THE former Dr Hook frontman sets such high standards he only misses out on the five-star treatment because this is just not as good as his last record, Out Of The Darkness, by one of his many whiskers.

This 13-track studio album from the New Jersey working-class lad was recorded in Nashville and it is superb, nevertheless. As always, he sings of love found and lost with the undimmed passion that still makes Sylvia's Mother so heart-wrenchingly beguiling after more than three decades.

And, as always, the lyrics, most of which are self-penned, are charged with meaning, longing and raw emotion so you just know he has been through the mill we call life. If I had a voice like his I wouldn't be writing this.

Updated: 09:26 Thursday, May 19, 2005