Joe Cocker
Organic

THE REVIEW

An amalgam of old pieces revisited in a new interpretative key, alongside a handful of different new covers (which are never missing in Cocker's albums); divine re-explorations of Dylan, Van Morrison, Randy Newman, Stevie Wonder's notes, seasoned with abundant doses of blues and soul; all guided by Cocker's indescribable interpretation, which among these tracks is more inspired than ever, reaffirming him in his genre (blues-soul), the greatest vocal interpreter in the world.

"Organic" (1996), is perhaps the richest, most abundant, and inspired work of his career, one of his best albums, like he hadn't produced in years. The strength of the album, it seems obvious to say, is Cocker's voice. That warm, rusty, extremely energetic and powerful voice, now unmistakable for everyone in the world, with which Joe does whatever he wants. He can gently caress and hit hard within seconds. Because we know, our emotions travel quickly, they move, change, mix, collapse, rise, explode, and the voice of 'our' knows how to follow them perfectly, in every single moment, in every minimal movement.

Musically, we find a flood of guitars and harmonicas at the expense of brass instruments compared to the artist's previous albums, where the latter used to dominate. Just think of the version of the famous "You Can Leave Your Hat On" present in this album: the well-known brass instruments are removed and replaced by guitar notes; the result is excellent, in my opinion better than the more famous and previous version. In any case, the piece has become a different song, taking on its own personality. The opening song is one of the most successful and explosive "Into The Mystic": when the tone becomes more lively and reaches the chorus, shouted at the top of Joe's lungs, it's a great spectacle. Among the other pieces, I point out the touching version of "Heart Full Of Rain": it opens the heart in two. Among the more rhythmic and full-bodied tracks, I recall the beautiful and bluesy concluding piece "Can't Find My Way Home", where Cocker's voice explodes like a lion's roar: devastating.

The artist from Sheffield, after a not too happy period, both for his music (his previous works were not too good) and for his life (his continuous alcohol and drug abuses are well known), finds himself in a balanced and splendid album. Because by now we know well, when Cocker puts his mind to it and lets his whole soul come out from the vibrations of those vocal cords, there's no competition, he has no equal in the world. "Organic" is a clear example.

Listen to believe...