BLUE & LONESOME
| The Rolling Stones
BLUE & LONESOME
Blue & Lonesome is a covers album by the Rolling Stones their 23rd British and 25th American studio album released on 2 December 2016. It is the band's first album to feature only cover songs, and their first studio release since 2005's A Bigger Bang. Despite the short time length of just around 43 minutes, the album was released as a double LP. "Just Your Fool", a Buddy Johnson cover (though the Rolling Stones version is based on Little Walter's arrangement) was released as the first single from the album on 6 October. Eric Clapton contributed guitar on two tracks.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Rolling Stone
the Stones’ first pure, straight blues record ever
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Pitchfork
On their bashed-out new album of blues covers, the Stones sound, for the first time in eons, like a band playing together in the same room rather than one that travels on separate jets.
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The Guardian
Despite the title, and against the odds, it is an album full of joy.
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NME
‘Blue & Lonesome’ is proof that old dogs don’t always have need of new tricks.
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Ultimate Classic Rock
confirmation that they're still among the best at what they do when they don't think too hard about it
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Uncut
Mick and co reconnect with their blues roots - magic happens
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Consequence of Sound
The rock legends turn in a comfortable, if snoozy batch of classic blues covers
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LA Times
The Rolling Stones' new blues album is an amplified death wheeze. And it rules
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All Music
Jagger seems freed, pouring heart into the slow burners and uptempo shuffles alike. The rest of the Stones match his commitment and that's what makes Blue & Lonesome something remarkable
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The Telegraph
the album any Rolling Stones fan would have wished for
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Drowned in Sound
Perhaps it’s time to focus on the positives while we’ve still got the Stones. There’s no shortage of them here.
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Blues Rock Review
Blue and Lonesome is pure, energetic and hard working: it’s a near perfect blues album
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Best Classic Bands
it’s as close as they’ve come to channeling that youthful, rhapsodic, often shambolic vibe in just about forever
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Pop Matters
a peak moment in the storied career of rock's most enduring band
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Independent
there are some great grooves here
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Slant Magazine
the Stones are firing on all cylinders throughout Blue & Lonesome
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RTE
`Five decades in the making and just three days to record,' runs the clever tag-line for Blue and Lonesome, a gritty, trebly testament to the power, sometimes lost, of the Rolling Stones and a magisterial tribute to Chicago blues
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50 Third and 3rd
their best record since my birth at least
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All About Jazz
Blue & Lonesome is not just for fans of the Stones but, just as much, for those who appreciate the blues in a grittier, more raucous setting
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Varsity
has a classic sound reminiscent of the Chess Records greats who initially inspired the band, and the arrangements and performances are also excellent
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The Star
actually comes very close to capturing the raw buzz of the earliest Rolling Stones recordings
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Spill Magazine
The band makes these classic tracks their own, playing them like old Blues masters.
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Metro
their mojo is definitely still intact in wonderful, crunching blues bursts
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Spectrum Culture
it’s a good, not great, effort
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Psychedelic Baby Magazine
It’s a hands down keeper, the album from the boys I’ve been waiting on for nearly my entire life.
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SF Gate
The music is crude and electrifying, adjectives that haven’t applied to the Stones’ recorded work in years
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Newsday
rock-solid blues album
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American Blues Scene
The sparseness and gritty quality is present and proper, but not egregious and overpowering.
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Louder Sound
Collection of blues covers takes the Stones back to their roots and to the top of their game
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Cover Me
rough, ready, raw, vibrant. Grown men plying their trade.
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NY Post
their best work in years
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The Young Folks
almost the perfect album for the Stones to make now. They have nothing left to say, nothing left to do, so now they should just be happy to be themselves.
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Baeble Music
proof that the Rolling Stones still have the capability to produce amazing sounds
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Louder Than War
within ‘Blue and Lonesome’ there is evidence of everything that is captivating about the Rolling Stones
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Cryptic Rock
It is certainly a fun album that offers Blues Rock fans some new takes on old-time classics and younger generations an introduction to some songs they may have not heard otherwise.
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Irish Times
A happy surprise - for a change.
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Toronto Sun
Mick, Keith and the boys have never sounded more at home
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Clash
an entirely logical and timely release for The Rolling Stones
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Classic Rock Revisted
This one will have you crying the blues in no time… and cranking it up to 10 all night long.
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Sound Lab
What stands out the most on this heartfelt effort is the compressed sound that captures the integrity of the genre.
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The Moshville Times
they still sound brilliant, and this album really showcases the raw talent that led to their success
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Lexgo
Blue & Lonesome” is the sound of a band emancipated. Freed from the sense of commercial and critical expectation that comes with such a vast and chronicled history, the Stones honor immediacy on this almost impromptu blues soirée.
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Record Collector
Jagger has rarely sounded so animated or unaffectedly impassioned; moaning, testifying and pumping blood into the tracks between unleashing his legendary harmonica skills
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Irish Examiner
the sound of musicians taking a pilgrimage back to their roots and thus constitutes a near-perfect sign off
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Music Enthusiast
There’s a real presence here and a really strong, authentic blues feel.
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Minnesota Public Radio
they were faithful to the production values of the music they included on the album by keeping it simple and playing the songs as they likely did over five decades ago
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Evening Standard
it’s less the sound of old men enjoying themselves, more the sound of revitalised men doing what they always wanted
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Scenes
Blue & Lonesome has a taut, rock-infused blues groove and features brash vocals by Mick Jagger, mixed loud, front and center.
