Absolutely Rod!

First of all, if you can find this on vinyl or even a stinking cassette, buy it! Because the CD version is shortchanging you! You can live without the cover of "The Great Pretender", but omitting "Guess I'll Always Love You" from the CD of this album is criminal! One of Rod's great fun tunes...and it's not here.



But, having said that, Rod delivers the live show, circa 1982 for his fans. Look- Rod has never been anything more than sloppy. Steampackat, Jeff Beck Group, Faces and his solo work- all sloppy. Hell, the Faces made a LIVING off being sloppy!!!! This live album is billed as "Absolutely Live" and Rod goes to great effort to tell us in the liner notes that this album contains no overdubs. It's obvious there aren't! And that why this live album is great!



It could use more old hits, but c'mon....in 1982, Rod was not worrying about singing a lot of old songs. He does break out "Sweet Little Rock n' Roller", "Maggie May" and "Gasoline Alley" for the older fans. His voice is undisputed in rock! And all you need to do is listen to the ballads, "I Don't Want To Talk About It", and "Sailing", and the crowd singing along, to understand how great Rod is. No, the American audience isn't as boistrous as a European crowd, but still Rod is in control.



Rod brought out his three guitar attack on this tour, and it is strong. I'm not thrilled that they still "funk it up" on songs like "Hot Legs". I wish they'd have rocked out the way Rod did with this song on his Out Of Order Tour. But it doesn't matter.... the album is very good, and if you want a good, honest example of Rod in concert, you'll get it here!

Guess, I'll Always Love You

I saw this tour. I bought this album when it was first released and have never stopped listening to it over the years. However, I must say that omitting GUESS, I'LL ALWAYS LOVE YOU is a sin. Warner Brothers needs to get off thier duff and remaster and release this album with the 2 songs they chopped in order to fit this onto one CD. What amazes me even more is with all the box sets, and best ofs, these two songs still remain unavailable. This isn't some small time artist that only put out a few albums in the seventies. This is Rod the mod, himself. Legend, rock and roll master. Please reissue this as Nazareth did with their live album, Snaz.

Middling Representative Of Rod Live

Rod Stewart is one of the greatest performers of our time. He has an amazing voice, makes excellent songs and is great in concert. Unfortunately, the record companies don't seem to know how to make a great Rod Stewart live album. 1982's "Absolutely Live" was the first attempt to capture the exhuberant energy of Rod Stewart in concert. It falls short of the mark, but is still worth a listen.



I might as well start with the low points. Rod warbles his way through "Passion" and "Sweet Little Rock And Roller". He gives a very enjoyable version of "Hot Legs", yet like one reviewer said, it was probably better when he did it on his 1988 tour. "Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)" and "You're In My Heart" are passable but are more or less pale imitators of the classic studio versions.



It's the second half of the album, starting with "Young Turks" (which works surprisingly well without the synthesizers). From then on, Rod brings down the house with awesome versions of "Gasoline Alley", "Maggie Mae", "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy", "Sailing", "I Don't Want To Talk About It" and a raucous "Stay With Me" done with Kim Carnes and Rod's good friend Tina Turner. The only track I don't really listen to that often is "Tear It Up".



I wouldn't say this is an essential Rod Stewart album. However, that doesn't mean you should avoid it all costs. It has some great moments on it. But like I said, it isn't the best representation of him live. For a better live album, get "Unplugged...And Seated". Still, this one is worth a listen once in a while.