One of the staggering things about Rod Stewart\u2019s catalogue is just how many titles have been released in his name since the late \u201860s. It\u2019s hard to think of another of his peers who could top his output, particularly over the last few decades, which I suppose proves one thing above all: Rod Stewart is clearly one of the hardest working men in rock history. The guy has recorded so much material crossing over into every genre imaginable and then some, but as a performer, Stewart has always been a rocker at heart. While he was heavily influenced by folk, soul, blues and even a touch of country, whenever he hit the stage (with the exception of his more recent incarnation as a classical balladeer\/crooner), it was always about the rock and the roll. And there was plenty of that, judging by his latest release.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Live 1976-1998<\/i> is a sprawling 58 track, four-disc set that covers everything from his brilliant career peak from the mid-\u201870s right through to the not-so-great \u201890s, which is really when the once great storyteller lost his way and almost never came back. Despite returning to writing songs again for 2013\u2019s Time<\/i>, there is nothing included here following 1998. I think the main reason for that would be the state of Stewart\u2019s once great voice, which is now just a croaky whisper that is barely audible over his band of full-throttle rockers and stellar backing vocalists.\u00a0 The late \u201890s were the last good years of Stewart\u2019s voice, which was at that stage being propped up by regular steroid injections, an admission Rod included in his autobiography, which according to the man made him bloated and grumpy. <\/p>\n
Whilst it\u2019s true that the first two discs, which cover the years 1976-1981, are far superior to the third and fourth (1984-1998) it is surprising at how hard a lot of Stewart\u2019s mediocre \u201880s material actually rocked when he took it out of the studio and onto the road. Tracks like \u201cInfatuation,\u201d \u201cTonight I\u2019m Yours (Don\u2019t Hurt Me)\u201d and \u201cSome Guys Have All The Luck\u201d rock with confidence and hold their own alongside classics like \u201cSailing\u201d and \u201cStay With Me.\u201d There are a couple of great soul medleys that show what a great singer Stewart once was, not to mentio a killer duet with Tina Turner on the very appropriate \u201cHot Legs\u201d from a \u201979 gig. That show also provides great moments with \u2018Gi\u2019 Me Wings,\u201d \u201cPassion\u201d and \u201cShe Won\u2019t Dance With Me.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Late into the set, we get some of the acoustic material that Stewart had recorded for his 1993 MTV Unplugged And Seated<\/i> album, but the packaging goes to great lengths to assure us that these are all previously unissued tracks and not just lifted from that set. The two tracks that close out disc four, \u201cCigarettes And Alcohol\u201d and \u201cRocks\u201d (from Stewart\u2019s great 1998 album, When We Were The New Boys<\/i>) both sound fine, but it\u2019s a shame that there are only two selections from that year as he recorded some great material for that album that would have worked a treat on stage for him. It is, however, the first disc, devoted entirely to the year 1976, which makes this collection essential for Rod Stewart fans. It presents a 13 track gig during a year that many a scribe believe to have been his peak.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Stellar cuts like \u201cYou Wear It Well,\u201d \u201cBig Bayou\u201d and \u201cThe Wild Side Of Life\u201d sound effortlessly great, as do the big hits \u201cMaggie May\u201d and \u201cTonight\u2019s The Night (Gonna Be Alright).\u201d A superb cover of Jimi Hendrix\u2019s \u201cAngel\u201d and an equally impressive jaunt through The Fab Four\u2019s \u201cGet Back\u201d prove Stewart\u2019s skill as an interpretive singer was once truly great.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
But later cuts, like a completely flat reading of The Boss\u2019 \u201cHungry Heart,\u201d show what can happen when his heart isn\u2019t in it. The most disappointing inclusion here, though, is a dreadful performance of Tom Waits\u2019 \u201cDowntown Train,\u201d which is mainly due to the fact that on the night of 5\/5\/1991, Rod\u2019s voice had completely deserted him. There must have been stronger nights on that particular tour, but maybe the tapes weren\u2019t rolling, which is a shame because when there is so much great material here, it really shows up the bad stuff.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Anyway, Live 1976-1998<\/i> is a really great set of live material from one of rock\u2019s most beloved and enduring entertainers. Considering that nearly all of Stewart\u2019s previously released live albums are dreadful, it is a must have for any fan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":31903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6031],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-43628","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-rod-stewart","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/43628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/43628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43628"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=43628"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=43628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}