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100.3 the Q
Mick’s voice sounds better than it has in years. It’s like he’s slipped into a comfy jacket he’s had hanging in his wardrobe for decades and decades: it still fits.
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Vintage Rock
Blue & Lonesome without any expectations is far more apropos for the world's greatest rock and roll band
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New Zealand Herald
the most authentic and blow-you-away blues album I have heard in years
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Santa Barbara Independent
This is the strongest Stones release since 1981’s Tattoo You and actually harks back to — arguably — the Stones’ finest album, Exile on Main St., in that it celebrates the rich legacy of America’s most enduring home-brewed music.
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Musoscribe
they tear into these songs with all the gutbucket feel of their blues and forebears. They’re superb interpreters of these classics.
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My Rock Mixtapes
offers a galvanizing experience to the roots of the Stones, yet capturing their personalities and strengths in a modern, refreshing way
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Something Esle!
There is an effervescence and a sense of fun throughout Blue and Lonesome which makes it entirely listenable.
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AAA Backstage
this album beholds a reinvigorated Rolling Stones’ sound that holds up against anything in their career
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Community Voices
affirms the music's continued hallowed place in the band's oeuvre
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The Fire Note
the real star of Blue & Lonesome is this great music
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Pop Dose
a record that actually deserves to be on that shelf
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Gulf News Music
the music is remarkably self-assured and comfortable
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Business Insider
an album that's one of their best
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Beat Patrol
it’s more than OK, which is not something you can say about many Stones albums over the last 30 years
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Flood Magazine
a pleasant reminder of how sharp The Stones can be
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Newcastle herald
an album of blues covers recorded in three days and displays The Stones at their most primal and thrilling
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Bourbon and Vinyl
“Blue And Lonesome” gets BourbonAndVinyl’s strongest recommendation! Enjoy!
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John McFerrin Music Reviews
very intertwined guitar lick sounds masterful, every drum beat is strong and precise, and every sung note or harmonica lick is intoxicating
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oColly
as much a Stones record as it as a homage to the ancestors of blues, who graciously provided their rock ‘n’ roll contemporaries with the raw ingredients for soul music
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Stack
Buy this; listen to it ear-bleedingly loud. You’ll smile and want their entire back catalogue.
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The 13th Floor
The Stones have come full circle, at once keeping the blues alive and finding their own place musically, 50-plus years into their career.
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Immortal Reviews
Least Favorite Tracks: all of them.
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The Indie Sound
honestly exceeded every single one of my expectations
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Renowned for Sound
Blues is best served ripened, matured and fused with a nod to history. Blue & Lonesome does just this – all presented with a ferocity rooted in a deeper antiquity and noble admittance.
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The Student Playlist
There’s something incredibly dignified about ‘Blue & Lonesome’, a covers album that shows the Stones as music fans rather than as rock gods.
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Rock and Roll Traffic
I think they’ve really captured the old magic, and created something quite special. Sit back and enjoy!
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Rock the Body Electric
A solid album that isn't necessary but still a fun listen, extra full star up there for Jagger's harmonica work.
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Tom Caswell
Overall it’s a superb album that should be in the running for album of the year.
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Funkish
the best new Blues album you can get that will lead you back to discover all the great Blues men that influenced The Rolling Stones
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Red Dirt Report
This is one of the best things they've ever recorded.
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Undercover Rocklife
Indeed it’s the Stones’ first pure, straight blues record ever.
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Showsha
And with each listening of the album, you can’t help but wonder: What took them so long?
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The Beat Bali
a no-frills, irony-free blast of fresh air
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Hamilton News
Blue & Lonesome by the Rolling Stones is the most authentic and blow-you-away blues album I have heard in years.
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HITC
Throughout, the sound on Blue & Lonesome captures the clatter of a largely live band loyally rendering the music of their heroes. Despite the title, and against the odds, it is an album full of joy.
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RARAs Farm's Music Blog
definitely worthy of a test ride
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Illinois Entertainer
The band’s interplay is sharp, intuitive, and the perfect kind of loose, thanks to steady touring during the past four years.
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The Daily Free Press
it was American blues that inspired them, and this album serves as a testament to the genre
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Punk News
They're tapping that same essence that fueled their early fiery singles and those classic mid-period albums, and moreso, they're showing that this music does not age, it is ageless.
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Making a Scene!
The Rolling Stones get to indulge their blues habit. Jagger’s commanding vocals help make this an impressive session.
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NPR
The new album captures the Stones in all their gritty, bluesy, rocking glory, and the recordings have the swagger and energy of the most classic Rolling Stones sides.
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Go!
I can’t imagine a Stones fan not adding Blue & Lonesome to their collection
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Amoeba Music
The Stones don't get any better than this.
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Entertainment Times
These are raw and soulful songs
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XFDR Magazine
feels like a major letdown
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stereoboard.com
simply one of the most authentic blues albums released in years
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Exclaim!
ou can't knock the clear passion and admiration the band have for their source material, and that feels baked right into Blue and Lonesome.
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Blues Junction
as far as I’m concerned Blue & Lonesome is just one more, bad blues album
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