Rod Stewart - Time

Apart from a bus pass Rod Stewart appears to have a been given a get out of jail free card to tuck away in his wallet.

Every review I have read is praising his latest 'all original' tracks release as the best things since the last living legend was in the studio.

Let me tell you that it's not.

It isn't even anywhere close.

If you asked me if it was in the ballpark of his previous classic albums then I would have to say that it's in the line to enter the car park of the ballpark, but Rod's short of the parking fee and the attendant isn't feeling charitable.

When I hear material like this all I can think is that no one in the studio had the cojones to tell him that it was substandard.

It's not horrifically bad, but it's bland.

With a few exceptions, such as the title track, it's all shiny production and no heart.

So where was the one person to stand up and ask him to dig deep and find his Rod the Mod persona and unleash him in the studio?

Out to lunch perhaps.

I like Rod Steward, and still do.

I'm not going to write him off, as due to his time with the Faces, and then a run of solid solo albums, he has stored a great deal of goodwill in the bank.

He's a talented singer, a great performer and an artist who always springs to mind when we think of legendary UK rockers, but unfortunately in time when the rave reviews for this album are a distant memory the reappraisal of it will tell a different story than the one being peddled in the present.

I could add a youtube link here of Rod, but instead here's The Holy Ghosts.

You will get far more satisfaction from watching this than you would from sitting through 'Time'