The Rolling Stones began life in 1962 as a blues covers band, and if Blue & Lonesome is to be their final studio album then it seems fitting that they will have come full circle with a blues covers album to mirror their 1964 debut, The Rolling Stones. In the simplistic terms of just being a straightforward rock ’n’ roll band, Blue & Lonesome is the Stones’ most successful record since the release of Exile on Main Street in 1972.

The speed at which the album was put together harks back to the days when the band would release several records over a single year; The Stones recorded the twelve tracks on Blue & Lonesome over just three days in the studio last December. The band haven’t made an album this quickly since their debut, and it's almost as impressive as the twelve hours it took the Beatles to put down Please Please Me or the thirty-six hours in which Led Zeppelin recorded their debut offering.

Regardless of whether you're a fan, almost everyone respects the Stones’ status as a legendary group. Perhaps because of this, Mick Jagger's voice is often taken for granted and it's easy to forget just how great a blues singer he is. Covering world-weary bluesmen like Howlin’ Wolf and Willie Dixon, Jagger sounds more natural at seventy-three than he ever did in his twenties. He also plays a mean harmonica on several tracks. If any one member of the band is the star of The Stones' show, it’s certainly him.

“Jagger sounds more natural at seventy-three than he ever did in his twenties”

However, every member of the group puts in a good shift on Blue & Lonesome. The dual guitar attack of Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood provides some searing riffs and a crunching rhythm, while Charlie Watts is as reliable and as metronomic as ever on drums, supplying both a solid backbeat and rather more rhythmic excitement than he is often given credit for. Eric Clapton also guests, playing slide guitar on ‘Everybody Knows About My Good Thing’ and a blistering lead on album closer ‘I Can’t Quit You Baby’. 

‘Blue and Lonesome’: are rockers overpraised?

While the blues are sometimes thought of as formulaic, it would be unfair to assume that The Stones are in entirely familiar territory here, as the album makes a deliberate attempt to demonstrate the range and variety of the genre. Several tracks feature a crunchy, driving guitar and wailing harmonica, but The Stones' blues also appear in the form of the slow and smoldering 'All of My Love’, the jumpier raver ‘I Gotta Go’, and the haunting ‘Little Rain’. However, the attempt at variety is not entirely successful, as many of the selections share similar chords, melodies and rhythms. When not actively listening to the album, the tracks can easily blend into one. Moreover, the fact that the band’s first album for over ten years contains no original music at all suggests that the Jagger-Richards songwriting partnership has run out of steam, despite the countless hits it has produced. Even their 2005 album A Bigger Bang came a full eight years after 1997’s Bridges to Babylon, illustrating this creative slowdown.

Regardless of these shortcomings, the album is a surprisingly enjoyable listen. Blue & Lonesome has a classic sound reminiscent of the Chess Records greats who initially inspired the band, and the arrangements and performances are also excellent. Despite the band not having written the songs, Blue & Lonesome succeeds because The Stones are still a great rock ’n’ roll band. What makes the album such a joy is how often you can hear the group having fun; The Stones sound very much alive and kicking on every song on offer here.