Goddess in the Doorway

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Goddess in the Doorway
Goddess in the Doorway cover
Studio album by Mick Jagger
Released 19 November 2001
Recorded February & May 2000

January - February 2001

April - July 2001
Genre Rock
Length 56:51
Label Virgin
Producer Mick Jagger, Matt Clifford, and Marti Frederiksen,
with Lenny Kravitz,
Wyclef Jean,
Jerry 'Wonder' Duplessis and Chris Potter
Professional reviews
Mick Jagger chronology
Wandering Spirit
(1993)		 Goddess in the Doorway
(2001)		 Alfie
(2004)

Goddess in the Doorway is the fourth solo album by Mick Jagger and was released in 2001. The most recent offering from Jagger as a solo artist, it marked his first release with Virgin Records, whom he has been contracted with as a member of The Rolling Stones since 1991.

Following 1993's Wandering Spirit by Jagger, and The Rolling Stones' Bridges to Babylon in 1997 and the extended Bridges to Babylon Tour, he began to work on demo material in 2000, finally reaching the studio in the spring of 2001. Although Jagger would primarily work with Marti Frederiksen and Matt Clifford as producers, he also sanctioned the talents of Lenny Kravitz and Wyclef Jean to help create Goddess in the Doorway. And while the songs would largely be composed by Jagger, he endeavored to work with some collaborators, namely, Kravitz and matchbox twenty singer Rob Thomas. The recording of many of the songs is shown in the film Being Mick.

While recording was underway, many of Jagger's musician friends, including Bono, Pete Townshend, Thomas, Kravitz, Jean and Joe Perry all contributed. Townshend, in fact, was the initiating force behind the album. After having heard some of Jagger's demos, he told him that they didn't sound like Rolling Stones songs and that Jagger should record them on his own.

By the end of the summer, Goddess in the Doorway was completed and the Kravitz-produced (and almost self-performed) "God Gave Me Everything" was put forward as the lead single that October. Although the song failed to become a significant hit, Goddess in the Doorway - with its hybrid of different styles - was released the following month to among the strongest reviews Jagger had received - including his tenure with The Rolling Stones - in years, with Rolling Stone's Jann Wenner bestowing a five-star instant classic rating upon the album. However, not everyone was as effusive. Keith Richards, never comfortable with Jagger's solo career since it began in 1985, mocked the album by calling it "Dogshit in the Doorway".[1]

While the critical approval of Goddess in the Doorway was gratifying for Jagger, the album only reached #44 in the UK and #39 in the US. Following this, he returned to work with The Rolling Stones on Forty Licks and A Bigger Bang and their respective worldwide Licks and A Bigger Bang Tours. Besides his soundtrack work with David A. Stewart on Alfie in 2004, and the best of collection The Very Best Of Mick Jagger released in 2007, Goddess in the Doorway remains Mick Jagger's latest solo release to date.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

All songs by Mick Jagger, except where noted.

  1. "Visions of Paradise" (Mick Jagger/Rob Thomas/Matt Clifford) – 4:02
  2. "Joy" – 4:41
    • Features Bono on co-lead vocal
  3. "Dancing in the Starlight" – 4:06
  4. "God Gave Me Everything" (Mick Jagger/Lenny Kravitz) – 3:34
    • Features Lenny Kravitz on backing vocals, guitar, bass guitar, drums
  5. "Hide Away" – 4:31
  6. "Don't Call Me Up" – 5:14
  7. "Goddess in the Doorway" (Mick Jagger/Matt Clifford) – 4:56
  8. "Lucky Day" – 4:51
  9. "Everybody Getting High" – 3:55
  10. "Gun" (Mick Jagger/Matt Clifford) – 4:39
  11. "Too far Gone" – 4:34
    • Tracks 9 and 11 feature Joe Perry on guitar
  12. "Brand New Set Of Rules" – 7:39
    • Features Jagger's daughters, Elizabeth and Georgia May, on backing vocals
    • Includes a hidden track of lounge music after the main song concludes

B-sides:

  1. "Blue" (Mick Jagger) – 5:40
    • B-side of the European single "God Gave Me Everything"
    • B-side of the British single "Visions of Paradise"
  2. "If Things Could Be Different" (Mick Jagger)" – 4:49
    • Japan bonus track
    • B-side of the European single "Visions of Paradise"
    • B-side of the British single "Visions of Paradise"

[edit] Musicians

[edit] Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
2001 UK Top 75 Albums 44
2001 The Billboard 200 39
2002 The Billboard 200 103

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
2001 "God Gave Me Everything" Mainstream Rock Tracks 24
2002 "Visions Of Paradise" UK Top 75 Singles 43

[edit] Charts and Sales

UK: #44, 4 weeks on Top 75 (44-52-69-72)

  • Sales: 60,000 (B.P.I)

US: #39, 8 weeks on Top 200 (39-59-77-96-103-132-163-192)

  • Sales: 321,000 (Soundscan - June 2007)

EUROCHART: #6, 9 weeks on Top 100 (6-9-22-35-35-54-81-99-0-0-94)

  • Worldwide sales: 1.200,000 (Virgin, March 2002)

[edit] Miscellanea

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The song "God Gave Me Everything" was featured in the film, Bruce Almighty.