Forgotten Gems : GODDESS IN THE DOORWAY by Mick Jagger

Now you may reject this choice, calling for Wandering Spirit be chosen as the gem instead. And I hear you man... a very underrated album .. that I may mention in the future. But I feel that this one is even more underrated, and it is actually more diverse and "intersting" while maybe not quite as brilliantly solid as Wandering Spirit. This one seems to have passed completely under the radar and from what I remember of contemporary reviews, it was ditched by critics... for some strange reason

While Wandering Spirit was just about a full out rock album, that gave the back paddle to Rolling Stones output of the last three decades, Goddess is more pop-oriented, with out going cheasy off course. I might mention that the voice of Jagger has lost a bit of its tone and power since Wandering Spirit, though it is not recognizable unless you compare directly. Still i find that these two late Jagger solo's shows us what the Stones should have been, instead of what they actually were.

Jagger is a weird frontman in a way. He basically can't really sing, he half talks half sings. But he just has so much personality, tonation and soul, that it compensates absolutely and puts him in the pantheon of the greatest rock singers of all time. Personally my least favorites are Joy (with Bono) and Dancing In The Starlight. God Gave Me Everything is a slightly derivative fast rocker, that does not bring things to a higher level. I guess this is where the reviewers hit skip a few times or ejected the cd, and cut him down in their reviews, because from here on the good stuff arrives.

I like the balady rock feeling of Don't Call Me Up it is more back to basics Jagger. The title track has a modern beat but a good driving rock feel nonetheless...it gets better after a few listens. Lucky Day is lovely midtempo funky rocker. Everybody Getting High is another Jagger fast rocker that could easily have been a track on Wandering Spirit. Gun is weird, not sure i like it very much but then Too Far Gone again another simplistic but good rocker that Jagger brings to life doing it his way.

Alll in all not the most obvious gem maybe, but again it depends on your taste. In any case it is overlooked and unjustly ditched by the critics.