A Traditional Favorite

Every song featured is a winner. I have the tape as well as the vinyl album. This is a Classic Recording. It means so much to me because it was my son's introduction to Rock N' Roll (see Jeff Draper review above). It hooked him on this style of music, and I personally love the arrangements and the music put together by a top notch band and recording engineer. A good investment for anyone.

No Joking,This Is A Great Album!

Honestly this is the only Rod Stewart album I've ever heard so other then his other radio hits I have nothing else to go by here.But from what I heard 'Foot Loose & Fancy Free' has to be one of Stewart's better albums,especially from a guy I hear made so many lousy ones.I've known of "Hot Legs" for years-a rauncy Stone-ish rocker that's great classic rock.My favorite song on the album is "Your Insane" a deeply grooving funk number that proves,if disco never emmerged Rod Stewart could've made a terrific funk album like the Rolling Stones did."Your In My Heart" and "(If Love Is Wrong) I Don't Want To Be Right" are nice folky ballads with great gentle vocalising by Rod.Nothing on this album is okay or fair even but the most compelling cut by far is Stewart's mesmerizing version of "You Keep Me Hanging On"-he utterly removes any cuetsy qualities the original may have had and focuses on the passion of the lyric and making the music back it up-it's the albums best song and a brilliant addition to Rod Stewart's catolog.Rod Stewart has always made musically diverse albums but he tended to have a certain formula too.On this one it's clear he's still locked into his best period as a solo artist that started at the beginning of the 70's and that he would loose in th next decade.But here Rod was fireing on all cylinders!'Foot Loose & Fancy Free' is the kind of CD you'd play in your car stereo,preferabely a convertible on a hot summer drive with the wind going through your hair-it's upbeat,clever rock and pop balladry that actually I found a great introduction to Stewarts music and maybe you will too.

ONE OF ROD'S BETTER ALBUMS

FOOT LOOSE AND FANCY FREE IS A GREAT CD BY ROD STEWART WHICH PRODUCED 3 BIG HITS IN LATE 1977 AND EARLY TO MID 1978;WHICH WERE; "HOT LEGS","I WAS ONLY JOKING",AND "YOU'RE IN MY HEART". THE 8 SONGS ON THE ALBUM BREAK DOWN TO 4 ROCKERS AND 4 BALLADS. THERE ARE COUPLE OF GOOD REMAKES ON THIS ALBUM OF THE SUPREMES "YOU KEEP ME HANGIN'ON" AND "IF LOVING YOU IS WRONG". THIS WAS ROD'S FIRST CD WITH HIS GREAT BACKING BAND OF CARMINE APPICE ON DRUMS,PHIL CHEN ON BASS,JIM CREGAN,BILLY PEEKS,AND GARY GRANGER ON GUITARS. THERE ISN'T A BAD SONG ON THE CD AND THE MUSICIANSHIP AND PRODUCTION IS GREAT.

Rod Stewart at his best

I grew up listening to this album almost everyday. I used to play it over and over again, especially the drums in "Born Loose". Nothing beats the hard driving guitar riffs, Rod's true rock and roll voice, and Carmen Appice pounding on the skins. It's a true must for any die hard Rod Stewart fan or a true rock and roll fanatic.

Rod Stewart's Footloose and Fancy Free

You think John Mayer is groundbreaking? You think Sarah MacClachan can rend your heart strings?You think Evanessence' lyrics are haunting? It is difficult to imagine now, but there once was a time when Rod Stewart made soulful, daring, cutting edge music with a heart and passion that are timeless. I love "The Crossing" and "Every Picture tells A Story" but this album is right up there. What other artist uses a mandolin for crying out loud and gets away with it? I love "I Was Only Joking", I adore "Heart and Soul" but my all time favorite Stewart gem is "You Got A Nerve" a song that gets into your blood and lingers there forever. Are you a Stewart fan- buy this album! Or are you a person who's wondered why the fuss over Stewart? Buy this album and see WHY he is the legend that he is. A voice that caresses the emotions like this one comes along once in a generation.

Wine, Women, Not Enough Song On This Stewart Set

Some albums were more fun to make than listen to. In 1977, superstardom afforded Rod Stewart a California jet-set lifestyle with cars, stars, and bars at his command. Stewart then was better throwing a party than making an album.

"Foot Loose and Fancy Free" is sloppy and undisciplined even by Stewart's late-70s standards. The rockers (except for the stomping "Hot Legs") are forced and flat, most notably the interminable "Born Loose." The ballads find Stewart losing his sense of empathy and style. He tosses off the second "Set me free, why don't you babe?" in "You Keep Me Hangin' On," losing the passion in what ends up a low-cal version of the Vanilla Fudge original. In "You've Got A Nerve," Stewart chides a pleading ex-girlfriend, singing, "Please, please, go away," as if someone hit the lights while he slept off a hangover.

Again, exceptions exist. Stewart and friends enjoy the jaunty "You're In My Heart" (kind of Rod's answer to "My Favorite Things"). The otherwise touching "I Was Only Joking" seems flat after spending the rest of the LP (a skimpy eight songs) dissing party girls and setting dirty jokes to music. In "Joking", Rod admits, "I wasted all that precious time, and blamed it on the wine." Take that as warning not to waste yours on "Foot Loose and Fancy Free," a half-hearted Stewart effort betraying a first-class backup band and any fans with reason to believe.