The votes are in: according to the Internet, the new Rolling Stones song doesn’t suck

By Steve Newton

A few days ago I published a blog with the headline: Does the new Rolling Stones song suck, or is it awesome?

I posted it just a few hours after the Stones had released the video for “Angry”, the first single off its upcoming Hackney Diamonds album.

Since then, the clip–which portrays a smokin’ hot blonde getting off on the song in the backseat of a convertible–has gotten more than 13 million views on YouTube.

My blog about it also garnered quite a few hits–and plenty of comments.

Stones fans around the world should know that–no matter what I think–the vast majority of commenters believe that the song is awesome, and only a few feel that it sucks.

“Ah shit, I love it,” wrote Chilliwack resident John Auber Armstrong on my Facebook group, Newt’s Flaming Colossal Rockatorium. “Lots of good things: the guitar breaks, the vocal, pretty snarly for old men – it’s rather late in the game to expect anything on a level with that amazing run in the late ’60s and early ’70s – then again, I’m also someone who loves both Goats Head and IORR, and I still listen to Bigger Bang with real enjoyment. I’m a hopeless case of lifelong fan …”

Other commenters tempered their enthusiasm somewhat:

“It’s a good record for what it is but let’s be honest,” declared Atlanta’s Jim Farley in the FCRS group. “It falls a bit short of the ‘Gimme Shelter’, ‘Tumbling Dice’, ‘Midnight Rambler’, and ‘Can’t You Hear Me Knocking’ offerings of days gone by. While it’s ambitious, it’s not ground breaking and if it was offered up by any other band today, it would fall flat. The fact that the guys are now in their eighties makes it a bit more impressive.”

“I think it’s decent and that surprises me a little,” remarked M.G. Hucul back on Newt’s Flaming Colossal Rockatorum. “I was expecting mediocrity. I thought the best Stones albums released in the last 35-odd years were two Keith Richards solo albums: Talk Is Cheap and Main Offender.”

I think M.G. might have a point there. Which leads me to another question: Who wants to see another Keef solo album before he heads upstairs to jam with Charlie and Brian?

Keef ‘n me touching skull rings, 1993