... His new album, 'Human', is smooth, contemporary and emotional, combining sublime melodies with a sincere, deeply moving voice that appears to have suffered no ill effects from his recent throat cancer scare. The songs on the album have clearly been picked in the light of his marriage break-up ... Read review
Human - Rod Stewart
If Rod Stewart's ongoing sense of musical curiosity was confirmed by his surprising ... more
collection of 1990s rock covers (When We Were the New Boys), Human seems more bent on career reinforcement. Helmed by executive producer Rob Dickins, a lineup of produc...
Human - Rod Stewart
If Rod Stewart's ongoing sense of musical curiosity was confirmed by his surprising ... more
collection of 1990s rock covers (When We Were the New Boys),Humanseems more bent on career reinforcement. Helmed by executive producer Rob Dickins, a lineup of producti...
A review by sandrabarber on Human - Rod Stewart May 15th, 2001
Author's product rating:
Originality
Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics
Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks
Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases
Outstanding
Value for Money
Advantages:
Stunning, both musically and vocally
Disadvantages:
Could have been longer
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Ladies and gentlemen, please put aside your prejudices before reading this opinion.
In the seventies, Rod Stewart was a superb r&b singer who collaborated with some greats and wrote great melodies and lyrics ('You Wear it Well', 'Maggie May', 'Mandolin Wind' to name but three)and sang them with pure, raw emotion.
In the eighties, he was an embarrassment to us all, dabbling in disco and electro-pop and dressing like a complete idiot, not to mention those fright wigs (at least I hope they were wigs). He lost all credibility, and his farcical personal life only added to the whole kitsch carnival.
Now, however, he's back at his absolute best. His new album, 'Human', is smooth, contemporary and emotional, combining sublime melodies with a sincere, deeply moving voice that appears to have suffered no ill effects from his recent throat cancer scare. The songs on the album have clearly been picked in the light of his marriage break-up with Rachel Hunter, and what a wonderful collection of love won and lost they are.
Rod has chosen tracks written by brilliant songwriters such as Curtis Mayfield, Macy Gray and John Reid, and his interpretation of them has made them all his own. Most deal with lost love, unrequited love or love from afar, but others celebrate the triumph of the human spirit through dark times and his love of music.
Musically, the album is laid back and slinky, combining old fashioned r'n'b and soul with some very groovy backing tracks. Against this backdrop, Rod's impassioned vocals provide a stunning contrast.
It's rare to find an album where you like every track, but this is the one for me. Stand out tracks for me are the Macy Gray penned song 'Smitten', which is like Macy's slow and funky ditties; the current cool and groovy single 'Don't Come Around Here' with Helicopter Girl; and 'Charlie Parker Loves Me', an uplifting slice of melodic soul.
It is produced by Rob Dickens and includes musical contributions from Mark Knopfler and Slash. It runs for just under 45 minutes so it tapes easily for the car, and it is perfect for driving to late at night or on a lovely sunny day.
If you thought Rod had lost it - well, he's got it back; and if you thought he never had it, get this CD and be very, very pleasantly surprised.
Advantages: Everything Disadvantages: Nothing, unless you don't like really good unplugged music
...- Four Seasons In One Day
7. Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl
8. RodStewart - Have I Told You Lately (That I Love You)
9. Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone
10. Bjork - Human Behaviour
11. Seal - Crazy
12. Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning
13. Sheryl Crow - Run, Baby, Run
14. Bryan Adams - I'm Ready
15. Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight
16. Elton John - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
This is a great album to have if you want to hear what the raw performances of some truly great songs sound like. The album starts off with a bang with a great vocal performance from Sting with 'Every Breath You Take', and continues from there. The commercial appeal of the album is there, as most of the tracks are well known ones - I guess that's just marketing for you - but there is also a bit of quirkiness with Midnight Oil's 'Beds Are Burning...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Great Singer Disadvantages: Bit of a Poser
...person on the street, because he is still mainly the same Scottish guy that he was before he became so big. He has just had an album out called “Human”. It’s not classic RodStewart but it’s a nice album and goes to prove that even after 30 years and health problems with his throat he can still do it.
In conclusion I have to say I like RodStewart, In 30 years he has set high standards and made so many great tracks, too many to go through. I have to say for his age he looks fit and hasn’t lost any of his charm. My favourite three tracks are, Reason to Believe, I don’t want to talk about it and The Killing of Georgie, mainly because they bring back both sad and happy memories. And I know you will be saying that one should move on and not look back but a bit of reflection does no harm. Don’t you...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Album Notes: This is a Hyper CD which contains regular audio tracks and provides a link to the artist's website with the help of a web browser. Personnel includes: Rod Stewart (vocals); Slash, Jess Johnson, Robbie McIntosh, Mark Knopfler (guitar); Steve Pigot, Chris Pelcer (keyboards, bass); Pino Palladino (bass); Nick Richards (percussion, programming); Connor Reeves, Sue Ann Carwell, Karl Carwell, Yvonne Williams, Alexandria Brown (background vocals); The London Session Orchestra. Producers include: Greg Alexander, Dennis Charles, Karl "K-Gee" Gordon, Christopher Neil, Rod Stewart. Engineers include: Steve Churchyard, Chris Brown, Ed Colman. U.K. issue has an extra track, "Peach." Rod Stewart's first solo album of the millennium finds the gravel voiced R&B shouter with an ear very firmly cocked towards prevailing commercial trends. As a result, most of HUMAN is in the sort of international pop style best defined by the Britney Spears/Backstreet Boys axis, which may flummox longtime fans, at least initially. To his credit, however, Stewart feels free to mess with the formula from time to time, as when he has Slash provide dive bomb guitar power chording on the title tune. Elsewhere, he holds his own with hip-hop diva Helicopter Girl on "Don't Come Around Here," does a very convincing imitation of Curtis Mayfield on "It Was Love That We Needed" (an overlooked gem from Mayfield's overlooked final album). He gets all alt-country on "To Be With You" (penned by the Mavericks' Raul Malo) and makes a bid to return classical great Sergei Rachmaninov to the pop charts (for the first time since Eric Carmen's "1976 All By Myself") with the lovely "If I Had You."
Album Reviews: Rolling Stone (3/1/01, p.52) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Rod once again sounds mod....although HUMAN occasionally slides into easy-listening soul, the still-spiky star delivers assured, remarkably smooth vocals throughout..." Q (4/01, p.106) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Easily his most cheering, soulful collection in years..." Mojo (4/01, p.104) - "...An album signed and sealed by the quality of his singing....the impression is of all ego finally set aside in favor of engaging musical honesty."
Titles on disc 1
1.: Human
2.: Smitten
3.: Don't Come Around Here - Stewart, Rod & Helicopter Girl
4.: Soul On Soul
5.: Loveless
6.: If I Had You
7.: Charlie Parker Loves Me
8.: It Was Love That We Needed
9.: To Be With You
10.: Run Back Into Your Arms
11.: I Can't Deny It
12.: Peach
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Listed on Ciao since : 15/05/2001
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