Hackney Diamonds: The Definitive Rolling Stones Review

Hackney Diamonds, the Rolling Stones’ 24th studio album, is the best thing they have recorded since the late 1970s.

Released on October 20, 2023, it is the first collection of original Stones material in 18 years.

It arrived with a creative hunger that most bands abandon by their third decade.

This is not a polished nostalgia package designed to sell stadium seats.

This is a lean, electric record that crackles with genuine purpose, and if you are even a casual fan of the members of the Rolling Stones, it will stop you in your tracks.

Hackney Diamonds: Eighteen Years in the Making

The last time the Rolling Stones released a studio album of original songs, George W. Bush was in the White House.

That was A Bigger Bang, released in September 2005.

In the years that followed, the band toured relentlessly but struggled to find creative traction in the studio.

Guitarist Keith Richards cited Mick Jagger’s reluctance to record new material and his own difficulty adapting his playing style due to arthritis as factors in the long delay.

Sessions began again in 2020 but were interrupted by the pandemic.

Work resumed in 2021, but momentum kept stalling.

Then, in August 2021, drummer Charlie Watts died.

Richards later credited Charlie’s passing as the thing that finally made the band get serious about finishing an album.

Jagger proposed a hard deadline of February 14, 2023.

That deadline, combined with one pivotal new creative partner, changed everything.

The result felt less like a scheduled release and more like a reckoning with time, grief, and legacy.

For context on just how far the band had come since their first record, the story behind The Rolling Stones’ self-titled debut makes the distance between 1964 and 2023 feel both enormous and somehow logical.

Andrew Watt and the Recording Sessions

In mid-2022, Paul McCartney suggested producer Andrew Watt to guitarist Ronnie Wood.

Watt had built a reputation for pulling raw, present-tense energy out of veteran rock acts.

Jagger agreed, impressed by Watt’s instinct for keeping sessions efficient and alive at the same time.

Watt first saw the Stones perform at Electric Lady Studios in New York in late 2022.

He took over production at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles by November of that year.

Principal tracking took roughly four weeks from start to finish.

Two additional weeks of overdubs followed.

Jagger recorded his vocals entirely separately, only after all guitar work was locked in.

That discipline is audible in every mix: the music stands on its own before a single lyric is added.

Compare that focus to the extended, unfocused sessions that eventually produced the recently revisited Black and Blue reissue, and the difference is stark.

Watt handed them a mirror and a stopwatch, and they delivered.

Hackney Diamonds Track-by-Track Highlights

The album opens with “Angry,” a punchy, guitar-forward rocker that functions as a mission statement.

Jagger’s vocal is clipped and insistent, and Richards tears through the main riff with his old authority.

“Get Close” follows, with Elton John on piano, lush and surprisingly melodic.

“Depending on You” settles into a warm, soulful groove that echoes their finest early 1970s work.

“Bite My Head Off” is the gleefully unhinged highlight, a garage stomp featuring Paul McCartney on bass.

McCartney locks in with drummer Steve Jordan, and the combination is completely effortless.

“Whole Wide World” keeps the momentum rolling with a compact, punchy arrangement.

“Dreamy Skies” is the album’s quiet gem, a country-inflected ballad with a firelit warmth that lingers after the record ends.

“Mess It Up” is the emotional centerpiece, built around a Charlie Watts drum track recorded in 2019.

Hearing Charlie’s pocket groove on a new Stones record in 2023 is equal parts heartbreaking and beautiful.

“Live by the Sword” hits hard and fast with a grinding riff that could have come straight off Some Girls.

“Driving Me Too Hard” bends toward soul-drenched R&B territory and works better than it has any right to.

“Tell Me Straight” is Keith Richards on lead vocals, unadorned and deliberately rough around every edge.

“Sweet Sounds of Heaven” closes the standard edition in commanding style, a gospel-tinged epic featuring Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder on a slow-building six-minute burn.

Watch the official visual for “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” on YouTube and see if you can get through it without feeling something.

