the star of the song she said that she felt like i don't know the exact words i read this like long ago so um she felt like she knew she was becoming part of the history of the rolling stones and she wanted to pay tribute to all the amazing female singers
00:42:26
Speaker
who worked with them. So that's why she's working in the same style. Like I'm here providing my voice to the Stones, not my personality or my, you know, like my status. Yes, exactly. And what an amazing job she did, isn't it? I think it's it's just a testament to bands like Rolling Stones that you've got. But it makes me feel very, what's the word, proud, maybe?
00:42:56
Speaker
Because I like music like the Rolling Stones and like the Beatles and like Metallica. And I like music that you have to do it yourself. I like music where you play your instruments. And even though the popular artists sell more and become more famous, I love it when someone like Lady Gaga steps into the studio with the Rolling Stones and is still like, wow, it's the Stones. The respect that she has for them
00:43:24
Speaker
and that these other people have, it just goes to show what an incredible band they are. And a testament to her professionalism that she's just jumped in and done what she wanted to do, but it'd been a tasteful way to pay homage and tribute to all the female singers that have sung with the Stones before.
00:43:43
Speaker
Yeah, it's a fantastic performance. And every guest on this album has earned their spot and has done what was necessary to make their song better. And you don't need stunning guitar solos or virtuosic vocals to show off and to show what you can do. You're on the album because most people know who you are.
00:44:10
Speaker
Your job to do now is to make the Rolling Stones sound better with you as a guest. And I think all of them have achieved it. Exactly. So and the point is, if you don't read the credits, would you know that Paul McCartney, Elton John and Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder are part of this album? I guess so. I knew Paul McCartney was somewhere on the album. And then when that when that song comes on and the bass goes in, it goes into the bass break. He goes, go on, Paul. I'm like, ah, that must be Paul. Didn't didn't clock Elton. Didn't clock Stevie.
00:44:40
Speaker
didn't clock Lady Gaga. I mean she was the only female vocal on the album so when it got there I kind of figured it was her but even at the start I was like hold on this must be some gospel singers maybe maybe Lady Gaga is going to have her own verse in a minute. No it's like it sounds to me right like sounds to me like it's a big rock and roll party everyone is having a good time and the host of that party is Mick Jagger.
Celebration of Rock Spirit
00:45:04
Speaker
Yeah
00:45:05
Speaker
It's just that. Like if he threw a party and invited his mates, and if no one is watching, we just want to play some music and have some fun. It sounds like that to me. And that's why I love the album so much. I think it's a brilliant album. And if that's the last Rolling Stones album, I'm really glad they are doing it in style. And I think the last thing I want to say about it, the feeling behind it,
00:45:32
Speaker
for me is, again, I feel like Mick Jagger is the big boss there. He is the guy in charge of, you know, he's always been on the business side of it. It feels to me like musically, he's more in charge than anyone else in this album.
Reflective Lyrics and Aging
00:45:46
Speaker
And it's like accepting that the, as sad as it is, accepting that the end is near. Maybe for the band, maybe, you know,
00:45:57
Speaker
for his career or whatever and I mean the stones but it's been about 50 years since people saying that the stones are over right and so I might you know I might be wrong and it might still be around in another 15 years but you never know if those can happen. It sounds like a reflection of the past
00:46:23
Speaker
embracing the present. That's how I feel like it. That's what I feel about the album. Really nicely put, man. That's a lovely way to describe it. It wouldn't be a Rolling Stones album without a blues cover on it somewhere, would it? And so the final song of the album and the most appropriately, the Rolling Stone Blues by Muddy Waters. I loved how, because of how big Sweet Sounds of Heaven was and how produced it was and all these guests, all these instruments,
00:46:52
Speaker
Rolling Stone Blues just brings it down, Mick and Keith
Classic Blues Ending
00:46:55
Speaker
in a room. I think maybe Ronnie's on harmonica or something or vice versa, but they're just the three of them, jamming to a blues cover and most appropriately, the Rolling Stone Blues.
00:47:04
Speaker
Exactly. So romantic, isn't it? Yes, exactly. And you have like, you know what, that's an interesting thing because it has some acoustic guitar. Like the acoustic guitar is the main thing, isn't it? And it sounds a bit like Robert Johnson in that way. It does. So that really communicates with the roots of the blues. And obviously we're talking about Muddy Waters here who
00:47:28
Speaker
Keith Richards has mentioned multiple times as one of his major influences. And Keith actually said that every time people say, oh, you know, you guys are too old to keep writing and stuff. And he said, well, some of my heroes did their best work after 70 years old. So why should I stop? And when they released the last studio album, the last original one, Bigger Bank, he actually said that and said something like, I think I'm yet to write my best songs, you know.
