Albums to watch

Hackney Diamonds

The Rolling Stones

Hackney Diamonds

The latest release from the rock veterans, and first album of original material since 2005, includes guest appearances from Elton John, Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and Bill Wyman

ADM rating[?]

7.7

Label
Universal Music
UK Release date
20/10/2023
US Release date
20/10/2023
  1. 10.0 |   The Arts Desk

    On 'Hackney Diamonds', they’re doing what they do best, but at full throttle
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  2. 10.0 |   Spill Magazine

    Hackney Diamonds is an absolutely incredible musical experience
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  3. 9.0 |   musicOMH

    With a galaxy of guest stars, from Stevie Wonder via Elton John to Lady Gaga, if this astonishingly fresh album really is the legends’ last, it’s an incredible swansong
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  4. 9.0 |   Paste Magazine

    The greatest rock band of all time still has a lot left in the tank on their 24th studio album—an ambitious, familiar and explosive return after going 18 years without releasing an album of new material
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  5. 8.0 |   American Songwriter

    Hackney Diamonds is quintessential Stones, a fine comeback by any measure. Some 60 years on, the Stones are rolling as effortlessly as ever. Welcome back, boys
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  6. 8.0 |   The FT

    Paul McCartney, Elton John and Lady Gaga guest on a record that shows fresh life in the Jagger-Richards writing partnership
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  7. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    The Stones’ first album of original material in 18 years crackles with a sense of purpose, with fabulous Keith Richards riffs and Mick Jagger sounding genuinely energised
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  8. 8.0 |   The Irish Times

    No one expects the band’s quality control to scale the heights of yesteryear, but this collection is more than a pleasant surprise
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  9. 8.0 |   The Independent

    A late-career Exile on Main Street? Their best since the Seventies? Arguably, but such hyperbole undeniably rests on the broad shoulders of the seven-minute “Sweet Sounds of Heaven”, the album’s spectacular spiritual crescendo
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  10. 8.0 |   Rolling Stone

    Hackney Diamonds isn’t just another new Stones album, but a vibrant and cohesive record — the first Stones album in ages you’ll want to crank more than once before filing away
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  11. 8.0 |   NME

    Rejoice! The rock legends' first album of original material in almost two decades is an absolute barnstormer
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  12. 8.0 |   Mojo

    Hackney Diamonds feels like a self-aware, historically mindful party, Jagger’s remarkable vocal thrust utterly unimpaired. Print edition only

  13. 8.0 |   Record Collector

    Sparkles brightest when it touches base with bygone precious gems. And, let’s be honest, isn’t that what most of us were hoping for?
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  14. 7.0 |   Punk News

    So, the Stones are still the Stones and sometimes on this album they are THE Stones. That’s pretty good for a late career, two decades in the works, LP
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  15. 7.0 |   Beats Per Minute

    Hackney Diamonds is a really great late Stones album, albeit just a pretty good rock album in the canon of history
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  16. 7.0 |   PopMatters

    The Rolling Stones’ Hackney Diamonds sounds like a great band making a good record well past the point we thought it possible
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  17. 7.0 |   Slant Magazine

    The album captures a genuinely contemporary flair that the band hasn’t successfully embodied since the late 1970s
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  18. 7.0 |   Clash

    More releases may yet emerge from this batch of recordings, but ‘Hackney Diamonds’ presents a group whose virility, ambition, and desire to connect remains undimmed
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  19. 7.0 |   Exclaim

    Hackney Diamonds may not go down as an iconic Stones LP, but this late in the game it's basically a triumph by nearly every measure
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  20. 6.0 |   The Observer

    With plenty of strut and starry backup, the band’s first album of originals in nearly two decades peaks in its quieter moments
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  21. 4.5 |   Pitchfork

    Speckled with guest stars and produced by Andrew Watt, the Stones’ second original album this century is a bunch of hackneyed duds, polished until the character has disappeared
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