The Rolling Stones - Hackney Diamonds

A band now peerless, whose adoption – and mutation – of American blues is so entrenched now in Western rock canon that they can only reasonably be compared to themselves, to say that ‘Hackney Diamonds’ sounds like a Rolling Stones record is, yes, a somewhat obvious take, but also the most succinct one. That it’s nearly twenty years since their last new material, with ‘A Bigger Bang’, shows they know full well they don’t need to crank out records to remain on the road: they’ve barely stopped in the interim, and one would bet they’ve already queued up at the ABBA hologram creators’ base to continue when even science forbids. A labour of love, then, this must be – and the two threads that run through the record seem to support the idea: while there’s a constant sense of fun, there’s also always a consciousness about who, or what the Rolling Stones are.

For reflection, see the slide guitar and pure Americana of ‘Dreamy Skies’, or the frankly iconic use of Lady Gaga’s range on ‘Sweet Sounds of Heaven’, an immediate mirror image of Merry Clayton’s turn on ’Gimme Shelter’ back in the 1960s. Its fun, meanwhile, peaks with the batshit – whichever way you choose to look at it – ‘Live By The Sword’. With such couplets as “If you’re deep in the crime / Well, you’re deep in the slime” and “If you live like a whore / Better be hardcore,” if there were any whispers of taking oneself seriously, it’d be over. These are awful lyrics on anyone’s watch. But here (with the added sparkle of one Elton John, no less) a knowing wink – or exaggerated pout - leads it to merely reek endearingly of cabin fever, a (grand)dad joke taken to extremes, perhaps. Or take the Paul McCartney- featuring ‘Bite My Head Off’, during which one can’t help but picture Abe Simpson’s fist aloft. When you’ve made as deep and enduring a cultural mark as this, what’s a little lighthearted fun? After all, it’s only rock’n’roll.