
Mick Jagger's Super Heavy Single Super Sucks
Posted Thu Aug 4, 2011 by Daniel Kreps
Back in May, we told you about the new "supergroup" Super Heavy, featuring the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger, Indian composer A.R. Rahman, Joss Stone, Damien "Jr. Gong" Marley, and the Eurythmics' Dave Stewart. A lineup that eclectic could only have two results: Either the disparate talents help bring something new to each other's genre of choice, or it sounds like an unmitigated disaster. Based on the first single "Miracle Worker," a reggae track meant to showcase Marley's skills, it's likely that Super Heavy falls into that latter category.
Built on the same beat that 90 percent of radio reggae songs use as a foundation, "Miracle Worker" kicks off with Marley and Stone trading simple verses, then Jagger sweeps in and almost resuscitates this track. It's genuinely refreshing to hear Jagger on something new after being out of the studio and off the stage for so long, but unfortunately Super Heavy take his microphone away to launch into a very adult contemporary chorus. At one point, we think we hear a fiddle. Because fiddles and reggae always go hand-in-hand.
We're not the biggest fans of Bob Marley, who has become the poster child for reggae, but we still love music from Jamaica. Legends like King Tubby, Mikey Dread, and Lee "Scratch" Perry all deserve a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and all three are perhaps more worthy than Jimmy Cliff, who was inducted in 2010. "Miracle Worker," however, is the type of reggae you'd hear a rent-a-band performing to vacationers on the deck of a Carnival Cruise line. There's nothing "super heavy" about this "supergroup," except for the way they super heavy-handedly pillage the Bob Marley songbook.
Hopefully, this is Super Heavy's one descent into Damien "Jr. Gong" Marley's reggae music, and the rest of their September-bound debut album focuses on Rahman's Bollywood soundscapes, Joss Stone's soul, and of course, Jagger's brand of rock & roll.
Yahoo! Music Likes Mick alright, but the rest not so much...