Customer Reviews

The Rod Stewart Sessions 1971-1998

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I hesitate to give anything on Amazon five stars since it instantly appears as though the review was written by another blind fan just praising his or her idol, but this Sessions box set is fantastic and deserves nothing less than five stars. As you will see from my other reviews, I am not afraid to slam Rod Stewart "products" so trust me when I tell you this box set is simply amazing.

The set contains several different types of cuts--from finished, studio polished never-before-released tracks to first run-throughs of songs that either were completed or scrapped. There's also a plethora of alternative versions of classic Rod tracks that offer hard core fans a chance to fall in love again with songs they've known for decades. There's even three hilarious "hidden" tracks including a classic, sly swipe at Rod's record label Warner Bros. called "It's Coming out Your Royalties."

Some of the standout tracks include Elvis Costello's "Long Journey Home," Dylan's "Wheels on Fire," "May You Never," "When I'm Away from You" "Dylan's Day Off" the alternative "First Cut is the Deepenst" the alternative "Girl from the North Country" (much more haunting and moving that the original that appeared on Smiler) the early take of "Scarred and Scared," the accoustic "Windy Town," Oasis' "Rocking Chair" and about two dozen others. (really).

For $45, you won't be disappointed with this box set.

From the opening alternative version of "Maggie May" to the last song, this set is full of Rod Stewart gems. Not only does this set highlight what a brilliant interpreter of other people's songs Stewart is, it also clearly brings to light his underrated song writing abilities.

On many of the slower tunes, the passion in Stewart's voice makes you feel the emotion in your gut, your heart and your soul. Alternative versions of "Girl from the North Country" and "First Cut Is The Deepest" are standouts. "Time Of My Life" and "Hard Lesson To Learn" make you feel the emotions and confusion surrounding a heart-wrenching break-up.

But this set does not just a collection of heartbreaking songs. There are some hard rocking "new" songs and alternative versions of Stewart classics. His remake of "In A Broken Dream" with help from Pink Floyd's David Gilmour on guitar, Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones on organ and Nick Lowe is an instant rock classic.

Music critics almost always take the easy route when reviewing Stewart's music and career by talking about what "might have been" and say the only great music he made was in the early 70's. While it's true, he has had some clunkers and made some missteps, Stewart obviously could not be getting by on smoke and mirrors for this many years.

"Sessions" gives Rod Stewart fans and non-fans a behind the scenes view of a rock legend. A must have.

Wow this collection is simply amazing!! - I don't write reviews but feel I must since this is not getting the attention it deserves. I have had a week to listen and what an incredible and deep set of unreleased recordings. Perhaps the best part is the completely new songs such as When I'm Away From You, May You Never, Hard Lesson To Learn and the foot stompin Thunderbird to name a few) but for me it's hearing alternate versions of classics and unvarnished versions of his 80s and 90s material that was far too often overproduced. Here, these songs shine with the raw power of Rod's vocal cords. This is a must-have and most significant release of Rod Stewart recordings since the 70s.

"Storyteller" was a fantastic 4-CD compilation of Rod Stewart issued way back in 1988. At the time , and still to this day , "Storyteller" was one of the very best box sets ever assembled. The Faces box set came out in the 00's , and the Stewart canon was further enhanced. Now we have "The Rod Stewart Sessions 1971-1998" to form a perfect trio.
WOW !! The care and concern that went into this box is amazing. Not a single track has been issued before. Alternate versions , demo tracks , early takes , hidden tracks , this box has it all. Sure , you're going to know almost all the tracks , but none have been heard this way before.
Rod is in fine voice through the entire set. Most accompaniment is minimal , but that is what makes this box work so well. Most of the tracks are left without most of the embellishments that the released versions suffered from.
This box makes me appreciate the talents of Mr. Stewart even more than "Storyteller" , as it shows the artist at work. A true gem.

This 4-disc set profiles the hits of Rod Stewart from the very beginning (1969) to 1998 and has an updated version of the classic first issued under the name of 'Python Lee Jackson' - 'In A Broken Dream'. This is a fantastic insight into the long career of Stewart, although I do rather think that its no wonder that some of them have never before seen the light-of-day, I think that had they done so before Rod Stewart became the superstar that he is today, he would quite likely still be digging graves!, although none sink to the depths of the early version of 'Rosie' on the special edition of 'A Night On The Town' released earlier this year, THAT is a track that really does make you squirm!

Anyway, back to 'The Sessions' set; an excellent compilation and most beautifully packaged - and definitely a MUST-HAVE for anyone who has followed the career of Rod Stewart, now in its fifth decade and showing no sign of waining. Indeed, his latest album 'SOULBOOK' reveals that Rod's unique voice is as good as ever, and proves beyond all doubt that he posseses the excellent skill and ability of turning his hand to any classic song and making it all his very own.

10/10

Geoff Garoghan. ©

If you are a true Rod Fan this is a must have. You will hear a side of Rod that you have never heard before. I have really enjoyed it. It is raw and gritty and true. The style is what we expect from Rod and haven't heard in so long. You can tell he is loving what he is doing and so are the guy's playing with him. No storybooks here!!!!!!

