While fans are rightly excited to hear more from The Rolling Stones, there is less buzz around the sheer volume of Foreign Tongues special editions. Taking a leaf out of Taylor Swift’s book is never the right move to make, particularly not when profiling and building towards the release of what may be one of the band’s last studio outings. The Mick Jagger-fronted group has caused quite the stir with strong singles ahead of Foreign Tongues, but the band feels more like a collection of marketing gurus than hard-hitting rock legends with the rollout of Foreign Tongues.
World Cup tie-in albums prove to be a bit of a ridiculous practice that creates the same faux scarcity as Record Store Day. The only difference is what it means to a band now. Topping the charts is a thing of the past, and a band like The Rolling Stones diving into this musical rat race is a touch pathetic.
The sheer volume of editions available for Foreign Tongues, an album still a month away from release, is as rough and twisted as the song The Rolling Stones released under their Cockroaches moniker. Like cockroaches, these vinyl variants are everywhere and seem indestructible.
The band has adapted to modern times and the vinyl boom, but at the expense of sincerity. Jagger has always seen the band as a well-oiled machine with advertisements and tie-ins all part of the process. Not the artistic process, thankfully, but certainly a part of the band he monitors more than other frontpeople would. It is hard to think of a bigger platform than the 2026 World Cup, hosted in the United States and with eyes on it across the world.
The Rolling Stones have often made good on their South American contingent of fans, and the World Cup is a great way to get their new music in front of fans who are hungry for more. Those half-time show performances from Madonna and Coldplay are as desperate attempts to capture American commercialisation as the three “limited edition” Foreign Tongues vinyl variants and inclusion on the official FIFA album.
Robbie Williams and U2 will also use the 2026 World Cup in various ways as a platform to launch new music. What ties all these big names together is the need to make a huge song and dance about new material, despite being able to push it without the platform they’re using. The Rolling Stones’ album before this had them paint a few posters around Hackney, London. But their follow-up to Hackney Diamonds requires a global rollout backed by a sporting event that has had its brushes with controversy in the last few tournaments.
Nobody is all that enthused to see the likes of Russia and Qatar host previous tournaments. With the United States playing host, the obvious drawback of President Donald Trump and the vicious hate spreading across the USA is clear. It’s difficult to turn a blind eye to that as The Rolling Stones peddle three vinyl variants for an album releasing just before the end of the tournament.
Take into account the recent Bruce Springsteen tour, where The Boss ripped into the current administration with songs like Streets of Minneapolis and Born in the U.S.A., and these so-called exclusive vinyls become a bitter pill to swallow. Jagger and company have likely no idea, or at the very least not much in the way of detail, on how these album variants are coming to pass.
What is far more likely is that the marketing team and label behind the band have seen an opportunity to keep themselves afloat on a bankable name, which may not be around much longer. When the time comes to start rolling out the bootleg tapes and vault recordings, all that is left is a dedicated sect of fans who will buy just about anything with the band’s name on it. It works for Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, and to a lesser talked-about extent, Neil Young.
But this drive for milking every penny out of an album release is a relatively new experience and can be tied to this sudden rise in vinyl purchasing power. It’s an ultimately cool hobby to have and is a superior way to listen to some albums. Some is the crucial caveat there now that streaming platforms like Qobuz offer high-quality sound. For those pre-ordering Foreign Tongues, how many fans will want to get their hands on a “Winner’s Circle Edition” of the album?
Gone is the out-there artwork of the original cover that meshes Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood together. It is the generic logo, now outdated after even The Rolling Stones updated their iconic image in time for the new, Andrew Watt-produced album. Any artist whose name is big enough to hit headlines will offer vinyl variants, a whole host of merchandising opportunities, and will then drag that release out for as long as they can.
Even Paul McCartney, with the exceptional The Boys of Dungeon Lane release last month, has more variants than there are songs on the album. It makes music a collectable rather than an experience. It works, though. Why would artists not release as many variants as they can if it proves financially beneficial to do so? For those who are interested in picking up a few variants, then they can, and what issue does it cause to have a few on hand?
Two variants of Pulp’s More can be found somewhere on the shelf in the living room, granted the Rough Trade team were kind enough to send those through. Where this supplementary release boom can be traced back to Swift and her desire to remain top of the charts by deploying her fans onto an acoustic version here or a voice note special edition there, this goes further back than that.
Even in the mid-2010s, when vinyl collecting and the boom of that listening experience were still in their early years, you could pick up some ridiculous pressings. A remix of Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues by The Ting Tings, Elton John special editions, and yet another live album from a band whose backlog is hardly shifting off the shelves. Such is the state of Record Store Day.
The Rolling Stones are merely benefiting, like many artists, from a strange moment in vinyl history. Everyone is keen to own a bit of history, and rightly so. There’s no greater communal feel in the comfort of your own home than sitting around, deciding which record to listen to with loved ones. But the passive listener who does not have a cabinet filled with plastic of their own will find it hard to come aboard when you reveal your six different editions of the same album.
Being a fan of the band is one thing, supporting them with a collection of variants for an album yet to release, takes that level of fandom to the parasocial. Buying a series of differently coloured vinyl pressings and covers makes no change to the music. In fact, some of the colouring can worsen the sound quality, but it’s for the fans, allegedly. What fans fail to remember is that no matter how much an artist may claim to love their listeners, it’s the wallet tucked away in their pocket that they love more.
“The FIFA World Cup is the biggest show on earth, uniting billions of people through football, culture and shared celebration,” said FIFA’s Chief Business Officer, Romy Gai. “We are delighted to welcome The Rolling Stones into this unique global moment, adding the energy, emotion and unmistakable identity of one of music’s most iconic bands to the tournament experience. This collaboration celebrates the powerful connection between football and music, and the unforgettable experiences they create for fans around the world.”
That “powerful connection” has seen the likes of Three Lions, Waka Waka, and Vindaloo. The uniquely American choice to have a halftime show now wades into the footballing world. The Killers performed a small set during the UEFA Champions League final, a way to test the sewage waters of what it’s like to have a band perform a few clipped hits before a sporting event.
Any stage is a chance to make some money. For a band like The Rolling Stones, a trio of vinyl variants tied into a sporting event that has never had, nor ever will, have anything to do with the band, feels egregious. Confused, at best. It is hard to feel much goodwill toward a band releasing a ridiculous number of vinyl variants when two members appeared on this year’s UK Rich List
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