Finally Quenching My Thirst

The Rolling Stones featuring Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder “Sweet Sounds of Heaven”

The Rolling Stones have not set expectations for new material very high since the 90s, so “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” being as great as it is comes as something of a pleasant surprise for me. It’s a bluesy R&B ballad in the mode of “Loving Cup,” which helps as their rockers over the past few decades tend to be uncomfortably formulaic, like slightly off-the-mark simulations of themselves. But this actually sounds like the Stones at their best, and it feels a little loose and ragged despite the cosmetic “corrections” of modern studio technology. If you’re attracted to this band more for Mick Jagger’s quirked-up and distinctive version of soul singing more than Keith Richards’ riffing, this is right in the sweet spot. It’s the most present and engaged Jagger has sounded in quite some time, which I suppose makes a lot of sense as this song seems like it was written as a tribute to Charlie Watts.

Besides just nailing the vibe, the beauty of this song is in how eagerly the band swings for the fences and keep pushing it towards predictable but totally thrilling musical excesses. In other words, this is a song that is huge and campy enough in its sentimentality to justify the presence of Lady Gaga. Gaga seems thrilled to occupy the Merry Clayton role in this song – expressive to the max, but off to the side in the mix. I like how the implied distance between Gaga and Jagger makes it sound as though they’re singing at each other from across a great chasm, or from the realm of the living to the dead. Stevie Wonder’s presence on piano in the second half elevates the material further, his parts feel purely instinctive in a way that makes the rest of the song feel as though they might have just written it all in one very lucky improvisational jam.

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