Solomon Burke: Like A Fire : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

When Solomon Burke sings, you can hear his smiling eyes — he's having a laugh at his detractors. Over the past half-decade, the 68-year-old soul titan defied the odds, re-emerging from commercial oblivion with a string of albums that showcase his genius for ragged-voiced ballads, and for pure blarney. You can hear the latter on Like a Fire's title track, where Burke delivers the most hackneyed rhymes — "burning in my soul" rhymes with "yearning to be whole" — with an endearingly hammy baritone rumble.

Like a Fire pairs the old master with younger guest stars (Keb' Mo', Ben Harper) on songs that emphasize Burke's uptempo side. Producer Steve Jordan gives the music a clattery, funky underpinning, and though the material isn't as strong as 2006's country-soul tour de force Nashville, Burke wrings maximum pathos and humor even from the weakest stuff. The highlight: A wonderfully blustery reading of the cocktail jazz standard "If I Give My Heart to You." It's proof that Burke could spend his sunset years enthroned on a Vegas concert stage.