Gary Barlow: Twelve Months, Eleven Days (BMG)
On the cover of his second album, Gary Barlow looks bemused, as if he still can't believe that his old band mate Robbie Williams is a major superstar. When Take That broke up the smart money was on Barlow to become the biggest solo star in the group, a worthy successor to George Michael. The boy Barlow, however, had neither the moves nor the attitude, and this new album is unlikely to change the perception of him as a bland, piano-tinkling pop crooner. The most recent single, Stronger, is a weak-kneed attempt at emulating George Michael's towering persona, while Fast Car crawls along like a sputtering Cliff Richard ballad. Barlow seems unsure whether to pitch his music towards a teenage or adult audience, so he kicks to touch - and ends up with an album that might very well appeal to your granny.
- Kevin Courtney
Paul McCartney: Run Devil Run (Parlophone)
Following the untimely death of his wife, Linda, many would expect McCartney to create a soul-searching, heartrending album which laid bare his personal pain. Instead, he has gone back to his rock'n'roll roots - but it's ironic that, having lost the love of his life, he should cover songs which are almost devoid of emotion. Gene Vincent's Blue Jean Bop, Elvis Presley's All Shook Up and Chuck Berry's Brown Eyed Handsome Man are fine rock'n'roll tunes, but since McCartney could do this sort of thing in his sleep, there's nothing particularly interesting or exciting about this selection. McCartney has included some new tunes of his own in the same vein, such as Try Not To Cry, What It Is and the title track, but only Ricky Nelson's Lonesome Town gives even a slight hint of how he may be feeling.
- Kevin Courtney
Paula Cole Band: (Warner)
Paula Cole knows how to throw down the gauntlet. In Rhythm of Life she sings "to the critics and cynics who don't understand the lyrics"; and, later, "you may see me as a fool, yes, a charlatan, an egotist/But I'd rather be this in your eyes/Than a coward in His." As in God. What can a mere critic say to that? Apart, perhaps, from remind Paula that God doesn't buy CDs. As for the rest of us, Amen is a magnificently challenging musical and lyrical foray into the soul of Paula Cole. The title track alone name-checks Copernicus, Elvis, Betty Page and Gloria Steinem. Like most of the tracks it is also hypnotic, beguiling, trance-like, a magical theological tour. Indeed, Cole's vocal in La Tonya alone is startlingly beautiful, reason enough to buy the album. Amen, indeed.
- Joe Jackson
Joe Cocker: No Ordinary World (EMI)
Leonard Cohen loves Ray Charles - who is Joe Cocker's musical role model, right? Even so, one suspects that Laughing Lenny wouldn't take too kindly to the way Ol' Joe stomps all over First We Take Manhattan, which kicks off this album. And "kicks" really is the appropriate word; Joe Cocker just doesn't understand the meaning of musical subtlety, see the sense in holding back, understating his case. And so it continues throughout the old (and new) songs on this album. Tracks like Bryan Adams She Believes In Me were built for bombast, while Steve Winwood's Will You Take A Chance is more laid-back. A little. In contemplative songs like My Father's Son, Cocker slides inside rather than rides the lyric; at least during the verses of the song rather than the chorus. White soul music? Hardly . . .
- Joe Jackson