Steve Winwood

Boy wonder of British blues, Winwood powered through "Gimme Some Lovin' " (1966) and "I'm a Man" (1967) for the Spencer Davis Group, his Hammond organ played with banshee intensity and his soaring vocals sounding like a mod Ray Charles. The brain behind the bluesy elegance of Traffic, Winwood took dazzling guitar solos, and edged rock further into harmonic complexity, without capitulating to the crass synthesis of jazz-rock fusion. After dominating Blind Faith, the brilliant but strife-ridden supergroup he'd formed with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker, Winwood became for a while a virtual hermit.

His return was impressive. "Vacant Chair" and "Time Is Running Out" display his trademark classiness -- even if he sounds a little tentative in places throughout Steve Winwood, whose atmosphere is one of restraint and careful polish. With Arc of a Diver, however, Winwood takes total control. With poetically suggestive lyrics by, of all people, Viv Stanshall, formerly head of the loopy comedy troupe the Bonzo Dog Band, the album's title track and "While You See a Chance" are pop of a brilliant caliber: Win-wood's keyboards concoct gorgeous sound tapestries, through which his keening vocals shimmer coolly -- and then take off. Winwood's best, this is the kind of mature pop that proves that "AOR" needn't be read as a mild obscenity: while played with intimidating craft, the songs demonstrate no lack of passion.

A one-man band on Talking Back to the Night, Winwood seems slightly exhausted; the record is, of course, accomplished, but the singer's moves are beginning to sound calculated, and the material trades more heavily on skill than heart. Back in the High Life is absolute gloss. "Higher Love" sounds amazing at first listen, and, if you forget the beer commercial it eventually became, so does the title track -- but this is yuppie soul music, a triumph only of artful design. Roll With It is even blander, particularly when, as on the boring title tune, it tries for funk. With Refugees of the Heart, Winwood edges tentatively back toward music fired by more than fearsomely intelligent technique: "I Will Be Here" and "In the Light of Day" are ballads that mark a return to grace, but the fully dimensional art Winwood had achieved in the past remains missing in action. Junction 7, a bid for urban-contemporary credibility produced by Narada Michael Walden and featuring guest turns by Lenny Kravitz and Des'ree, is slick, accomplished, and tastefully mild. He mercifully rediscovers his Hammond B-3 organ on About Time, which sounds a little more like the Winwood of Traffic, but not enough to give you a reason to listen to Time instead of the original albums. Aside from Arc of a Diver, the Chronicles hit collection contains the only essential solo music (the Finer Things box set is terrific, but mainly for the Traffic work; the same goes for The Millennium Collection). (PAUL EVANS)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide