SuperHeavy – SuperHeavy

Jagger’s 21st-Century Jam Session

★★★★

At this point, it would seem that Mick Jagger’s only burden is having to be Mick Jagger all the time. The terrifically fun SuperHeavy solves that problem. Jagger passes frontman duties around like a spliff, with a spectacularly motley crew: reggae royalty Damian Marley, son of Bob; New Wave survivor Dave Stewart; also-ran UK soul diva Joss Stone; and Bollywood singer and composer A.R. Rahman. Imagine an awards-show-scale revue on the floor of the UN General Assembly with musical direction by M.I.A., and you’ve got some idea of the glitzy craziness here.

On ”˜Satyameva Jayathe,’ Jagger and Rahman trade Hindi verses over Celtic-Indian fiddle. On ”˜Energy,’ a U2-style synth-pop jam with a leadoff by Marley, Jagger raps ”“ raps! ”“ and sounds positively hot-wired. On ”˜One Day One Night,’ Jagger comes on like a brokenhearted drunk in a Bukowski novel, smearing vocal vibrato all over. If the songs sometimes feel a bit undercooked, the spirit is dazzling. On ”˜I Can’t Take It No More,’ Stone yells, “What the fuck is going on?” which pretty much sums the album up. That song ”“ where Jagger shouts, “I can’t fake it no more!” ”“ may or may not be an answer to Keith’s shit-talking memoir. One thing’s for sure: SuperHeavy is the wildest thing he’s ever done outside of the Stones.

Key Tracks: ”˜I Can’t Take It No More,’ ”˜Satyameva Jayathe’