Customer Reviews

No Ordinary World

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Joe Cocker for the "Smooth Jazz" generation. "She Believes In Me" written by Bryan Adams and Eliot Kennedy with backing vocals by Bryan leads the way. I bought this CD for that song alone. That song and "Lie To Me" makes the purchase a worthwhile one. However I would have liked to have seen Ol' Joe cut loose as he does on the latter cut, more often than he does.

Even when Joe Cocker is not at his best, he's still a fascinating singer. No Ordinary World is not his greatest work. However, there are a couple of flashes here which Cocker enthusiasts will want to include on your own Joe Cocker compilations. The first cut of Leonard Cohen's "First We Take Manhattan" is a jewel. It rocks and drives home Cohen's great melody. I wish I were a studio wizard and could overlay Jennifer Warnes' version with Joe's and get an "Up Where We Belong" replay of the mixing of these two great voices. The other truly brilliant track is "Lie To Me." Cocker's voice rides on a great guitar riff, propeled with a blazing organ and strong electric guitar. If you love Cocker, this cut is up there with his best work. I also really like "My Father's Son." The great "heart over mind" lyric gives a rocking ballad that feels fast and slow at the same time. The problem with much of the rest of the album is the lack of distinctiveness of the material. "Different Roads" sounds like a computer's attempt to write an anthem. "Ain't Gonna Cry Again" has such a forumla construction that it sounds trite. "Soul Rising" has a nice rocking build, but again seems like it was written by Wang. (computers!) "On My Way Home" is a passionate slow ballad with Cocker's empassioned vocals, but the keyboards wash over the mix and drown it. The almost-good material is still interesting. Cocker doesn't add much to Steve Winwood's "While You See A Chance" from Winwood's "Arc of a Diver," but it's a good tune which I'm glad to hear again. "Where Would I Be Now" is a soulful ballad sung with good conviction. The clangy guitars on the title track make it sound like the Byrds if they were raised in Alabama. "Naked Without You" is a big booming ballad with nice piano by Jason Rubello prominently mixed to give the song a classic feel. There are enough good moments here so that a Cocker fan can buy with confidence not to miss the high points, but this is more of an Ordinary World than I'd hoped to hear.

Everything about my purchase was perfect. I received it quickly. It was brand new. I gave it as a gift and both he and I couldn't have been happier!! Thank you.

I'm an avid Joe fan and I enjoyed most of the tunes on the CD and but I wish he would lose the strings and bring back the horn section. Something about a string section with that voice that just doesn't do it. It cries for a couple of trumpets and a saxophone.

Joe Cocker's new CD, No Ordinary World, is energentic and full of spirit. This is Cocker's best album. If there are any people who have never heard Joe Cocker's voice, and if you haven't you need to be referred to a doctor immediately, pick up a copy of No Ordinary World.

There are certain times when music speaks truth. Music that strikes you, as COL Kurtz reminds us, "Like a silver bullet...right between the eyes...".

Among those music experiences that mark a life: Jackson Browne "The Pretender"; The Who, "Quadrophenia"; Joe Cocker, "No Ordinary World".

It's a short list, a short life. Buy it and experience the feeling of anxiety, passion and wonderment of why we are here. Joe Cocker, like Bob Seger, expresses love, life, and emotion in a way that is difficult for most men. This is one you'll listen to on `repeat' for days at a time.

Joe has matured to a performer, a man who has powerful observations on his (and your) life ala Sade, "My Father's Son". Reminiscent of the sense of awe we felt hearing CSNY for the first time, to the anthems of Jefferson Starship, "First We Take Manhattan".

You cannot go home again, but you can mature in your reflections upon it.

I just love this CD. Cocker is one of the few musicians whose later CD is just as fabulous as his earlier work. The more I listen to this CD, the more I love it :)

It's sad to see a great talent like Joe Cocker go to waste on easy listening drivel like this. The voice is still there, but until he finds some decent material and hires a real band, don't bother.

I reviewed this latest Joe Cocker release several months ago[see import version], and I still have not changed my opinion or rating. The problem with online cd reviews is hardcore fans refuse to rate a product honestly. I am as big a Joe Cocker fan as you can find, but but I am not about to award this cd 5 stars and give it some sort of classic status like some prior reviews have? This cd is lightweight fluff compared to his more energized releases like "Unchain My Heart", "One Night Of Sin","Organic" or any of his late 60's or early 70's output. I have every Joe Cocker album ever made and "No Ordinary World" is without question one of his weakest releases in a recording career that spans over 30 years. I look forward to a little more gusto with his next release.