Joe Cocker
Fire It Up
Sony Music
2012
The white man with the black voice… that’s how they called Joe back in the day. Undoubtedly, his unique blues voice can be described only with the above-mentioned phrase. Joe is a gifted vocalist in any way. Since his Woodstock days, one could tell that this guy had a bright future ahead of him.
I approached this album with skepticism, as the other legendary artist, Bob Dylan, that recently released his new work and it was a bit letdown. I was thinking… that Joe would do us a favor and offer us something good. I was hoping for something like that and luckily enough I got more than I expected. “Fire It Up” is a surprisingly good album. Well-produced (I had no doubt about that), well-performed & well-written. Yes, the major problem that most of the big “old” names have is that their albums lack in fresh ideas and good songwriting. Thankfully, Joe’s new release has it all.
You’re gonna hear some pleasing rockin’ bluesy tunes as well as some favorable ballads and you will love Joe’s warm “black” voice anew. The album flows quite nicely & it doesn’t become uninteresting at any part. It has a contemporary sound with an “oldish” flavor as well. It’s more likely to find several tunes to revel in such as: “Fire It Up”, “You Love Me Back”, “Come in Peace”, “You Don’t Need a Million Dollars”, “You Don’t Know What You’re Doing to Me”, “The Weight of the World” & “I'll Walk in the Sunshine Again”, which is, in my opinion, the greatest moment on the album… an atmospheric, moody & deep tune.
All in all, “Fire It Up” is much better than its predecessor “Hard Knocks” in every part. Joe Cocker released a wonderful album that will make his old followers smile with joy and will show to the young ones how the man with the “black voice” can still make good music even in our time. I wasn’t expecting that Joe would come up with such a good release & I’m glad I gave it a go. You will feel the same too as soon as you listen to it…
I approached this album with skepticism, as the other legendary artist, Bob Dylan, that recently released his new work and it was a bit letdown. I was thinking… that Joe would do us a favor and offer us something good. I was hoping for something like that and luckily enough I got more than I expected. “Fire It Up” is a surprisingly good album. Well-produced (I had no doubt about that), well-performed & well-written. Yes, the major problem that most of the big “old” names have is that their albums lack in fresh ideas and good songwriting. Thankfully, Joe’s new release has it all.
You’re gonna hear some pleasing rockin’ bluesy tunes as well as some favorable ballads and you will love Joe’s warm “black” voice anew. The album flows quite nicely & it doesn’t become uninteresting at any part. It has a contemporary sound with an “oldish” flavor as well. It’s more likely to find several tunes to revel in such as: “Fire It Up”, “You Love Me Back”, “Come in Peace”, “You Don’t Need a Million Dollars”, “You Don’t Know What You’re Doing to Me”, “The Weight of the World” & “I'll Walk in the Sunshine Again”, which is, in my opinion, the greatest moment on the album… an atmospheric, moody & deep tune.
All in all, “Fire It Up” is much better than its predecessor “Hard Knocks” in every part. Joe Cocker released a wonderful album that will make his old followers smile with joy and will show to the young ones how the man with the “black voice” can still make good music even in our time. I wasn’t expecting that Joe would come up with such a good release & I’m glad I gave it a go. You will feel the same too as soon as you listen to it…