The Rolling Stones will release next October 20 their 24th studio album “Hackney Diamonds”, the first one in more than 18 years. The most recent one was a “A Bigger Bang” released in 2005 and in an interview with BBC, the musician blamed the band’s singer Mick Jagger for the band taking such a longe pause in writing new material. According to him, Jagger’s enthusiasm comes in waves and you need to do the best you can with it.
Besides Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, the new album will also have the late drummer Charlie Watts on two tracks and special guests like Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney and Elton John.
Keith Richards blames Jagger for taking so long to do a new album
“Mick writes the lyrics. … But he’s got some angst in him, and I said, ‘Well, let’s use it.’ From my point of view, the essential thing about making a record is that the singer has to want to sing the material. Mick, given a song that he’s not interested in, can really make it bad. And that’s maybe one of the reasons it took 18 years because Mick’s waves of enthusiasm come and go.”
“when we start playing we all know, ‘Yep, that’s it,’ or ‘No, that isn’t it.’ And if it feels phony, then we have to watch ourselves. We actually cut this record primarily for vinyl. It’s by far the best sound if you want to listen to a record properly. Digital is toy town. It’s synthesizers. And now you have AI, which is even more superficial and artificial. Vinyl gives you what’s real and I prefer to hear it that way.”
According to him, Jagger decided to do the new album right after they finished their last tour and “He hit me in the right spot. I’ve always wanted to record the band as soon after we get off of the road because the band is lubricated,” Keith Richards said.
McCartney played the bass in a song called “Bite My Head Off”, Wonder (Keyboards) and Gaga (Vocals) appeared in the track “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” and Elton John played the piano in “Live By The Sword”, which also has the band’s original bassist Bill Wyman.
Curiously, McCartney and Elton had some feuds with the band in the past, with things said by them in the press about the Stones.