by Mark Deming

Johnny Hallyday was France's first homegrown rock & roll star, embracing the sound and style of Elvis Presley and translating it for the Gallic audience. Hallyday scored his first hit record in 1960, and 2007's Le Coeur d'un Homme ("The Heart of a Man") finds him still going strong, proving that his voice and his swaggering attitude are as powerful as ever. This album features 13 songs rooted in Hallyday's love of blues music, including the final track "I Am the Blues," a rare English-language performance that was co-written by Bono of U2.