Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Another outing to Burke's country., 4 Jul 2008
Solomon Burke's latest CD is a personal and understated if not sparse affair. For most of his career the man from Philadelphia has been switching between country and soul, often choosing songs from the (white) country tradition but singing them with (black) preacher type phrasing. Until recently Burke's accompaniment also stuck to traditional soul patterns. Nothing wrong with that! Now, once again, there is not a sax or trumpet in sight. If anything this CD is even more introspective than its predecessor. Is it good? Yes, but I'm beginning to believe it's not as good as the three preceding ones, Don't give up on Me, Make do with what you've got and Nashville. My ideal verdict would be three and a half stars but that is not possible.
The two collaborations with Eric Clapton are the highlights of the album.
Like a Fire, the album's opener and title track is a brooding song. I do wonder though whether perhaps Burke should have taken more time before finally recording it. I have now heard three versions of this song. At the Glastonbury festival on June 29 the big man seemed to have difficulty remembering the lyrics, four days later at London's Barbican he gave a superb impassioned rendition of the song, obviously having familiarised himself with it in the mean time. The Barbican version was in my opinion superior to the one on this CD.
Thank you, co-written with Clapton is upbeat and light of touch with one of those lovely down home spoken bits in the middle of a song, Burke can do so well.
Other highlights are We don't need it, a tale of a man who loses his job and A Minute to Rest, although I could have done without the heavenly choir at the start there!
The final track, If I give my Heart to You seems to indicate a possible new avenue : Lounge Music, and I do not mean that in a negative sense! Listening to his phrasing here and the wonderful way in which he modulates his voice, I wondered if perhaps an album of standards such as Nat King Cole's Let there be Love or Howard Keel's Oh what a beautiful Morning might not be a good step forward.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Like a Fire, Solomon Burke - Intimate feeling soul album, 6 Oct 2009
One thing with Solomon Burke is that you never know what you're going to get. One minute he's belting out some great soul, the next minute finds him going all country. And he manages a variety of moods - foot stomping through to intimate soul baring - with great adeptness.
His recent run of critically acclaimed albums ("don't give up on me", "make do with what you've got" and "Nashville", all worth checking out) has found him find a new audience by combining all these talents and utilising some great new material written for him by some big names (Dylan and Van Morrison to name a couple).
Here he attempts the same formula, with material provided by Eric Clapton and Ben Harper among others, but the style through out is of intimate soul, with little variety. This is no bad thing, Burke is a past master at this, and does an excellent job. It is also good that all the guest stars do not dominate the album, this really is Burke's all the way through.
My only real trouble was the material. It's OK, but not really strong enough for Burke to really get his teeth into. He does his best, and the result it quite listenable, it just doesn't quite have the vital spark that made "don't give up on me" a smash. Nothing here really grabs your attention and lodges in your memory.
All in all a decent, workman like album with a nice cosy feel, but it didn't work as well for me as his other recent albums, so only three stars.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant Solomon and guests, 25 Oct 2009
What a great album, I love it. Don't listen to the other downbeat reviews as it is FUNKY soul
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~ Solomon Burke
~ Al Green
~ Dr.john & the Lower 911
![Solomon Burke - The King Live At AVO Session Basel [DVD] [2007]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51OyGKi87DL._SL500_SS90_.jpg)
~ Solomon Burke
