Mick Jagger - Goddess In The Doorway ( Audio CD ) 2006

Bootleg-savvy Stones fans understand why Mick Jagger's solo albums tend to be curiously pop-precious and testosterone-challenged; if Keith Richards had his druthers, we'd likely have Exile on Main Street Vol. XI by now. Indeed, given Jagger's decades-old rep as the most virile dinosaur of the herd, it can be jarring to have the Vulnerable Mick ponder "Wonder if you catch my mood / Can you feel my solitude?" as the strings well on this album's "Don't Call Me Up." But then, being a caricature so large (and ludicrous) can drive an artist to do desperate things, like sewing his heart firmly to his sleeve in a quest for Truth. Infused with a welcome sense of renewed musical adventure on tracks like the jangly, alterna-nervous Lenny Kravitz collaboration, "God Gave Me Everything," the East-West fusion of the title track, and the modern techno-murk of "Gun" (both cowritten with coproducer Matt Clifford), the icon seems finally to have found a solo persona that fits: Spiritually Awakened World-Weary Rebel. There's even a devoutly uplifting, Pete Townshend-backed duet with Bono ("Joy") that among other things, makes the U2 singer's reservations at Jurassic Park all but official. Still, it's hard to teach an old cur new licks; the best here is undercut by genuflections to chart-conscious predictability (the Rob Thomas collaboration "Visions of Paradise") and hoary-ironic arena-ready sentiments like "Everybody Getting High" (with guest guitar deity/substance abuse expert Joe Perry) that Keith Richards must understand all to well.

CONDITION: NEW, Notched Case

TRACK LISTING

1 Visions Of Paradise
2 Joy
3 Dancing In The Starlight
4 God Gave Me Everything
5 Hide Away
6 Don't Call Me Up
7 Goddess In The Doorway
8 Lucky Day
9 Everybody Getting High
10 Gun
11 Too Far Gone
12 Brand New Set Of Rules
13 Goddess In The Doorway (Cocktail Version)