{"id":2493980,"date":"2026-07-08T20:37:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T20:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2493980"},"modified":"2026-07-08T20:37:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T20:37:05","slug":"rolling-stones-review-foreign-tongues-is-yet-another-tasty-new-treat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/rolling-stones-review-foreign-tongues-is-yet-another-tasty-new-treat\/","title":{"rendered":"Rolling Stones review: ‘Foreign Tongues’ is yet another tasty new treat"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u201cWhen I was oh so young I used to want to go to Mars,\u201d sings Mick Jagger<\/a><\/span> \u2014 that staccato voice still remarkably sharp and clear \u2014 on \u201cForeign Tongues,\u201d<\/a><\/span> the Rolling Stones\u2019 25th studio album.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I\u2019m older,\u201d the frontman notes, a few lines later. \u201cI would like to ask you if tonight we could stay at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Say what?<\/p>\n

Are these the Stones, our perennial bad-boy Brits with yet-full heads of hair, our proud Peter Pans of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll, singing about growing old? <\/p>\n

But we\u2019ll allow this slight nod to mortality in the tune called \u201cMr. Charm,\u201d especially because plans for this evening at home DO sound nice \u2014 with the promise of cocktails and wine. \u201cYou see I\u2019m really quite polite,\u201d the song goes.<\/p>\n

Polite is not always the word associated with this 64-year old band \u2014 remember the run-ins with various police departments? These days, Jagger, Keith Richards<\/a><\/span> and Ronnie Wood are neither rebels nor degenerates \u2014 they\u2019re natty multimillionaires. But they\u2019re cheeky enough to add a jab, in \u201cMr. Charm,\u201d at \u201cmad mogul Mr. Musk.\u201d A compliment, it is not.<\/p>\n

More seriously, the Stones get downright political in one song on the excellent and eminently listenable \u201cForeign Tongues,\u201d an album that expands on an improbable late burst in creativity launched by the Grammy-winning 2023 \u201cHackney Diamonds.\u201d<\/a><\/span> That song, \u201cRinging Hollow,\u201d is at turns biting and depressing, since it chronicles a failing love story between the band and the country they conquered decades ago: the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell I was madly in love with you before we ever met,\u201d it goes. \u201cWatched all your movies, smoked your cigarettes.\u201d<\/p>\n

But things have changed in current-day America, where \u201cthere\u2019s always a scoundrel trying to whip up the crowd\u201d (no current leaders are mentioned by name). \u201cLady Liberty don\u2019t look so good when she\u2019s wearing a frown.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll tell you what DOES look, or rather sound, good \u2014 Jagger\u2019s voice. How has it stayed this potent, as he turns 83? We\u2019ll have what he\u2019s having, as they say. In \u201cJealous Lover,\u201d a breakup song, he even flexes a fierce falsetto, \u00e0 la \u201cEmotional Rescue.\u201d Richards, unsurprisingly, matches that potency on guitar, and also delivers a truly poignant lead vocal turn in \u201cSome of Us,\u201d about a lover who keeps him on his toes \u2014- or actually, on his knees. (\u201cSome of us are on our knees, begging, baby.\u201d) As for Wood, listen to Jagger call out \u201cC\u2019mon Ronnie!\u201d as the guitarist digs into a searing solo on \u201cBack in Your Life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The album is strikingly consistent, with no true clunker in the bunch, though some tunes are more memorable than others. And as with \u201cHackney Diamonds,\u201d there\u2019s an enviable guest contingent: Bruno Mars plays cowbell on \u201cNever Wanna Lose You,\u201d and Paul McCartney guests on bass in \u201cCovered in You.\u201d (Paul also dropped by on the last album. Is this a regular visit that might extend one day to the concert stage? Maybe?) Steve Winwood has organ duties and The Cure\u2019s Robert Smith contributes on guitar and backup vocals.<\/p>\n

The most poignant \u201cguest\u201d of all is hardly a guest \u2014 the late, great Charlie Watts<\/a><\/span> appears on \u201cHit Me in the Head,\u201d his track recorded in Los Angeles before the iconic drummer\u2019s 2021 death at age 80. It\u2019s hard not to feel the goosebumps when you hear him get started. (Elsewhere, Steve Jordan is on drums.)<\/p>\n

Some songs seem ready for the next arena set, if there\u2019s room among the classics (a big \u201cif.\u201d) Like the rocking \u201cDivine Intervention,\u201d or maybe \u201cRough and Twisted,\u201d which opens the album with a bluesy growl: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you drive me, down that rough and twisted road? Why don\u2019t you guide me, \u2019cause I don\u2019t know which way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

But of course, the band DOES seem to know which way to go \u2014 especially under expert guidance from Andrew Watt, who also produced \u201cHackney.\u201d <\/p>\n

Most of the songs, as usual, are by Jagger and Richards, but there\u2019s also a fine cover of Amy Winehouse\u2019s \u201cYou Know I\u2019m No Good,\u201d with Jagger doing double duty on vocals and harmonica.<\/p>\n

And the album ends on a cover of Chuck Berry\u2019s \u201cBeautiful Delilah.\u201d Like the final, Muddy Waters track on \u201cHackney,\u201d it feels like a loving nod to a seminal moment on a train platform.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re talking, of course, about that 1961 meeting between teenagers named Keith and Mick, a bunch of blues albums tucked under the arm of the future frontman \u2014 a moment that launched one of the great partnerships in the history of rock. It\u2019s still, improbably, rocking. And creating.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

\u201cForeign Tongues\u201d by the Rolling Stones<\/p>\n

Four stars out of five<\/p>\n

On repeat: \u201cDivine Intervention,\u201d \u201cRinging Hollow,\u201d \u201cRough and Twisted,\u201d \u201cSome of Us\u201d <\/p>\n

Skip it: Nah, every track here contains something interesting. <\/p>\n

For fans of: Rock \u2019n\u2019 roll, pure and simple. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n