Shine a light (The Rolling Stones) (LP 4540 - 4544)

The Rolling Stones  Jump Back - The Best of The Rolling Stones '71 - '93 (CD, Virgin Records, 1993) ***  

The Rolling Stones   Stripped (CD, Virgin Records, 1993) ***

The Rolling Stones   A Bigger Bang (CD, Virgin Records, 2005) ****

The Rolling Stones   Blue and Lonesome (CD, Polydor Records, 2016) ****

The Rolling Stones   Hackney Diamonds (CD, Polydor Records, 2023) ****

Genre: Rock, pop, disco

Places I remember: The Warehouse, JB Hi Fi.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Whole Wide World (Hackney Diamonds)

Gear costume: Rough Justice (A Bigger Bang)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: As the nineties kicked off Bill Wyman decided he'd had enough and left them to it. Bill is an amazing bassist, maybe not such a great human being. His melodic bass was a great companion for Charlie's drums. Together they had a distinct personality - which doesn't exist anymore in the band.

The Rolling Stones had a few studio albums post Jump Back but I didn't bother keeping them. I even went to the Voodoo Lounge tour gig in Auckland but that and Bridges to Babylon were too long and average sounding so I flicked them off. It had been a long time since the Stones were cutting edge and relevant.

Jump Back is okay - their first compilation of the CD age but the same criticisms I made about Time Waits For No One still apply.

The next real album I bought and kept was Stripped. Only because it's different to the other live albums (I also sold off Flashpoint). I don't play Stripped much these days to be fair, but the acoustic mood is at least pleasantly consistent. On the negative side it is just a tad too cozy.

A Bigger Bang was the second to last album to have Charlie Watts occupying the drum stool. He's great on this album and Blue and Lonesome too. Mick at one point on El Mocambo quips that Charlie is a jazz drummer who was doing it for the money. The first part is right. I like to think he hung in there as a Rolling Stone for the lads and the music. But who knows.

The aim for A Bigger Bang was apparently to make a basic, hard rock album that hearkened back to their 1960s – 1970s heyday. Darryl Jones was again on bass (he'd been on Stripped). Although it's still a couple of songs too long, the album is a return to form. They certainly sound like they mean it again.

Interestingly, many of the songs are love songs where love has turned sour and it's her fault. It's a really strong set of songs, coupled with the band doing what they do best - be The Stones! Almost a five-star effort this one. Almost.

After an 11 year gap, Blue and Lonesome came next in 2016. It was a covers album and a perfect length at around 40 minutes. It was also the band having fun. It was recorded over three days, and it sounds like they rolled in and thought - what shall we have fun with today? Mick's harmonica playing is awesome on these old blues songs.

Their latest studio album and the last one on my list is Hackney Diamonds. Simply: it's a triumph. Andrew Watt is the producer and he does a great job working with the band's well-established strengths: Mick's vocals; Ronnie and Keef's guitars. It sounds like The Stones in all their glory even though there are some notable guests - Lady Gaga, Bill Wyman, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Paul McCartney and even Charlie Watts makes an appearance. 

Where do they all belong? Few would be betting on Hackney Diamonds being the last Stones album. What a career and what an amazing body of work that they've sustained on and off since the early sixties. Truly, one of a kind.