Chris Rea

Espresso Logic is aptly titled, as the majority of the music would fit well in a late-night coffee house. It's a jazzier-bluesier album than most of Rea's, featuring some fine slide guitar, particularly on the title track. The atmospheric "Miles Is a Cigarette" is a smoky evocation of longing and remembrance. This hushed mood carries over into "She Closed Her Eyes," which is a poem spoken over a soothing, wistful backing. It's not all moody atmospherics, though. Like "Josephine" on his earlier Shamrock Diaries, the bright rhythm driven song "Julia" is about one of his daughters. Unfortunately, the weakest track is the duet with Elton John. The pairing could have been more interesting if they'd picked a different song, but "If You Were Me" is quite bland. This album was released in two different versions, the U.S. version, with the gold sand on the cover, also included some songs from God's Great Banana Skin, which wasn't released in the U.S. ~ Rob Caldwell, All Music Guide