2023: New Music From Old Men

As we grow older, our record collection grows older with us. The rock n roll survivors we grew up with (not to mention the ones who were well established before we were even born) continue making music, and we keep enjoying it. For the most part, anyway. There are, of course, those artists who carry on well past their sell-by date, don't find anything new to say, and become shadows of their former selves... and when I think about them, I have even more respect for Billy Joel, who packed in making new music thirty years ago to protect his legacy. 

Billy Joel - Great Wall Of China (from his final album in 1993)

All that said, sometimes even the faded stars of yesteryear pull a blinder. And credit where it's due, I never though the Rolling Stones would release a single as good as this so far into their bus pass years...

(Damon Albarn hates that video. So they must be doing something right.) 

The album Hackney Diamonds is as good as anything The Stones have released since the beginning of the 80s. That may sound like faint praise, but I was surprised by how solid the whole thing sounded. The Lady Gaga collaboration is a couple of steps down the same ladder as Gimme Shelter, and the video is a hoot, as Ms. Germanotta tries her best to out-Mick Mick.  

The Rolling Stones feat. Lady Gaga - Sweet Sounds Of Heaven

Then there's a Keef sung tune which proves he should do that sort of thing more often ("he's too shy," says Mick) and a proper bluesy throwback at the end... which sounds like the kind of song you'd expect the Rolling Stones to be making in their 80s... were it not for the fact that it closes a record of full-tilt rock n roll riffs from Keef and sneeringly playful invective from Mick. And to top it all off, they only go and invite another old geezer to play bass on one track... and it's a lot more listenable than that "new" Beatles track that was inflicted on us earlier in the year.

The Rolling Stones feat. Paul McCartney - Bite My Head Off

Kevin Rowland turned 70 this year, so he's still a spring chicken by Mick n Keef's standards. The lead single from the latest Dexys album promised great things, a classic Dexys soul stomper that showcased a man dripping self confidence from every pour. There are a couple more tracks on the first half of The Feminine Divine which also stand out, though the latter part of the record turns into a huge celebration / confessional of submissive relationships which borders on unintentionally hilarious at times. Still, it's better than anything Van Morrison's done lately.

Born a year or so earlier than Kevin, but still going strong, is John Mellencamp, who just released another new record, hot on the heels of last year's Strictly a One-Eyed Jack. Orpheus Descending treads similar ground, occasionally going a little too earnest and worthy for my liking, though Mellencamp's late stage Tom Waits growl is pleasing to the ear, and his practiced Grumpy Old Man demeanour is enough to keep me coming back for more.

Ron and Russell Mael are both in their late 70s. You wouldn't know it from listening to the latest Sparks album though. They sound as youthfully irreverent as ever. They're also responsible for the year's ultimate Grumpy Old Man song, a track which delights in telling us that life goes downhill fast from the moment we're born...

Nothing is as good as they say it is

That's the way it is

I wish I'd known beforehand

I was born just 22 hours ago

But I want to go

Back to my former quarters

Take a look around and you'd understand

This is not a place I could ever stand

Ugliness, anxiety, phony tans

It ain't for me

That's all

Another old timer who's definitely refusing to grow old gracefully is Mr. Vincent Furnier. Road is his 29th album (22nd as a solo artist, having taken the name of his former band) and it's much better than it deserves to be. 

Alice Cooper - I'm Alice

Don't get me wrong - it is utterly ridiculous, full of pompous rock 'n' roll cliché and legend pimping, but nobody's expecting a sensitive meditation on the human condition from Alice, and we'd be disappointed if that was what he delivered. He gets away with it - hell, he excels at it - because it's all done with gleefully OTT relish and a sly wink to the camera. 

 

Forgot my life, forgot my face

I'm not a member of the human race

My time is here, my time is now

I play the creature 'cause I know how

My lips are red, my eyes are black

And I'm as scary as a heart attack