Mick Jagger: Goddess In The Doorway

In a withering assessment, John Lennon once equated The Rolling Stones' longevity with arrested adolescence, an eternal teenage desire to remain within the security of a gang. The only proper way for musicians to express themselves after a certain age, he suggested, is by going solo. Whether that's true or not, the Stones' solo efforts haven't inspired many fans to trade in their copies of Emotional Rescue, much less Let It Bleed. Distinguished, eclectic, and difficult to love, Goddess In The Doorway, Mick Jagger's fourth solo album and his first since 1993, does little to upset the pattern. At once polished, star-studded, confessional, and inward-looking, Goddess bows under the weight of its contradictions. "I always hate nostalgia, living in the past / No use getting misty-eyed, it all screamed by so fast," Jagger sings on "Too Far Gone," a clear-eyed assessment of what it means to live as an icon on a day-to-day basis. Jagger invites listeners to read the entire album as a surprisingly frank autobiography. With its references to girlfriends in Argentina, the lovers' lament "Don't Call Me Up" sounds like an ode to his on-off marriage, and the album ends with a vow to live life more thoughtfully. But having played at camp decadence for so long, and having worked that camp decadence for a surprising emotional resonance, Jagger wears directness uneasily. The album itself doesn't always help. Made excessively slick by a rotating team of producers, it often undermines Jagger's attempts at earnestness. Even with guest spots from Bono, Pete Townshend, and a gospel choir, "Joy" sounds about as spiritually probing as a Petra album. The Wyclef Jean-produced "Hide Away" does recall the genre-hopping experiments of Some Girls, but mostly the songs beg for a rawer treatment, instead of the polite album-rock for which Jagger generally settles. More daring, or less, might have done him some good.