Will the reviews for the new Rolling Stones single make the band happy or angry?

A new Rolling Stones album is a huge moment. Hackney Diamonds will be their first original material in 18 years and, of course, their first without Charlie Watts, although he does feature on a couple of tracks. We’ll have to wait a little longer to hear the album, but the band has released a new single from it. 

The release of the new single gives us our first chance to assess whether after all these years there is still a fresh spark in the band's music. So how has the new track “Angry” been received so far since it emerged as part of the new album's formal launch on September 6? Will the band themselves be happy with the response?

The single starts with a great riff and driving beat. Mick Jagger's vocals sound pretty strong as he pleads that we don't get angry with him. It’s a typically swaggering guitar sound and you can certainly imagine Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood enjoying getting stuck into the new track. 

Jagger and Richards share the writing credits with producer Andrew Watt. You can hear the track for yourself below in the video below starring actress Sydney Sweeney: 

The Rolling Stones “Angry” single reviews

The critical response has been very positive so far and the band will be delighted with some of the ratings and comments.

iNews rated the single a full five stars and reckoned it’s the band’s best song in decades. The Telegraph took that a bit further, stating it's the Stones' best single in 40 years and also awarding a full 5 stars. The Guardian rated slightly lower but still very impressed with four out of five stars. The New York Times didn't offer a star rating, but it reads as though their reviewer liked it.

"There’s no mistaking the time-tested Rolling Stones sound on “Angry,” the first single off Hackney Diamonds the band’s first album of its own songs since 2005. The beat is blunt and brawny. The guitars riff and mesh, but also tangle and tease one another. And Mick Jagger unleashes full-throated indignation as he lets a lover — an angry one — know that they’re breaking up. He’s aggrieved, petulant, wounded and flippant, almost all at once."

- Jon Pareles, New York Times

To balance those views Farout magazine had a slightly more critical view of the single. They agreed it rolled back the decades but wanted the band to go back further than just 1986. While they liked the single generally it wasn't seen as a classic.  

"It’s a little bit of fun, but at this stage, we’ve had most of the fun we can stomach from The Stones, and I’ll be damned if ‘Angry’ gets a cheer comparable to one of their classics when they hit the road."

- Farout magazine

Overall the comments and reviews should make the band very happy. It’s a positive response to the new single and hides well for the new album to be a hit. Hackney Diamonds is released on October 20.