Julian Lennon

To be commended for daring even to whisper after the echo of his formidable father, Julian settles for clean but modest stuff -- high-end MOR. More a record maker than a songwriter, he assembles crack studio vets (Michael Brecker, Barry Beckett, Ralph MacDonald) and, through the almost clinical packaging of their playing, turns out compositions that vaguely resemble backing tracks to Steely Dan songs. Genes make sounding like John inevitable, and Julian does so, eerily, on his first album's not-bad title ballad, and, from his second outing, the haunting "Want Your Body." Valotte gave Lennon his only two Top 10 hits, the title track and "Too Late for Goodbyes." Mr. Jordan found him, for some odd reason, uncannily re-creating David Bowie's vocals. Lennon's records are pervaded with a sort of listlessness, a free-floating pathos. The one thing he hasn't done, even on his comeback "Indie" album, Photograph Smile, is rock, and, given the standard he's inevitably compared to, that's one wise move. (PAUL EVANS)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide