Music Review: The Rolling Stones show time’s (still) on their side with crackling ‘Hackney Diamonds’

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Near the end of the exultant “Sweet Sounds of Heaven,” the penultimate track on The Rolling Stones’ terrific new album “Hackney Diamonds”, we hear what sounds like a vocal contest between two up-and-comers: one Mick Jagger and one Lady Gaga. But now, on the track “Whole Wide World,” when Jagger sings, “And you think the party is over,” it feels like the whole album is one big answer: Um, nope! A key candidate would be the aforementioned, gospel-tinged “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” — Exhibit A of what’s fun about the album, starting with the fact that when you’re the Stones, you can invite anybody to your party and they'll show. In one, “Get Close,” Jagger croons: “I walk the city at midnight with the past strapped to my back.” The lyrics are not always this poetic, but when they are, it’s often a dialogue with the past.