ROD STEWART: Some Guys Have All The Luck

HERE’S one for fans of British singer and songwriter Rod Stewart. With an estimated 250 million album and single sales worldwide, Stewart arguably possesses one of rock’s greatest and most distinctive voices.

Some Guys Have All The Luck is a definitive double-deluxe 30-song compilation spanning more than 30 years of his career starting from 1971.

Arranged chronologically, Stewart’s early solo years are represented by Maggie May and You Wear It Well from the Every Picture Tells A Story (1971) and Never A Dull Moment (1972) albums.

The opening disc also includes a nod to Stewart’s time with his band, the Faces (formerly Small Faces,) with Stay With Me from their 1971 album, A Nod Is As Good As A Wink... To A Blind Horse.

His rendition of The First Cut Is The Deepest, a cover of a Cat Stevens song, went Top 30 in the US in 1977 and No 1 in Britain that same year.

Disc 1 also includes the stadium-swooning ballad, Sailing, the No 1 smash Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright), the Top 10 hit You’re In My Heart and Da Ya Think I’m Sexy from his 1978 album, Blondes Have More Fun.

In 1981, Stewart added further elements of New Wave and synth pop to his sound for the Tonight I’m Yours album. The title song and Young Turks both reached the Top 5 of the Billboard charts.

Disc 2 concentrates on music Stewart made during the 80s and 90s, including Infatuation, Some Guys Have All The Luck, Love Touch, Forever Young and Motown Song from the Top Ten 1991 album Vagabond Heart.

Baby Jane, the lead single from his Body Wishes album, was a UK No 1 single for three weeks in July 1983.

Among the other highlights is a rare studio version of Tom Waits’ Tom Traubert’s Blues, as well as a cover of Waits’ Downtown Train that Stewart took to No 1.

The disk also contains unplugged versions of Have I Told You Lately and Reason To Believe.

The collection concludes with a previously unreleased track, Two Shades Of Blue, recorded in 1998 and features a sample of Bordin’s Prince Igor.

Repeated release of Greatest Hits albums implies continued popularity and a growing audience. From this album, it’s quite evident that Stewart can certainly appeal to fresh audiences. — NST