Rod Stewart has been my absolute favorite singer ever since I was twelve years old so any review from me is probably going to be prejudiced. There has never been a recording he has made hat I didn't like. This collection is a treasure and truth is, they could have charged double the price and I would have paid it. Now that I have rendered my review highly questionable to most readers, I will continue. LOL. Seriously, this is a wonderful collection. Even devoted Stewart fans will be shocked to hear early version of MAGGIE MAY. My personal favorite on the whole collection is the piano version of WINDY TOWN. I was up late one night writing and had the CD playing softly in the back ground and the song literally gave me goose flesh. It is that awesome. If you are a Rod Stewart fan you will treasure this collection.

I've been a life long fan of Rod's work going back to the Jeff Beck band and while there are without a doubt substantial, essential gems in this collection - there are some duds and downright embarassments as well. That's really too bad since there are a number of really great b-sides and outtakes I'm sure spanning the same periods which were left off. Additionally, Rod's as much at home on stage as he is in the studio so by limiting this historical collection to "sessions", still unreleased classic live raritie such as fantastic covers of "Dock Of The Bay" or "Sweet Soul Music" are left out. I've seen photos of Rod sharing the stage with one of his idols, David Ruffin. Surely that's been recorded and molding a way in a vault somewhere.
This was an opportunity to put together a portrait of the artist's past that really could have been a jaw dropping listening experience from the first track of disc one to the last track of disc four. Did we really need a demo of "You Wear It Well" where the bulk of the lyric content is "La-la-la" as Rod hadn't had it half written then or a drunken fueled ode to his dad's trousers?
There are some incredible things in this set which are worth the price of admission alone! "Girl From The North Country" is done so well as to be hauntingly addictive and leaves one wondering how it was omitted for the prior release as in so many ways, it's a superior take. "In A Broken Dream" leaves the former Python Lee Jackson version which Rod lent vocals to in the dust! David Gilmour's guitarwork and John Paul Jones helping out with Rod's vocal upgrade bring this right into the present and totally recreate this lamenting ballad into a peice of sheer musical genius. Rod's covers of "Maybe Baby" and "King Bee" are also missed opportunities in my opinion. To have works like this sitting in the vaults seem criminal. "Show Me", "Heaven" and "I Go To Jail For You" will leaving you shaking your head in bewilderment as to how these could have been dropped from any tracklist! "Heaven" has hit single written all over it as does the re-working of the gorgeous ballad, "Sweet Surrender".
To be sure this set has it's share of winners but some of the demo's are lame. Add the comical, though sometimes embarrasing, alcahol-inspired, hidden tracks and you have a lot of disc space which could have been far better utilized had some more imagination gone into this project. According to the liner notes, Arnold Stiefel made the vaults wide open to the producers. I can't imagine that there weren't a vast number of really great moments omitted in favor of the unfinished or mediochre material taking up otherwise precious space. This also makes for an uneven listening experience, when an inferior demo is spaced in between two good tracks or followed by a sloppy inferior performance.
Overall this box set is loaded with tracks that fall into one of three categories...either stunning genius representative of the quality we've come to expect from Rod, material he's only just started working on which is sometimes painful to listen to or drunken silliness that's simply detracting from everything else.
All in all it's a good job that could have been fantastic. What is great earns it three stars and what's not has cost it two.

He gets better with age. who would have thought
a small hyper guy with a raspy voice would
turn into such a phenomena!! This was a Christmas
present for my husband but to bad - it's mine now!!
Buy it you will enjoy it!

I only give this 4 stars because (for me) the 1st disc & 2nd disc are mostly inferior versions of previously released studio recordings. That being said, there are two discs worth of "new" material. "Think I'll pack my Bags" is a sparse mid tempo winner that should have been included on "Smiler". "Rosie" is a folky b-side from "A night on the Town" sessions. The collection kicks into gear with "When I'm Away from You" (which should have been hit) deleted from "The Greatest Hits", "Time of My Life" is a stripped down heartbreaker from the "Foolish Behavior" sessions, as is the upbeat "Maybe Baby" which also should have been a hit. Disc 3 really kicks things into gear, "I wish you Would" is a studio demo from "Body Wishes" that rawks, "Show Me" is more organic than a lot of what ended up on BW. "Hard Lesson to Learn" is an acoustic version of another b-side, with some real heartfelt lyrics, "Love is a Four Letter word" is another terrific ballad, and the demo version of "Forever Young" is a terrific example of what Rod's capable of when he puts pen to paper. "A Good Lover is Hard to Find" is an out take from "Vagabond Heart" & would have made an exceptional 1st single from that album. Disc 4 is a full cd of gems from the '90's with "hits" galore. I (we) should be thankful for all the great music from this artist in the '60's, '70's, '80's & '90's, however, after listening to disc 4, it makes me wish Rod would get his acoustic guitar out & start writing songs again. These demos & out takes & b-sides are better than any of the covers he's been doing for the last ten years. If he never writes another song, however, I'll be happy that I picked up this collection & you'll be too.