Review Summary: This record certainly isn't moving like Jagger; this record is that annoying friend who thinks he can sing and dance, and wants to be the center of attention all the time.
So
SuperHeavy is a supergroup consisting of superstars Mick Jagger, Joss Stone, Dave Stewart, Damian Marley and A.R. Rahman. So two prominent rock singers, the guitarist of Eurythmics, one of Bob Marley's sons and an Indian film composer; sounds like a modern version of The Village People. They were a secret project up until May this year when Mick Jagger announced the official formation. A debut album followed this month so the group has probably jammed it out for far longer than that. According to the Rolling Stones frontman SuperHeavy is supposed to fuse several styles of music, while still giving them a separate feel.
And I have no idea what Jagger meant by that because, I might as well say it, this album is one big mess. Not one singer compliments the other, the vocal harmonies that most often happen between Jagger and Joss Stone sound awful and they do not work together at all. It seems like Dave Stewart and Damian Marley fought viciously through the production on whether a song should be based by reggae beats or a pop-rock melody. And then we have A.R. Rahman suddenly bursting through the door and demanding some completely misfitting traditional Indian music. When an album can jump from style to style like it happens on the opening track SuperHeavy, have Jagger complete vocals against an old Indian mantra and still not produce anything worthwhile, you know you've just wasted about an hour of your life.
This is a shining example of too many cooks spoil the broth; there are way too many personalities here who each want their own say over what is going on and what is to happen and as it stands, putting them all into a room just doesn't seem to work at all. It is fun how Jagger seems to be the whole mastermind behind the project as, I feel, he is the most misplaced of all the participants; without his rather recognizable voice, I honestly think that at least the vocal part of this album would work much better. This shouldn't be interpreted as me saying that Jagger is a bad vocalist, not at all, but compared to whatever style SuperHeavy are shooting for it sounds like, for me, that Jagger doesn't fit in at all in that picture.
Overall, I was very let down by this effort; especially with all the high profile musicians involved. It was a confusing, messy LP that seemed to go in a million different directions but just falling short of reaching any of them. So at the moment, I really don't feel like moving like Jagger.
