Teaming up with
Matt Serletic, a producer who made his name via his work with
Collective Soul and especially
Matchbox Twenty,
Joe Cocker comes up with a clean, shiny machine on
Hard Knocks. Despite
Cocker's trademark soulful rasp, this isn't an especially warm album. It's bright and bold, as hard and shiny as stainless steel, but there isn't a meanness to it: it's professional to its core, each note polished til it gleams, not one song outside of
Cocker's wheelhouse. He pours his passion in, which may not be enough to liven up this buttoned-down upper-crust soul, but it is enough to keep things pleasant. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine