Believe It: The New Rolling Stones Album Is Good 

The Rolling Stones, down to two original members, have released their 25th studio album, Foreign Tongues, and most of it is pretty damned good. Though the band’s imperial period came to an end in 1973 with Goats Head Soup, the Stones managed to cap the decade with one more stone-cold classic in Some Girls (1978). Some fans may cite Tattoo You (1981) as the group’s final masterpiece but even so, it is reasonable that someone could be born and have grown children since then. 

Though Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are both 82 years old, they aren’t letting the years slow them down. In many ways, Foreign Tongues plays like a sampler of what the Stones do best—ripping rock songs about debauchery (“Hit Me in the Head”), country-styled weepers (“Ringing Hollow”) and the solitary track with Richards on vocals (“Some of Us”). There are even some covers, including a straightforward but inspired take on Amy Winehouse’s “You Know I’m No Good.” Some of Foreign Tongues suffers from slick production by Andrew Watt, such as lead single “In the Stars,” but just listen to opening track “Rough and Twisted.” The Stones are at their best when playing scuzzy blues with the shellac stripped away.

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Foreign Tongues also finds the Glimmer Twins glimpsing the apocalypse once again. Much like the haunted lyrics that propel “Gimme Shelter,” Jagger looks at the world and paints his lyrics black on the record. On the infectious “Covered in You,” he sings, “I wake up sick and tired of all these autocrats / You know, they seem to be breeding like a swarm of dirty rats with their missiles on parade.” Earlier on the rocking “Mr. Charm,” Jagger even namechecks Elon Musk, and not in a celebratory way.

Not all of Foreign Tongues’ 14 tracks are as explicit, but most see the Stones in fighting form that eluded them throughout the past few decades. Both Richards and Ronnie Wood are locked in and the A-list guest stars from Paul McCartney to Robert Smith add tasteful accompaniment without overshadowing the band. Even deceased drummer Charlie Watts is given his due, as his drums were taken from one of his last recording sessions in 2019 and added to “Hit Me in the Head.”

Jagger and Richards may be the archetypal rock stars, but rock and roll is a young person’s game. This album ends with a stripped-back cover of Chuck Berry’s “Beautiful Delilah.” Foreign Tongues may or may not be the Stones’ final album, but in many ways, this nod to their roots feels like an appropriate epilogue.

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.

The Rolling Stones, down to two original members, have released their 25th studio album, Foreign Tongues, and most of it is pretty damned good. Though the band’s imperial period came to an end in 1973 with Goats Head Soup, the Stones managed to cap the decade with one more stone-cold classic in Some Girls (1978). […]David Harris{authorlink}https://www.spinmagazine.com/feed/SPINMusic News, Album Reviews, Concert Photos, Videos and Morehttps://static.spinmagazine.com/files/2023/08/cropped-logo-spin-s-340×340.png