It's solid rock

You dig deep enough, you’re bound to find solid rock. Same thing with rock music. Whether with a band that’s got major hype written all over it like SuperHeavy, or by scratching deep enough to uncover a solid mainstream rock solo artist like Gavin Degraw, if it’s dependable rock music one is seeking, one just has to turn to these acts.

SuperHeavy  SuperHeavy (MCA Music). Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones, Dave Stewart of the Eurhythmics, Joss Stone, Damian Marley and Slumdog musical genius AR Rahman  it would seem that all is in place for a musical feast like no other with this ad hoc group, SuperHeavy. It’s like the genre World Music just took on a special meaning. The first single is Miracle Worker, and what’s interesting to note is how much of a reggae flavor (take a bow, Damian) the song has, and how it really takes off when Joss Stone handles the vocals. Satyameva Jayathe, Beautiful People and Rock Me Gently are my fave tracks, and while Jagger at times seems long in the tooth with his vocal delivery (especially on the slower numbers), it’s obvious the group is having fun while churning out music for posterity  on one track, Marley riffs on Sweet Dreams. Are they planning to tour, or is this just a studio “miracle”?

Gavin Degraw  Sweeter (RCA/Sony). Gavin is your meat and potatoes kind of solo artist. He composes all his material, tours like there’s no tomorrow, and straddles a mainstream, blues-rooted kind of rock that very “working boy” and frayed blue jeans. He recruits several producers, including Ryan Tedder of One Republic, and they’re sympathetic to his brand of music. I really liked the mid-tempo tunes, like Not Over You, Candy and Where You Are, and it would seem that this is where he truly excels  rock ballads that would make for great stadium anthems, with the audience holding up lighters and singing in unison with Gavin. The faster tunes, Sweeter and Radiation, rock in an Allman Brothers/Maroon 5 vein, and given Gavin’s young-ish audience, it’s great to find artists who still respect the rock tradition with no frills or glitter! And expose this kind of music to said audience.