In their 25th release, the legendary band drop bluesy bangers, rock hits and that relentless spirit that shows that they’re showstoppers even after 70 years.
Mind you, you’re listening to a band that was considered the alternative rival for The Beatles. A band that very naturally became the choice for a gritty, harder blues sound and delivered music that wasn’t necessarily theme-driven about love, like the boys from Liverpool. 70 years later, this band from the 60s is still making real rocking music, and it comes at a time when we need that kind of pride the most. Any sane person would have thought their 2023 album Hackney Diamonds would be their last. Respectfully, they are going to make music till they stop. This one is hitting a legendary quarter century. Give it up for their mind-boggling 25th album, Foreign Tongues.
Rock royalty in the house
It never ceases to amaze me that my favourite band’s favourite band’s inspiration still makes music, tours, and performs very regularly. After the death of Charlie Watts, people weren’t sure how the Stones were going to sound. Though Watts was technically very gifted and primarily a jazz drummer, he leant into the bluesy hard rock groove a lot. Hackney Diamonds showed a very different side of the stones. They were continuing the same legacy but had tried some stuff out, which felt a bit whittled down. The groove here is much more evident and catchy and sounds like stuff the Super Bowl would use as a background track on many of their ads.
Finding a new groove
Bringing Keith Richards’ personal favourite drummer Steve Jordan into this very eclectic mix of gentlemen has been a great idea. Jordan knows how to revere the original rhythm guru for this band while adding a flair only he can, the way John Mayer described his contribution in compositions to be. It is unbelievable that Jagger also sounds pretty much the same. Like many other people my age, we have heard a large chunk of music across decades in a relatively short period. Jagger still knows how to deliver lines sharper than your favourite satirist and edgier than the trends can catch up to.
So when the album starts with “Rough and Twisted”, you can hear the condensed version of about 70 years of rock and blues love come out in a few seconds. The lyrics remain sharp and clever, vernacular to where they come from, while still having the global appeal that made the Stones’ logo so iconic. Their second track becomes an emotional stadium tearjerker with big hook choruses and a band somehow achieving prime songwriting status even now. Asking McCartney to play bass as a guest on the album seems like a full-circle moment after all the history they have had through more than half a century.
A better blues glue that binds
Though the band said that a lot of the tracks are spillovers from Hackney Diamonds, they find a general cohesiveness in the songs that perhaps wasn’t there in the previous release. It’s in songs like “Jealous Lover” where The Rolling Stones are able to bring their industry-peak polish out while going into rambunctious harmonica solos in “Mr Charm”. Jagger might sing in falsettos and bring out a gruff growl through parts of the album, but the band’s overarching charm is undeniable. Your ears will trace down groovy bass lines from the moment McCartney’s magic fingers have been a part of this album.
It’s not just star power pushing the music. Sure, Bruno Mars, Chad Smith, Robert Smith, McCartney. Steve Winwood and more have lent their talents to this album, but there’s a comfort in knowing a band of this stature still hasn’t dulled their edge. They still find weird things funny, make lyrics feel like the experience of a group of friends and enjoy the blues together. Delivering quick tempos in songs like “Divine Intervention”, it’s clear when the Rolling Stones are getting political and when they are most often not.
Ballads to bangers
The range and dynamics are something to be proud about. You get a sweet Americana flow after a jaunty groove, and both stand out in their own way. You’d be silly to say songs like “Hit Me in the Head” are not actually entering hard rock territory. Mick Jagger still does his iconic count-ins, and the band naturally follows promptly. It’s great that Charlie lives through this music, through how the band still finds mirth, joy, excitement, anger, and a certain relish in making music for humans.
Worry not, for this won’t be the last you’ve heard of the Stones. The band still has some more songs left over for their next release. Like a bunch of good old-school rockers, there are a few songs ahead, not just by contract but just the way they catch up and jam. That’s why it is highly recommended you stay in a group of friends first and then proceed to become the greatest rock and roll band in the world. The Rolling Stones, as usual, depict great range and style, and there is famous rowdyism in Foreign Tongues.
Something for the forever fans
Their love songs are unique, specific, and make another popular name even more famous. With star producer Andrew Watt, there is order from the disorder of Hackney Diamonds to give us something to reminisce about and learn from. A band with majorly 80-year-olds performing and composing music still finds the inspiration, drive and nerve. They carry naivete, passion and a style that makes for forever fans. This is made for the ones who have stuck with them through thick and thin, throughout 50 years and more. Like it’s been aptly titled in their penultimate track, they’re back in your life:
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