anyone else think rod had a major career revival artistically from 1988-1999? obviously it can't match anything he did from the late 60's-late 70's but he had some very strong releases during 1988-1999 timespan
- out of order
- vagabond heart
-unplugged and seated
- a spanner in the works
- when we were the new boys (my favorite from this era)
plus some new songs on movie soundtracks and the storyteller boxset

I have to admit. Your post initially shocked me.

Quote
Sipuncula
I have to admit. Your post initially shocked me.

I assume you mean because of seeing dates like that, next to the L'Wren thread. . . I had the same flash you did for a second.

Sorry about that, I hope it doesn't confuse too many people and we can get some discussion about that era of rods career

I think he had a pretty good career revival during that period. Out of Order was a huge album, with Forever Young being one of my favorite Stewart songs. Boxset with Downtown Train, then Vagabond Heart with Rhythm of my Heart being a big single. Then the Unplugged album which had tons of great songs. 2 additional songs that didn't make the album but could be found elsewhere were Gasoline Alley and It's All Over Now, both great versions. Spanner in the Works didn't do very well though, and the New Boys album was the beginning of his cover tunes era. I did like several tunes off of that including Hotel Chambermaid and Cigarettes and Alcohol. After that, a decade of Songbook CD's.
He's touring again with Santana. I was thinking of checking out the Vancouver show but tickets are a bit too expensive! I"ll wait for any possible Faces reunion tour.

quote=DGA35]
I think he had a pretty good career revival during that period. Out of Order was a huge album, with Forever Young being one of my favorite Stewart songs. Boxset with Downtown Train, then Vagabond Heart with Rhythm of my Heart being a big single. Then the Unplugged album which had tons of great songs. 2 additional songs that didn't make the album but could be found elsewhere were Gasoline Alley and It's All Over Now, both great versions. Spanner in the Works didn't do very well though, and the New Boys album was the beginning of his cover tunes era. I did like several tunes off of that including Hotel Chambermaid and Cigarettes and Alcohol. After that, a decade of Songbook CD's.
He's touring again with Santana. I was thinking of checking out the Vancouver show but tickets are a bit too expensive! I"ll wait for any possible Faces reunion tour.[/quote]

yeah its a shame spanner and new boys didn't sell better. He only had 3 original tunes on spanner and 1 on new boys although there was a bonus track on new noys called "careless with our love" that rod wrote. There are some outtakes from that era too on the rod stewart sessions boxset that are great. The 2 songs you mentioned though are the highlights of new boys.

well after bottoming out with Body Wishes and that Legal Eagles song there was no where to go but up for Rod. But he exceeded expectations and had a solid run of albums from '88-'99.

Quote
Rokyfan

Quote
Sipuncula
I have to admit. Your post initially shocked me.

I assume you mean because of seeing dates like that, next to the L'Wren thread. . . I had the same flash you did for a second.

I had the same thought. That would have been a BAD day.

Here's what I have to say about Rod Stewart. He used to be AMAZING. He hasn't been good, bar maybe 5 songs, since 1975. His Unplugged album is a minor triumph that I will give him credit for. That is really good, in no small part because its mostly 70s and rockin' Ronnie Wood is there with him.

That is all there really is to say about Rod Stewart.

Vagabond Heart is a really nice record. And that Unplugged show is terrific.

Quote
RollingFreak

Quote
Rokyfan

Quote
Sipuncula
I have to admit. Your post initially shocked me.

I assume you mean because of seeing dates like that, next to the L'Wren thread. . . I had the same flash you did for a second.

I had the same thought. That would have been a BAD day.

Here's what I have to say about Rod Stewart. He used to be AMAZING. He hasn't been good, bar maybe 5 songs, since 1975. His Unplugged album is a minor triumph that I will give him credit for. That is really good, in no small part because its mostly 70s and rockin' Ronnie Wood is there with him.

That is all there really is to say about Rod Stewart.

imo everything rod released up to and including A NIGHT ON THE TOWN was close to a 5 star album. FOOT LOOSE AND FANCY FREE was closer to 4 star. BLONDES HAVE MORE FUN was right below 4 stars. after that he really fell of until OUT OF ORDER.

i suggest everyone who is a fan of rod check out the SESSIONS boxset that includes a lot of unreleased songs and alternate versions or songs.

rod also has a 4 cd live set that has unreleased live performances from 1976-1998 due for release next week

Quote
Rokyfan

Quote
Sipuncula
I have to admit. Your post initially shocked me.

I assume you mean because of seeing dates like that

Yeah, me too, for a split second--and on top of that, he lived such a short life.

Creatively speaking, he lived mainly in the 70s. In those later years, he seemed to record only bland treadmill covers, like the one of Van Morrison's Have I Told You Lately, which was a renewed high point of Van's career at that point, shown below for comparison. I find the original far more soulful, but as it happens Rod's version has received over 3.6 million YouTube views compared to only 2.5 million views for the VM version.

Quote
stonehearted

Quote
Rokyfan

Quote
Sipuncula
I have to admit. Your post initially shocked me.

