Search - Mick Jagger :: Very Best of Mick Jagger

If You Like Mick Jagger--This is a Great CD

R. Morris | Idaho Falls, ID USA | 10/07/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Many Rolling Stones fans do not like Mick Jagger's solo efforts, either because they find them too commercial or because Mick's solo career almost broke up the Stones. Both statements are arguably true. Mick's solo work does occasionally digress from his blues/rock roots into disco or hard pop. Some of his solo work isn't very good, either. And the solo career almost broke up the World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band.



That caveat having been aired, if you like Mick Jagger as an artist and a musician, you will not be let down by this new and long-overdue collection. Rolling Stones purists will probably reject it, but as a die-hard Stones fan I have long made an effort to listen to all the band-mates' individual works as well, including Jagger's. Though the solo efforts are uneven, each of the Stones has put out some good stuff. Mick Taylor's albums are enjoyable, Keith Richard's albums with the Xpensive Winos rock pretty hard, Charlie Watts indulges his passion for jazz with his band, Ronnie Wood's work with the Faces and his solo work is worth listening to, and Bill Wyman's Rythm Kings continue to put out simply amazing blues/rock. The fact is, the Rolling Stones, as a group, are simply greater than the sum of their individual parts. None of the Stones makes the same great music individually as he does when he gets together with the other guys in the band and they work together.



Mick has always had an eye for current trends in music. He got interested in the funk sounds of the sixties and the disco sounds of the seventies, and this shows heavily in his solo work. Some of his dance tunes remain the finest of the era. His ballads are lovely and timeless, and the fact that one of his best solo ballads is 'Old Habits Die Hard' from the Alfie soundtrack, the man has not lost his touch.



The album breaks down into several specific genres of Mick Music. I'll cover each as it appears on the album:



1. God Gave Me Everything--a very satisfying rocker with a sizzling guitar solo.

2. Put Me In The Trash--More rock and roll.

3. Just Another Night--disco/pop number with rock overtones. Heavy drums and some wild sound effects make it interesting.

4. Don't Tear Me Up--rock

5. Charmed Life--this previously-unreleased single is perhaps one of the best songs on the entire album. Mick did it alone with his daughter supplying backing vocals. It has a sharp disco beat but also some Latin rythms. Disco that rocks. I could almost hear Bill Wyman laying down the funky bass beat, though of course it wasn't.

6. Sweet Thing--more disco. Not one of his best, but has a nice hook.

7. Old Habits Die Hard - another unexpected gem on this album, written for the Alfie soundtrack. Lovely ballad.

8. Dancing In The Street - with David Bowie---never did really like this song, but the beat is catchy.

9. Too Many Cooks (Spoil The Soup) previously unreleased--Produced by John Lennon, this is a great blues/rocker that sounds like something that could have been on the Exiles in Main Street album.

10. Memo From Turner--from Mick's movie. This is a funky number with funny lyrics. Excellent.

11. Lucky In Love--great number, rocks all the way through.

12. Let's Work--another weak link on the album. It's not terrible, just not that great. Mick preaches about the virtues of work and basically tells people to get off their butts and get a job.

13. Joy--Great song, which falls almost into the Gospel category, complete with Black gospel choir. The song is about finding God in nature, but the line about Jesus with a cigarette ruins the spirituality for me.

14. Don't Call Me Up--another ballad, and a pretty good one.

15. Checkin' Up On My Baby with the Red Devils--very good number with edge.

16. (You Got To Walk And) Don't Look Back - Peter Tosh with Mick Jagger From a Peter Tosh album, this is a good reggae number.

17. Evening Gown--good way to end the album, with a ballad of wistfulness, longing, and the joys and sorrows of aging.



Again, if you like good dance beats, and a fun mix of rock, jazz, blues, gospel, reggae, and pop, this greatest hits covers it all and is a nice tribute to the solo career of a talented artist.



Recommended except for: disco-haters, hard-core Stones purists.

"

Jagger Releases a Comp of His Best Solo Work

Jeff Feezle | Indiana | 10/02/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The original Bad Boy of rock n' roll is 64 this year. Agile, full of energy, Mick Jagger shows no apparent signs of slowing down. In addition to a plethora of records with the Rolling Stones, Jagger has also recorded four solo albums with some of the biggest names in rock biz (not surprisingly.) Enter stage left- Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, and Dave Stewart (of the Eurthymics). With this talented group behind him, on October 2nd, 2007 Jagger released a `Best Of' the four solo albums.



The four albums that these songs are culminated from are: "She's the Boss" (1985); "Primitive Cool" (1987); "Wandering Spirit" (1993); "Goddess In the Doorway" (2003). "She's the Boss" got extensive airplay from MTV propelling the single: "Just Another Night" to #12 on the charts. Other singles were released from various other albums, but amazingly none of them charted better than 30 in the United States. It just shows the sorry state of music in America when boy-rock singles and crap-rap can totally dominate the charts while omitting the singles from famous stars such as Jagger. Surely ANY of the songs on ANY of these albums deserve to be on the charts if those weepy teen schlock-songs can make it. My biggest knock on this cd is the actual selection of the songs that DID make it. Noticeable by their absence is the hard rocker "Lonely at the Top" which opened his She's the Boss cd (+ the title cut would have been nice, too.) Again the song selectors missed the boat by not including: 'Say You Will' or 'Kow Tow' which both have classic pop-rock melodies. Take away a rating star for the ommissions.



Several songs from the 1993 masterpiece of the four: "Wandering Spirit" are on this "Very Best of CD." His voice was resonant, assured and bold on this album, which makes this Very Best collection that much better. Here are some great Stones-like songs (Mick can't help himself) that aren't all that well known, but will haunt your music memory for years to come. It's like finding a long lost Stones classic album: you can learn the songs, appreciate the voice and NOT be grogged out by them being overplayed on the radio.



There are 17 tracks on this cd, keeping it in a single disc format. There is a long lost version of a John Lennon's produced: "Too Many Cooks (Spoil the Soup)," which is worth the price of admission just for its rarity. He avoids the temptation to remix a minor Stone or unreleased Stone songs on the compilation to his credit. You'll remember the single: "Lucky In Love" from FM radio days, and then reggae-rock to "Don't Look Back" with the late guitarist Peter Tosh of Bob Marley's Wailers. This is just a superb and solid effort by a true King of Rock. Nobody has the cred that Jaggers posseses, and he shares himself liberally in several directions on this carefully crafted grouping of songs. Highly Recommended



Jeff Feezle of Macafeez

"

Great Mixed Bag minus 1 major track

A. Russo | Cambridge, MA United States | 10/13/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When you think of Mick Jagger, we all think Rolling Stones and history! When we think of Mick Jagger the solo artist, we think a little harder and say...oh yes 80's Dancing In The Street with Mick Jagger. Who could forget the video? Not really a solo, but we think again and we think even earlier in the 70's when he did another duet with Raggae Peter Tosh Walk And Don't Look Back. Still no real solo song. Oh yes...Ruthless People( not even included here!!) theme from the hilarious 80's movie with Bette Midler (Beast Of Burden video buddy) and Danny Devito. Then he also hit big with Just Another Night and it's follow ups Lucky In Love and Let's Work.



There are quite a few MJ gems here that may not have been poular but are worthy of this purchase. Check out the funky Too Many Cooks and Sweet Thing falsetto. A hot duet with Bono Joy, Dave Stewart Old Habbits Die Hard. Also includes Memo From Turner and God Gave Me Everything. A fun retrospect in the MJ solo history.that's Mick Jagger not Michael Jackson :)"