If the name Robert Palmer means anything to you at all, it's probably as the voice behind the ubiquitous 80s MTV hit 'Addicted To Love'. After 15 years without a hit, however, it's fair to say that the former Wakefield soulboy has his work cut out for him if he's to re-acquaint himself with the record-buying public. Nothing daunted, he's decided to go back to his roots - and the result is almost certainly the best album he's ever made. Drive is a real throwback to the early days of rock'n'roll, a gritty collection of blues and R'n'B standards that brings out the best in Palmer's macho vocals. Most impressive of all, however, is the sheer passion on display here - he belts his way through each song as if his career's on the line, which of course, in a sense it is. An admirably gutsy comeback from a veteran performer who, on this evidence, has plenty of life left in him yet.
