The Rolling Stones are starting it up again.
The World's Oldest Greatest Rock and Roll Band released their first single in seven years on Thursday. Dubbed "Doom and Gloom," the blues-rock ditty premiered on BBC Radio 2, is now available for download on iTunes and will be included on the Rolling Stones' forthcoming compilation, Grrr! Greatest Hits, hitting stores Nov. 13.
The collection, which is being released to commemorate the group's 50thanniversary (50th!), also features another new song, "One More Shot," in addition to the usual assortment of classics like "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Brown Sugar" and "Beast of Burden."
So what are critics saying about "Doom and Gloom"?
The track—which marks the first new material Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts have recorded since 2006's "Biggest Mistake," off their A Bigger Bang album—has received pretty decent reviews so far.
NME hailed "Doom and Gloom," saying "it sounds like a 'Gimme Shelter' for Generation Wii," offering up particular praise for Keith's lively guitar riff and Mick's sly nods to contemporary events like the Iraq War ("Lost all that treasure in an overseas war/Just goes to show you don't get what you pay for"). There's also a spirited harmonica in there.
The U.K.'s Telegraph called it an "energized, uptemp blues attack," though the reviewer argued the song "never quite takes off" like the legendary rockers' similarly sounding opus, "Street Fighting Man."
There are even lyrical references to a plane crash in the Louisiana swamp, zombies and hydraulic fracking. The horror!
Either way, it's good to hear the Stones have gotten off their rockers and are making music again.