Customer Reviews

Absolutely Live

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

The excitment of a Rod Stewart concert is captured on this recording. It makes you feel that you are actually there. Rod never sounded better and this is pure enjoyment from start to finish!

Please edit this album again with the complete songlist. All Rod Stewart's fans need GUESS I'LL ALWAYS LOVE AND THE GREAT PRETENDER. WARNER BROS please put the batteries on and make an edition that really worth it.

Let me start by saying I recently saw Rod live for the first time (after having been a fan for over 20 yrs) on his current "Human" tour and it was possibly the best damn concert I've ever seen! And that ties into my review in this way, until then the closest I had come to seeing this great entertainer live was this record. And I have to say this record comes pretty close to capturing all the excitement and frenzy of a Stewart concert, plus it showcases most of Rods hits such as the great "Maggie May" all the way down to the equally great "Da Ya think I'm sexy?" And on all the tunes Stewart was in fine voice and the people that worked on this record also did a fine job by just letting it happen and be recorded that way. Even letting the part stay in where 2 female fans showed their appreciation according to the album notes "in topless fashion." All in all this is a great album and a must have for anyone who hasn't seen him live and wants to and for any person who just wants to hear a helluva album. It's great from start to finish, I highly recommend it!

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.

As the back cover reads, "In order to facilitate a single, specially-priced cd, the songs "The Great Pretender," and "I Guess I'll Always Love You," have been removed." HELLO??!! The main selling point of this album was the inclusion of those tracks as they were not available elsewhere! Both performances added immeasureably to the appeal of this collection, and these songs, as with Stewart's original and definitive reading of Burt Bacharach's "That's What Friends Are For," have yet to reappear on subsequent retrospectives. Stick with the vinyl until Warner does this one right.

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!

one of the few artists which you should seriously consider to have a live-cd is for sure Rod, he does not sing the songs in the same way that they are recorded on the albums, he puts something special in everyone of their performances, so you'll get a diferent idea of the songs you like the most when you hear Rod adding some salt and pepper, and maybe chili to them.
Don't forget this is a completely liverecorded album!
The reason that I don't put five stars to this album is becuase they took it off the wonderful song guess I'll always love you, which I think is a crime.

Rod Stewart was one of my first musical heroes . His whiskey-loaded voice , his natural blues instinct , all that and more captured my interest during the late seventies .

In the early 80's he decided to try his luck at the disco frenzy , and recorded "Da ya think I'm sexy" , "Passion" and other songs that I never liked . After that , I lost contact .

I got interested in having this album because it is a live performance , but there's mixed results . There are very good performances , especially of his old stuff like "Sailing" , "You're in my soul" , "Maggie May" , "Tonight's the night" and a rocking , hell-raiser version of "Hot legs".

But there's also a few low points : if "Tonight I'm yours" is better performed here than in its studio version , "Da ya think I'm sexy" doesn't quite thrill me at all and the show finishes off with a pathetic trio with Kim Carnes and Tina Turner on "Stay with me" .

Some friends tell me that his Unplugged CD is a good one , I might try it some day . If it doesn't work , well , I'll go back to his early stuff and stop right at "Foot loose and fancy free" , his 1976 or '77 album . After that it's not really great music.

Apparently , Rod got better and better at chasing blondes and being a jet set headline , but in the process he somewhat lost inspiration . Well , a golden retirement isn't bad after all .

This CD recorded in 1982 is still
great when Rod still had it.
The CD is missing the Great Pretender which is no big loss
but also I'll Guess I Will Always Love You
which is a minor loss. So if you like the older Rod stuff
it is worth buying. This is a real live CD not touched up
so it is not perfect but still is Rod's best live CD.