Album Review : Superheavy – Superheavy (A&M Records) : Released 19th Sept

Superheavy – Superheavy (A&M Records) – Released Monday 19^th September

Score : 8.5 / 10

Superheavy is an idea that shouldn’t work, but it does.  Bringing Mick Jagger, Damien Marley,  Joss Stone, A.R.Rahman and Dave Stewart together into one group in one studio could have proved a disaster but the talents work together to complement each other and the result is one of the best albums of 2011.

 ‘Energy’ for me is the albums highlight with Stone and Jagger’s vocals really hitting the heights in harmony while ‘One Day One Night’ conjurs images of a late night blues bar in New Orleans.

The albums only crime is to drift into lightweight reggae from time to time with ‘Beautiful People’ being a filler at best.   Even the opening single ‘Miracle Worker’ only offers glimpses of what the band are clearly capable of.

‘I Can’t Take It No More’ wouldn’t sound out of place on a Rolling Stones album (having been written by Jagger alone) but is enhanced by the brass section and Stone’s backing vocals. Bonus track ‘Mahiya’ benefits from A.R.Rahman’s musical influence  while ‘Warring People’ should have also featured on the standard edition of the album in my opinion rather than just the deluxe package.

The album straddles a variety of musical genres, showcasing the individual talents contained within the group to good effect.  If you think you might like this then its well worth £10 of your money – it doesn’t disappoint.

Ian Anderson