Having started his career by turning the Beatles' sentimental "With a Little Help from My Friends" into a spine-tingling epic, Joe Cocker's ability to charge songs with passion, drama and emotion is legendary--on a good day, he could make a shopping list soar. It's a rare talent, and one which Respect Yourself, his 20th studio album--like many of his latter day releases--tends to be overly dependant on. The smouldering "Love Not War" and fantastically overblown soul … mehrstomper "You Can't Have My Heart" are undeniably brilliant; putting Cocker's bluesy growl to spectacular use. Equally though, there are plenty of vague rockers, such as "This Is Your Life" and "Leave a Light On", which Cocker's phlegm-shifting rasp has to work overtime on to make exciting. Invariably he pulls it off, even managing to make the bluesy "I'm Listening Now" sound brooding and heartfelt. In fact, the only track that doesn't take kindly to his magic is his version of INXS' "Never Tear Us Apart". While the album's other covers--including Randy Newman's bleary-eyed "Everytime It Rains" and the swaggering title track--are prime for the Cocker treatment, his exaggerated bluster clumsily tramples the INXS classic's tender beauty. Still, it's the only must-skip moment in a mixed bag. More than anything, that proves what an amazingly potent force the Sheffield warbler's voice really is. --Dan Gennoe weniger

1 - You Can't Have My Heart
2 - Love Not War
3 - You Took It So Hard
4 - Never Tear Us Apart
5 - This Is Your Life… mehr
6 - Respect Yourself
7 - I'm Listening Now
8 - Leave A Light On
9 - It's Only Love
10 - Every Time It Rains
11 - Midnight Without You weniger