ROD STEWART Vinyl & CDs

Review: Rod Stewart's voice has always sounded like it's just crawled out of a Soho bar fight - gravelly, charming and faintly ridiculous. But somehow, it still gets you. This new compilation, spanning everything from his 70s bar-room soul to recent swing experiments, is a reminder of just how strange and compelling his career has been. Few singers could convincingly move from 'Maggie May' to 'Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?' to 'Rhythm of My Heart' without seeming like a novelty act. Fewer still could make it all hang together with any sense of emotional truth. Born in London and once a failed footballer, Stewart turned rascal energy into stadium-filling charisma. The early material - with Python Lee Jackson, with the Faces, or solo - still feels beautifully tossed-off, full of unfiltered ache. Later tracks lean into gloss and schmaltz, sometimes to great effect and sometimes less so. But taken as a whole, this is a portrait of a singer who never quite gave up on the idea that pop music could be both daft and devastating. It's not cool, and it's not trying to be. That's the charm. If you're not moved by something here, you're either too young or trying far too hard.

Review: Rod Stewart's Foot Loose & Fancy Free, released in 1977, stands out as a definitive moment in his career. Opening with the energetic 'Hot Legs,' the album immediately hooks listeners with its rock 'n' roll vigour. The track 'You're In My Heart (The Final Acclaim)' showcases Stewart's knack for heartfelt ballads, blending tender lyrics with a captivating melody. 'I Was Only Joking' features storytelling at its best, with a blend of acoustic charm and electric intensity. The album also includes a soulful rendition of 'You Keep Me Hangin' On' and a passionate cover of Luther Ingram's '(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want To Be Right.' The band, featuring guitarists Jim Cregan and Gary Grainger, bassist Phil Chen, and drummer Carmine Appice, delivers a cohesive and dynamic sound throughout. Foot Loose & Fancy Free is a must-listen for any rock enthusiast, reaffirming Stewart's place in rock history with its blend of rockers and ballads, all beautifully produced by Tom Dowd. This reissued vinyl is a perfect addition to any collection.

Review: The pairing we didn't know we needed - Rod Stewart and Jools Holland - share their latest full-length album Swing Fever, a worthy throwback to the swing music of yore. A 13-track sparkling salute to the timeless songs of the big band years, and reignited by two giants of their craft, this unlikely dialogue between such titans has produced a convincingly diegetic and immersive work, avoiding any overt pratfall of pure anachronism by producing a roomy, spacious and overall future-present work of art, one which confidently reignites the feeling of Charlestonning and jitterbugging in school proms and/or formal bally occasions, until such quaint aerialisms can be performed no more, whether due to nostalgic satiation or mere exhaustion. With peerless dexterity, Stewart and Holland deliver their takes on timeless jazz classics like 'Ain't Misbehavin', 'Frankie And Johnny', 'Sentimental Journey' and 'Lullaby Of Broadway'.