Superheavy – Superheavy **1/2
Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa – Don’t Explain *****
This month has seen the release of two new cd one by the “super group” Superheavy who release their debut cd called Superheavy and the other the rather surprising pairing of Beth Hart with Joe Bonamassa who release a cd entitled “Don’t explain”. Now, on the whole, I frown on the formation of makeshift pairings at the best of times but do admit that there are the occasional time when they can be brilliant especially when they mix elements from a range of musical sources to make something completely new and exciting for the ears. Superheavy’s just such a potential, with the combination of Dave Stewart (ex Eurythmics) Mick Jagger (Rolling Stones) Damian Marley (Welcome to Jamrock – Bob’s Son), A. R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire) and Joss Stone (the soul ‘Diva’). Therefore, there is the fusion of Asian rhythms, reggae over and undertones, Pop, rock and soul so the potential for something is here just waiting to burst out I thought.
The first thing to note is that Mick Jagger is attributed with the first writer on all bar one song. So, putting the cd on and what jumps out is a brilliant mixture of rhythms and noise and energy similar to Yosssou N’Dour’s Imigres cd when I first heard it on Vinyl a few decades ago. The first track inventively called ‘Superheavy’ is great track with a driving rhythm which leads into ‘Unbelievable’ a mediocre track and then the single ‘Miracle Worker’ which is a blistering ball of fun and games with sarcasm and jollity throughout. This leads the listener to ‘energy’ which does what it says on the packet. Each track has a number of different themes and rhythms as well different shared vocals.
So, by the end of track six the listener is wondering what new and exciting things are left in store, perhaps some serious Indian Bollywood fest or some dub reggae with Joss Stone wailing about the drug store being closed so she has to turn to tricks to feed the habit, but no, we get Mick Jagger for the remainder of the whole cd. It feels like the rest of the group went down the pub and said “finish it yourself” to him. The sad thing is that none of the rest of the tracks have anything to offer. In fact, all the tracks are over long with little audible development, so the riff you hear at the beginning is the one you hear at the end and pretty much throughout. The person who does stand out throughout is Joss Stone who is clearly having a ball and sounds really happy. Damian Marley also deserves a mention for adding humour and some really good elements to what is a really pretty average to poor CD.
With the raga of Superheavy still bouncing in my head I was a little afraid to turn to the new cd by Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa. Beth, and LA singer is best known for her powerful voice and loud CDs which are full of passion and unmistakeable. Joe Bonamassa is the youngster on the Blues/rock scene with 14 CDs behind him including two with his new super group Black Country Communion. This record with Beth Hart makes his third full CD release this year. I have long followed Joe and have noted that as a guitarist some of his later work has suffered from sameness just as Gary Moore’s last few records prior to his most untimely death. By this I mean that you could tell immediately that it was Joe playing and what he would do next on the guitar so nothing was surprising to the listener. His solo CD this year entitle ‘Dust Bowl’ was good but not by any stretch of the imagination great and had the feel of a contractual obligation about it. I therefore was not particularly looking for my hopes to be dashed further by this casual aside with Beth Hart. I suspected a sort of Black Country Communion meets Alanis Morissette to be the outcome.
The cd opens with ‘Sinner’s Prayer’ and immediately the listener knows something is different as Beth is singing gently and with a passion that is unbelievable and Joe is plucking away quietly in the background. In fact, there is nothing in your face about this cd. From start to finish it is a class act in which Beth sings brilliantly but quietly, only occasionally opening up for emphasis and Joe does the same. So when the first guitar break came along I was expecting Joe to come out with a typical fuzzy Gibson distorted solo, but instead found him playing slide guitar gently in the background.
The record is made up of old and classic standards hence the title ‘Don’t Explain’ and includes a stupendous rendition of ‘I’d rather go blind’ which will move the hardiest of souls. Every track on this record is a gem, so far it has been on the MP3 and played some 20 times (in one day) and I never get bored of the songs or their arrangements.
I remember when it was first mentioned that Robert Plant and Alison Krauss would team up and do a record and at that time I had a very bad feeling that was wrong here too my initial dread was replaced by total pleasure. It is a shame that the same cannot be said for Mick Jagger’s effort but one out of two ain’t bad.
Two super new combinations to try?