I assume you mean because of seeing dates like that

Yeah, me too, for a split second--and on top of that, he lived such a short life.

Creatively speaking, he lived mainly in the 70s. In those later years, he seemed to record only bland treadmill covers, like the one of Van Morrison's Have I Told You Lately, which was a renewed high point of Van's career at that point, shown below for comparison. I find the original far more soulful, but as it happens Rod's version has received over 3.6 million YouTube views compared to only 2.5 million views for the VM version.

bland cover? the unplugged version of "have i told you lately" is the definitive version. rod imo always made covers his own most of the time not counting these songbook albums he did in the 2000's. imo his version of "cigarettes and alcohol" is better than the original by oasis

<<the unplugged version of "have i told you lately" is the definitive version.>>

Not if you're a Van Morrison fan and prefer the original to the version.

Quote
stonehearted
<<the unplugged version of "have i told you lately" is the definitive version.>>

Not if you're a Van Morrison fan and prefer the original to the version.

i'm a huge van fan. the unplugged version is definitive though. more heart and emotion than any other version. not really sure what rod was thinking about while singing but you can hear his voice break for a second near the end thinking about whoever he sang the song for

<<i'm a huge van fan. the unplugged version is definitive though>>

To-may-to, to-mah-to

I can't address the Rod's voice breaking comment--because I'm to-may-to and you're to-mah-to--and because I can't bear to hear it ever again. I will dig out my Enlightenment CD though--oops, forgot. I owned that one on cassette and I can't buy the CD because Van's... a bitter man. Oh well, we can thank our lucky stars for good ol' YouTube.

i agree with you rod's studio version on VAGABOND HEART is a little stock but it's the unplugged version where rod shines

Correction on my above post: I think the Van album where Have I Told You Lately is from was Avalon Sunset, not Enlightenment--I always get those two confused.

Yes, the studio version of Rod's cover is the one I'm familiar with--flat as Muzak in my opinion. I like Rod Stewart's work from the 70s, both solo and Faces, as well as in the 60s with Jeff Beck Group, and the People Get Ready track with Jeff Beck in '85... and that song in 86 that he had a hit with that goes "I don't want you comin' round here no more..."--I forget the title, though come to think of it, he did do that version of Downtown Train from '89 that I liked at the time--that was actually a very well-produced record for the time and his singing on it was pretty good, and I actually prefer the backing track on that to the Tom Waits original. It sounds more...developed, though Waits has his own vibe going on. Just looking up his singles discography on Wiki and am remembering the covers from the late 80s which I liked a lot and even into the early 90s were okay. I think it was the Van cover that first put me off, and I really didn't listen to him after that up to 99, though I did hear some of the album of new originals from last year, and I have to say those tracks had some punch and some strong melody. Can't believe Rod's version of Have I Told You was top 5 in the UK and US--whereas Van's original was only #76 in the UK without charting in the US.

By the way, that voice breaking of Rod's on the unplugged version--could have been a sudden twinge of intestinal gas.

yes rod had a huge hit with it. but the hit version is the unplugged live version not the studio version

Rod Stewarts last good album was Foolish Behaviour

Feel The Fear
And Do It Anyway

My favorite-Rod-Era is through Faces and his 5 first solo-albums...that's classy Pub-rock..

2 1 2 0

Quote
mandu
Rod Stewarts last good album was Foolish Behaviour

good lord that album is garbage.

earlier in the thread i made this post
imo everything rod released up to and including A NIGHT ON THE TOWN was close to a 5 star album. FOOT LOOSE AND FANCY FREE was closer to 4 star. BLONDES HAVE MORE FUN was right below 4 stars. FOOLISH BEHAVIOUR is the very next album after blondes and i'd say FOOLISH BEHAVIOUR is maybe 3 stars at best

Loved Rod's 60s & 70s work but enjoyed his later era also.

I actually like "Tonight I'm Yours" and "Foolish Behavior".

"Body Wishes" is one of the worst albums ever released by anyone.

Rod Stewart's last decent album was Smiler. Everything since then has showcased an artist constantly, continually failing to come up to the mark.

Tonight I'm Yours was a good album. I remember it came out around the same time as Tattoo You and his big North American tour was in late 81 around the same time as the Stones tour. Young Turks was a huge hit for him back then. Rod has mentoned in a few interviews that the video for Young Turks is the first video showing a person break dancing.
One song on the album was Never Give Up On A Dream which was dedicated to the late Terry Fox, a local Vancouver university student who lost a leg to cancer in the late 70's. He decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research and his Marathon of Hope has now raised hundreds of millions of dollars. Unfortunately Terry only made it about half way through his run when the cancer returned and he passed away from it.
I didn't care for the Camouflage album in 84 even though it had a couple big hits with Infatuation and Some Guys Have All The Luck. Around that same time he recorded People Get Ready with Jeff Beck on Beck's album and they started a tour together which began in Vancouver and proceeded down the US West Coast. It only lasted several shows until Beck quit after a show in Oakland I believe because he couldn't get along with Rod. Jeff said they have a love/hate relationship - Rod loves him but he hates Rod!