The deluxe edition adds “Criss Cross,” which includes another Charlie Watts drum track from 2019, and closes with “Rolling Stone Blues,” a Muddy Waters cover that draws a direct line from where the Stones started to where they stand today.

Guest Stars, Charlie Watts, and Bigger Stakes

The guest roster on this album reads like a summit of rock royalty.

Paul McCartney plays bass on “Bite My Head Off” and an additional deluxe edition track.

Elton John contributes piano to “Get Close.”

Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder both appear on “Sweet Sounds of Heaven,” and the chemistry among all three is genuinely electric.

Former Stones bassist Bill Wyman returned to the fold for the first time in 30 years, contributing to “Bite My Head Off” on the recommendation of Andrew Watt.

That reunion alone was a headline, but the band buried it quietly in the fine print, which is a very Stones move.

The shadow of Charlie Watts hangs over every track, but never in a mournful or self-congratulatory way.

Steve Jordan brings real authority and feel to the majority of the drumming throughout the record.

But on “Mess It Up,” Charlie’s 2019 drum track sits at the heart of the arrangement, swinging with his trademark economy and restraint.

It is the most quietly devastating moment in the Stones catalog since “Wild Horses.”

Few rock bands have lost a founding member and come back with something this focused and alive.

Bands like Fleetwood Mac and Cream faced their own versions of that crossroads, and the outcomes were never a given.

The Stones chose to grieve through creation, and Charlie Watts would have respected nothing more.

Charts, Grammys, and Why This Album Matters

Hackney Diamonds reached number one in 20 countries on release.

It topped the UK Albums Chart in its first week, becoming the band’s 14th number one there.

It returned to the top spot on December 22, 2023, making it the first Rolling Stones Christmas number one album.

Critics responded with enthusiasm the band had not generated in decades.

Many reached back to Let It Bleed and Exile on Main Street when hunting for the right comparison.

At the 67th Grammy Awards in February 2025, the album won Best Rock Album.

That is not a lifetime achievement honor.

That is a competitive Grammy won on merit, in real time, against younger bands.

The album title comes from London street slang for the broken glass left behind after a smash-and-grab robbery.

Hackney is an inner-city borough of London historically linked to crime and grit.

Richards described it as the debris of a Saturday night that went wrong.

That metaphor suits this band perfectly: they have always been the broken glass, not the window.

The Stones followed the album with an extensive Hackney Diamonds Tour in 2024, and the whole campaign was documented through an IMAX concert film that returned to screens in December 2025.

For a contrasting critical perspective on this record, the deep-dive essay at Past Prime is worth reading alongside this one.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Hackney Diamonds?

Hackney Diamonds is the 24th studio album by the Rolling Stones, released October 20, 2023 on Polydor Records.

It was their first album of original songs since A Bigger Bang in 2005, an 18-year gap.

It was produced by Andrew Watt and features guest appearances from Paul McCartney, Elton John, Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder, and Bill Wyman.

Who plays drums on Hackney Diamonds?

Steve Jordan handles the majority of drum tracks on the album.

The late Charlie Watts recorded drum parts in 2019 that appear on “Mess It Up” and the deluxe edition track “Criss Cross.”

What does the title Hackney Diamonds mean?

It is London street slang for the broken glass left behind after a window is smashed in a robbery.

Hackney is an inner-city borough of London with a historically high crime rate.

Keith Richards described it as the debris of a good Saturday night that went bad.

Did Hackney Diamonds win a Grammy?

Yes. The album won Best Rock Album at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, held in February 2025.

It beat a competitive field and was awarded on musical merit, not legacy alone.

How does Hackney Diamonds compare to classic Stones albums?

Critics and longtime fans consistently place it among the band’s best work since Some Girls in 1978.

The speed of recording, quality of songwriting, and emotional weight of Charlie Watts’ presence elevate it well above anything the Stones had delivered in decades.

If you are only going to buy one Rolling Stones album from the last four decades, make it Hackney Diamonds.