Joe Cocker
Across From Midnight

Joe Cocker is certainly one of the most important European artists in the world.

His voice (so admired and often copied by Zucchero and the Frenchman Garou) and his blues have won over millions of people, first in Europe and then in the United States. The bluesman from Sheffield stood out especially for his arranging skills, given the considerable fame achieved by his covers that often surpassed the original pieces, but one must also remember the songs he wrote himself.

Many fans of the good old Joe claim that after the success of the masterpiece “Night Calls” dated 1991, he ended his creative peak and dedicated himself to producing commercial albums, useful only to enrich his wealth. In my opinion, there was a clear stylistic change in his musical language: Cocker's blues increasingly transformed into Cocker pop. I don’t particularly like the arrangements he proposed in recent years for historical songs like “Delta Lady” and “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” which in the '60s were real blues, but now they're just pop songs. But let's talk about this album.

“Across From Midnight,” an album dated 1997, clearly belongs to the later period of Cocker's discography. What happens to us when we reach midnight? Well, midnight is clearly a metaphor and Cocker gives us the opportunity to unveil this mystery through his songs. Especially in the song that bears the name of the album, we can try to interpret Joe Cocker's thought. A light song, perhaps too light to thrill the listener who is more attracted to Joe's imposing voice in “Tonight” and “The Last One To Know”. “Could You Be Loved” is an authentic magic: who would have ever imagined an alternative version to Bob Marley’s original reggae?! However, the most beautiful song on the CD in my opinion is “N’oubliez Jamais”, a song that talks about the past but also about the present and future, because in that “Never forget” shouted in French in the chorus of the song, Cocker manages to convey so much, thanks to his inimitable voice, accompanied in this case by sweet music and an accordion that with closed eyes makes us dream of a trip to France in the '60s.

“Across From Midnight” is a good album, but it will never reach the glories of the previous compositions signed by Joe Cocker, who nevertheless remains undoubtedly a music legend, capable with his vocal skills of still moving thousands of people.