Music : Hymn for My Soul

Rating: - From an unbeliever to a super-believer fan.....
I've never been a fan of Joe Cocker, beginning from his Woodstock days. My husband has always been a big fan of his, especially since Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs & Englishmen album. I had to listen to that one over & over, ad naseum, etc. I saw Joe in August on The View, promoting his new "album". He was very charming, & performed his title song of this "album", as I guess I'll always call it. "Hymn for my Soul" is just a beautiful song--I fell in love. My husband's birthday was coming up, so I ordered it for him. I am now a certified fan of Joe. The version of "Come Together" is definitly the best I have ever heard, even better than the original. Sorry I've dissed you all these years, Joe. You are a true artist, & my husband was right from the beginning.

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Rating: - Power & Conviction
"We are amazed but not amused by all the things you said to do," Joe Cocker blasts amid a punchy horn arrangement on a Stevie Wonder song that starts one of Cocker's best CDs. "You Haven't Done Nothin'" is simply one of the best tracks Cocker has recorded. He plucks George Harrison's "Beware of Darkness" from the All Things Must Pass [BOXED EDITION] album and fully embodies the track with its now familiar melody and transforms the meditative song into a slow soul crooner, "The hopelessness around you, in the dead of night, beware of sadness." Percy Mayfield's "River's Invitation" is another pearl with Benmont Tench's piano giving the perfect accent to the bouncy arrangement about a guy about ready to throw himself into the river, "I'm trying to find my baby that no one has seen around, You know which way I'm headed if my baby can't be found." The Beatles' "Come Together" that Cocker sang in the film and on the soundtrack of Across The Universe [Deluxe Edition] concludes the set as a bonus track. Other songs like Daniel Moore's "Just Pass It On," John Fogerty's "Long As I Can See the Light" and Bob Dylan's "Ring Them Bells" are also exquisite. Joe Cocker does what he does best on "Hymn for My Soul," fills the music with power and conviction that mesmerizes the listener. Bravo!

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Rating: - always loved him
I have always loved him and his music.So glad for his new cd.Keep them coming.

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Rating: - THE BEST!
This cd is one of Cocker's best....he doesn't "belt 'em out"....he treats each song individually. Choice of material is great including "Pass it On" by Daniel & Matthew Moore.
So glad I purchased this cd because I want to hear it over and over again. Joe Cocker is magical. I think he stopped listening to people who told him what he should record and what he shouldn't record - Sounds as though he has brought along the music/songs he wanted to record....and he was right.

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Rating: - Joe's got gospel covered
Joe Cocker's got the best voice for singing gospel. That rough burr just sends chills down your spine. IMHO, this is one of the best Cocker collections ever. He's borrowed sidemen and sidewomen from everyone from Ray Charles to Jimi Hendrix and the covers he's chosen couldn't be better.

It's hard to pick a favorite from this soul soaring collection. "As Long as I can See the Light" has been a favorite of mine since CCR, but Cocker's version is in many ways even stronger than John Fogerty's.

"One Word Peace" comes from the very underestimated New Orleans based band, The Subdudes. This is one of their finer songs and I'm hoping Cocker's cover will get them a bit more attention, too.

"Just Pass it On" is a gorgeous message and the chorus will get you up standing up and cheering.

Of course, the ending track is "Come Together" from "Across the Universe" which was one of the best songs from that movie. It's not gospel per se, but it gets the message across and this collection has 'message' everywhere!

Rebecca Kyle, July 2008