Sail Away With this One

Atlantic Crossing was Rod Stewart's first release on the Warner Brothers labeland he recorded most of it at the famous Muscle Schoals Studio in Alabama. The album has a gritty, R&B edge, but is balanced out nicely by some ballads. "Three Time Loser", "Alright For Another" & "Stone Cold Sober" has a delta blues sound to them, while his cover of Dobie Gray's "Drift Away" has a Stax Records vibe. He does his original take on The Isley Brothers' "This Old Heart Of Mine" here and he does a heartbreakingly beautiful rendition of Danny Whitten of Crazy Horse's "I Don't Want To Talk About It". "Sailing" was not a hit in America, but was absolutely humongous in the UK. It is his biggest hit by far over there. Atlantic Crossing was a nice bounce back after the disappointing Smiler and a great start to his warner Brothers career.

Soothing Classic Rock

When taken as a whole, this probably is the best recording that Rod did for Warner. Personally, I think all of the albums have their moments, but this one stands out a bit more as a completely solid effort.
For starters, who can resist the catchy surrender of "Three Time Loser"; the classic rock & roll of "Stone Cold Sober", and Rod's soothing version of "Drift Away"(even if it is an incredibly overplayed song).
Then there's the slow half...
"I Don't Want To Talk About It" features one of the most convincing vocals ever.. Then when you listen to the next track, "It's Not The Spotlight", it's confirmed that almost no one can bring home the emotion of a sad song like Rod. For someone who supposedly never had his heart broken(until recent years), Rod certainly does a good job of convincing us otherwise..
The album closes with "Sailing", another heartfelt track, that expresses a certain amount of desperation..
There were no big U.S. hits here, but Rod's version of "I Don't Want To Talk About It" has become somewhat of a staple. In 1990, Rod had a hit with a newer version of "This Old Heart Of Mine", so it's kind of interesting to hear his different approach here..
With this album, Rod began to display a somewhat more explicit approach lyrically, most notably in "Three Time Loser", and it only gets worse from here.. Check out some of the lyrics in songs from "Foot Loose & Fancy Free" & "Blondes Have More Fun". While this maybe true, and some people maybe somewhat turned off by this, it's rock & roll, and there are no limits, and let's face it, it's fun. It's too bad newer music almost never comes close to being this much fun, and rocking this freely, and speaking of some of the offensive lyrics, I guess you could say Rod was the Eminem of the '70s...

What A Great American, Across The Atlantic Eh? YOUR ENGLISH

Rod Stewart has for some time been the blue-collar, hard-labouring, all-American guy...wait...hangon...HE'S ENGLISH, FALSE PRETENCES!!!!!



Well I'll be damned, The Great American Songbook has been such a huge, gravely overrated set of albums I'm getting tired. For starter he's not American, he's not `great', nor is America (just joking honestly, I am English you see) and why label yourself under such false pretences.



I'll tell you why, just take a look at where those babies are in the charts...HIGH. Way too high for an incredulous false labelled con man. He doesn't even release The Great American Piece Of Arrogance in his HOMETOWN England, because he knows that the public will not buy it. Because he has this disregard for his roots, a hang-up. It's like if the vastly successful Bruce Springbok released The Great British Songbook, that would cause a massive stir (as if he hasn't done that already heh heh).



As for the music, well, honestly it's ok. Except I get this overwhelming feeling to cough violently when I hear Mr. America sing due to his faked `husky' voice. Also, ITS OLD, 60's ok...70's ok...80's pushing it...90's mmm no more though, BUT NOW. Please just retire and shack up with some blonde thing.



He needs to grow up, cut his hair, get rid of the highlights, settle in his homeland America, marry (heh heh) and stop producing The Great Piece Of Self-Obsessed Ludicrous Songbook. I'm fed up to the teeth with Rodney Stewart, he's dealings with women, `ah I think I'm done with you, oooo there's a nice leggy blonde I can get cheap shags out of' he's possessiveness with American Music charts, and of course the dollar he sticks up his arse every time a sheep buys this turd. His use of the American public, idolising himself as an American singer and `artist...yes of course us Brits believe you'. Yep, I'm done with the Presid...I mean Rod Stewart, and I would imagine so is most of Britain.