After over decade long hiatuses, two legends in the world of rock n’ roll are back with new albums on October 20: The Rolling Stones and Blink-182. One of the most preeminent and enduring rock bands of all time and pioneers of the pop-punk genre, respectively, resurfaced with much anticipated singles, previewing what is to come later this month.
Their first studio album in 18 years, and the first since the passing of drummer Charlie Watts, The Stones’ Hackney Diamonds still features two tracks recorded in 2019 with the late Watts and one with original bassist Bill Wyman. Their lead single of the album, “Angry,” opens with a Stone’s signature, sprightly rift, reminiscent of the “Start Me Up” strut.
For more nostalgia, the music video features billboards with clips of their performances throughout the decades, with Euphoria actress Sydney Sweeney riding atop a red convertible throughout the streets of LA, for a nice modern touch. Between the foot-tapping, emphatic melody and the youthful, fiery lyrics, it’s formidable how the group is as rockin’ as ever, at an average age of 79 years old.
Their other single is a contrastingly beautiful gospel ballad, “Sweet Sounds of Heaven,” in which Mick Jagger’s fervent and iconic voice complements Lady Gaga’s impossibly high and soulful freestyle. Stevie Wonder on the piano as well, of course. The Stones, 24 albums to their name, have shown no sign of slowing down.
Another original lineup back at it with emotional yet always perfectly raunchy bangers is Blink-182. Their first album together in 12 years, One More Time… features guitarist/vocalist Tom Delonge’s return after his own recess upon bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus’s cancer diagnosis. Hoppus’s illness and drummer Travis Barker’s plane crash scare led Barker to ask in their album trailer preview, “Why does it take catastrophes for our band to get back together?” One of their singles, “One Last Time…,” is about just that.
“More Than You Know” and “Edging,” the latter being a track released last year, are both raw and irate in their own right, but the most recent single, “Dance With Me,” fully displays the hormonal and immature rock that we know and love from Blink-182. In fact, in its music video the trio is decked out in their best Ramones getup, the group’s all-time idols. While some of their new tunes may be assimilating into what mainstream pop-punk has become, One More Time…is bound to be one of their most important studio albums yet.
Despite the world of autotuned and homogenous music that is ever so present in society today, The Rolling Stones and Blink-182 know how to revel in their roots and assure us that rock n’ roll is long from over. Don’t miss out on their new albums, Hackney Diamonds and One More Time…, dropping October 20.