Johnny’s album gets off to a surprisingly good start with Monument Valley, a track on which Johnny’s blues-style vocals are accompanied by simple guitar chords and Navajo drums. Four minutes into the album, it’s clear why Johnny was so keen on seeing his blues project through. Monument Valley marks a visceral need to return to his roots, a passionate urge to share the formative sounds he grew up with. Working in close collaboration with his arranger and composer Yvan Cassar (renowned for his recent appearances on the TV talent show "Star Academy"), Johnny proceeds to take us on a musical tour of the blues, with greater and lesser success according to individual tracks. T’aimer si mal, a track on which Johnny appears to be on intimate terms with God (or rather the Devil) features a white-hot harmonica intro, a series of incandescent guitar solos and some belting vocals from the Big Man himself.

Taj Mahal, one of the most prestigious guest stars a man could wish for, excels himself on Johnny’s album, even attempting a verse in French at one point. (Frankly incomprehensible, but full of contagious enthusiasm nevertheless!) Chavirer les foules, which deals with the same theme as Toute la musique que j’aime, makes for another pleasant listening experience, as does Etre un homme. And I Am the Blues (a song penned by U2 frontman Bono) makes for a rousing finale, although being the only song in English on the album it strikes something of a misplaced note and might have sounded better adapted into French.

In our humble opinion, Le cœur d’un homme, recorded in Los Angeles, works altogether less well when the arrangements take over and drown out everything else. The arrangements are so bold and in your face on Je reviendrais dans tes bras (I’d Love to be Back in Your Arms Again) that a lover with any sense would take to her heels and run. And Vous madame - on which the brave and fearless Johnny defies death itself - borders on the ludicrous. The French media have apparently missed the boat. It has been widely reported in recent months that Johnny has been worrying about tax problems. But it now becomes clear that it is existential issues that have been keeping him awake at night. At least half of his new album revolves around songs on which he attempts to find the meaning of life!

Johnny has not lost his head entirely, however. The choice of Always as a first single release - by his own admission "a song for the ladies!" - shows his grasp of commercial issues is still firmly intact. Always fits neatly into the general scheme of Le cœur d’un homme and will doubtless slip nicely into the Top 40, too. That’s what Warner are hoping for in any case. The record company needs to sell 500,000 copies of Le cœur d’un homme to recoup their original investment - and things are looking good so far! A week after its release, Johnny’s new album has already sold a respectable 107,000 copies.

Sadly, Amicalement blues, a joint album by French blues star Paul Personne and Hubert-Félix Thiéfaine, will probably not even come close to these kind of sales. Personne and Thiéfaine do owe Johnny some kind of (indirect) thanks, however. Both artists had originally been contacted to write material for Le cœur d’un homme, but none of their songs found favour with Johnny. So the pair turned round and decided to record their ‘rejections’ on their own album, instead. Amicalement blues, composed and recorded at breakneck speed, goes straight to the heart of the matter, Personne and Thiéfaine cooking up a raw, electric, touchingly rough-edged sound. From the hypnotic strains of Avenue de l’amour to the weary love anthem Amant sous contrôle and the guitar-heavy Special Ado SMS blues, the two French artists humbly put their own spin on the blues.

Thiéfaine’s disillusioned lyrics - which include the superb "Quand je serais grand, moi je veux être mort!" (When I grow up I want to be dead!) - add a gloriously sardonic edge to things, while Personne plays his six-string like a man willing to die for his art. The thirteen tracks on Amicalement blues, which include some spine-tingling performances on Distance and Juste avant l’enfer, may not be accessible mainstream chart material, but blues aficionados will find themselves compelled to listen to them over and over again. In short, Personne and Thiéfaine’s new offering is an album for blues fans searching for the real thing!