Joe Cocker

Hymn For My Soul

(EMI)

Joe Cocker, the grizzled soul man from Sheffield, is presumably well aware of the renewed interest in his fellow singer-songwriter veterans. With strong albums from the likes of Elton John, Neil Diamond and Cat Stevens in the last couple of years, the time is right for comebacks. While he's been releasing albums steadily since his heyday, this - his first since 2004 - sees him ambitiously taking on the other old boys.

Sadly, there's nothing new here - and this album is let down by a couple of ill-advised forays into modernity. Either you like Cocker's distinctive rasp, or you don't. We don't. Regardless of this, flirtations with world music (the toe-curling Just Pass It On), Bill Withers-style summery soul (One Word) and gospel-tinged ballads (a funereal cover of Creedence's Long As I Can See The Light, which even big beat catastrophes Monkey Mafia managed to make a more soulful job of) are mistakes by anyone's standards. The rest is Cocker by numbers. One for the fans only.

Ozzy Osbourne

Black Rain

(Epic)

There have been a lot of different perceptions about Ozzy Osbourne over the years. He's one of the pioneers of heavy metal, and went from being seen as a controversial bird biting out of control party animal to being America's favorite reality show dad. He and Sharon are also savvy in business, having started the very successful and lucrative Ozzfest summer tour.

It's been six years since Ozzy's last studio album Down To Earth. He also released a covers record a couple years that received lukewarm response (although I thought it was pretty good). Black Rain is the first album Ozzy has ever recorded sober, and it is an excellent effort. The Prince Of Darkness is nearly 60 years old, but he proves he still has some gas left in the tank.

The songs on Black Rain are very catchy and melodic with the usual outstanding guitar work by longtime band member Zakk Wylde. Ozzy also shows some anger and edge with lyrics that are politically charged, especially the title track that espouses his views on the Iraq war. He's always had a gift for writing memorable ballads like "Mama I'm Coming Home," and "Here For You" is a great song that would have been a monster hit back in the day.

I was very pleasantly surprised by Black Rain. Ozzy doesn't hit the really high notes anymore, but his voice is still strong and this is a very focused and enjoyable CD.