00:47:57
Speaker
Well Keith, we agree with you. We agree with you because some of this work is fantastic. Do you have anything else to say? Yeah, just one more thing that crossed my mind. So he was talking about, and this is like mentioning this is my tribute to Charlie Watts, because
00:48:15
Speaker
You want tribute or Keith's tribute? Yeah, well, it's me mentioning this. I just wanted people to remember Charlie Watts, but that's what Keith Reacher said about him. I mean, I want to say something, I want to say like that Charlie Watts was a major influence for me as a drummer, and it should be for everyone as a musician. Because again, there's a lot of ego in rock and roll, but not letting your ego take over and putting music
00:48:45
Speaker
in front of everything else, making music more important than a musician for me is a real rock and roll attitude. Charlie Watts was great at that. So I think it was the Howard Stern Show and he asked Keith Richards about the way Charlie used to play and how much space there was. And Keith Richards said, well, when you're a musician, silence is your converse.
00:49:09
Speaker
And this, I think I've mentioned this before, maybe I said this in the show at some point, but I said this in conversations with people. And I find Keef Ritter's approach to music so artistic. Yeah. It's not theoretic, it's not theoretic. It doesn't go by the book of what chord you should theoretically play next. He's always about the artist's impression of it. What I think I want to hear next.
00:49:35
Speaker
Yeah, silence is your converse. If the drummer doesn't leave any room, how can I play my riff? And his riffs are full of space in place, and then there's a rest, and then he plays again, and the guitars work around each other. And the stones are really good with that. Just a chance for me to get my favorite quote in of all time. It's not about the notes you play, it's about the space you leave.
00:49:56
Speaker
Exactly. My favorite quote music. Yeah, fantastic. Yeah. And that's it. I just want to say as well that I'm really glad that they had something recorded by Charlie Watts to put in the album. Yeah. And oh, do you know something else? On Live by the Sword, Bill Wyman's on bass. Oh, wow. So I said there's like three guests. I missed two here. So we've got one song where all of the Rolling Stones are on it.
00:50:25
Speaker
Bill Wine, Charlie Watts and Jagger. Yeah, all the surviving original members are in it. Yeah, brilliant stuff, brilliant stuff. Do you want to get, I mean, I'll tell you what. I'm sorry. All the original members were alive at the time, you know, the classic lineup. Yeah, you know, it's great. The success of this album, it's been out for a few months and already, I mean, just check this out.
Chart Success and Public Reception
00:50:51
Speaker
So I've found 30
00:50:55
Speaker
album charts in which Hackney Diamond has entered in different countries around the world. It peaked at number five in two countries, number four in one country, number three in three countries, number two in four countries, and number one in 20 countries.
00:51:16
Speaker
Wow. So it just tells you, man, that the appeal for good old rock and roll music is there. Yeah. I mean, I'll tell you about the name of our first episode, which was entirely named that way for clickbaity reasons. We said rock and roll is dead, didn't we? But how can it be, man? Rock and roll, even in the new breed of rock and roll, is thriving. And the old schoolers, the guys who
00:51:41
Speaker
not invented it, but the guys who moulded it back in the 60s, they're still going and writing music as good as this. I mean, it's not. Well, not when the tag is still kicking. I told you about the fact that we said this when we did the Beatles episode, that my dad used to brag about, you know, in my time, the Beatles and the Stones were topping the charts.
00:52:02
Speaker
And I can say the same and this is over the last few months. Yeah. Do you know something interesting is the fans are loving it as well.
00:52:12
Speaker
I didn't know this, I don't know if you guys knew, you can review an album on Google now and it goes as part of a Google review. So you know, I don't know if you visit a restaurant and you were searching before, it will tell you the Google reviews of the restaurant. I much prefer that than the specialist reviews because the one thing I love about what we do here is like we're music fans talking about music the way we normally
00:52:36
Speaker
uh chat you know like we're having a conversation and and uh sometimes the the specialists the journalists are going to write some reviews like picking on something really specific to say that the album is not that good well check out this 407 different reviews with an average score of 4.7 out of five now obviously some of the averages might be swayed a little bit you're going to have a Rolling Stones fan
00:53:05
Speaker
who thinks they can do no wrong give it a 10 out of 10 or five stars out of five and you're going to have someone who hates the Rolling Stones for whatever reason give it a zero or one on purpose so I take that number with a little pinch of salt but
00:53:19
Speaker
you know generally that is an overwhelming favorable consensus that this is a really good Rolling Stones album isn't it? It is amazing yeah and uh I just said the the single uh angry isn't it the first was the first one yeah the first song and the first it's funny we didn't actually talk about it but it's like have a listen to it because if you haven't listened to it yet it's uh
00:53:41
Speaker
The image I got on my background here for people who are watching this instead of just listening, that was taken from the video clip, which is absolutely amazing and very, very rock and roll indeed. There you go. Felipe, any last words? What makes this album rock and roll for you?
00:54:02
Speaker
the freedom, the freedom to say whatever you want to say, to sing and play in any way you want and having your mates around to make some music. Yeah. Excellent. Okay. And we'll end with my monologue as usual. Right.
00:54:20
Speaker
So Hackley Diamonds is a really good album. The album has a really nice variety of styles, spanning and including everything that we've come to know the stones for, pop, blues, rock, and even a bit of soul. I think the production has played a huge part of this too, and Andrew Watt has done an incredible job in making the Stones sound like their classic selves, but yet fresh, exciting, and vibrant. The songs are all bursting with lovely mixing and tones.
00:54:46
Speaker
To hear them still making Rolling Stones songs as similar in quality tone and overall sound as they did decades ago is a joy to behold. You'd think that they might have waned a bit in terms of still having the ability to come up with new songs, new riffs, new melodies, but no, we are treated to plenty of that in this album. I look at some of my favorite bands like Pink Floyd, Metallica, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden,
00:55:13
Speaker
And I look at their new slash later albums and I often think, well, this is okay. It's good in places, but it doesn't really hold up compared to your best work of decades gone by. But this Stones material holds up incredibly well and could actually go on to compete with some of their classic work. I think the first three songs and Sweet Sounds of Heaven in particular shine through.
00:55:37
Speaker
To put it simply, this album has a few contenders that could make it onto their greatest hits album. And I think that's the best and highest compliment I can give it considering how good, I mean, we know how good they are, don't we songs like Satisfaction, Wild Horses, Ruby Tuesday. The best compliment I can give to Hackney Diamond is that a few of these songs, in my opinion, the first three tracks and Sweet Sounds of Heaven could go on Rolling Stone's greatest of album.
00:56:02
Speaker
It's a really great piece of work and amazing to consider that this was written and executed by three men aged 76, 79 and 80, almost 60 years after their debut album, rock and fucking roll. Perfect.
00:56:22
Speaker
I mean, we said it, you said that the Beatles episode, a few episodes ago, didn't we? It's like, what year are we in? Rolling Stones and the Beatles have released new music. It's like, but yeah, a joy to behold, a joy to behold. And it's fantastic that they're completely different and separate reasons that both quality releases from bands that are over 60 years into their lifetime, if you want.
00:56:46
Speaker
Anyway, guys, thank you for joining us for another episode of the Long Live Rock and Roll Podcast. We hope you've enjoyed it. For those listening, please give us a review on Spotify and Apple. It really helps us fly out the charts and be viewed by more people. And if you're watching on YouTube, then give us a like, comment, let us know your thoughts on the album, and subscribe to the channel so you stay up to date with the videos and share us with anyone else you think might like our content. Yeah, anything else to say, man? No, just your final line, remember?
00:57:14
Speaker
All right, my final line, the saying, keep on rocking everyone. I don't think we should ever change that. I think it's got to stay. Well, I can add to it. So let me say the way I normally say to my friends, don't do anything I wouldn't do. Yes. That's got to be your new one. Please. That's right. Let's do it again. I'm going to start again. So just for everyone. I'm going to edit this out. No, no, no. Everybody listens. Felipe, one of my best mates over the last five years.
00:57:41
Speaker
every time I say goodbye to him he's always like right bye lads don't do anything I wouldn't do so that is entirely a focus that's got to be your new signing offline now okay here it is all of you signing offline all of you boys and girls up there keep on rocking and don't do anything I wouldn't do love it absolutely love it thanks for joining us guys and as usual take care and long live rock n rock