Every Picture Tells A Story

another album where only half the songs are good but like... I think all of us had the simultaneous realization that Rod Stewart kind of slaps and we're unsure how to handle this information.

Much less grandma-pleasing than I had been led to believe (by literally no-one). There’s a real thump to Rod’s music, a driving energy, a sense that he has to get these tunes out. That he does so with one of the most satisfyingly impossible-to-mimic-because-you’ll-end-up-coughing voices in music is much to his credit.

“Every Picture Tells a Story” by Rod Stewart (1971) Oooo, this is a gem! This album excels from start to finish, with no bumps in the road. Sir Roderick’s voice is proof that one can be a great singer without the natural gifts of a Pavarotti or a Crosby (Bing, not David). Stewart’s (in)famous raspiness enhances the soulfulness of his melodies, à la Janis Joplin. Ronnie Wood (with The Rolling Stones for the past 30 years) shines on guitar, and who knew in 1971 that mandolin could rock? Now youngsters listening to this album for the first time will likely be struck by the initial thinness of the mix (and subdued bass), but please notice how this engineering choice enhances the individual instrumental performances. You’ve got to listen to this album with headphones. Lyrics are second only to Dylan. Flaws? Well, sure. Bass is seriously out of tune at the end of “Seems Like a Long Time” (but strangely not at the beginning). Recording on “Amazing Grace” is not clean—a lot of distracting background noises. Some tracks have wobbly tempo. There are even a few embarrassing vocal flourishes. “Maggie May” is a classic love ballad about a teenage boy who has regrets about falling for a significantly older bimbo. What 16-year-old boy (me) could resist this tune? “Mandolin Wind” is epic. Still brings tears. And Stewart’s cover of “(I Know) I’m Losing You” rocks and rocks and rocks. Better than The Temptations or Rare Earth. Complete your education. Listen to this one. 5/5

I was not put on this earth to "get" Rod Stewart.

Man... apologies to the folks who love the guy but Rod Stewart is just so daggum mediocre. There's literally nothing special about 99% of his songs. Even "Maggie May" his big break-out song is just... meh. It starts with some weird chamber music piece which doesn't even segue into the main song. It just stops. Then starts a relatively bland song. Just not a fan.

4/10. Bit boring, and opening with a song with the lyric "I fell in love with a slit-eyed lady / By the light of an eastern moon" made it feel pretty dated if nothing else.

Before listening to this album, Maggie May was the only Rod Stewart song I liked...it still is.

I listened to this album a couple times and I’d be happy to hear it again although I’m not going to seek it out. Rod Stewart has a unique voice with all his raspiness. I dig it. I found out that Rod Stewart had 15 albums in a 20 year period (1969-1988) with no gap greater than 2 years. Even though he’s not “my guy,” that’s impressively consistent production.

So, let's get his straight. Rod wasn't getting laid in Rome and decided to write a song about it? And then he proceeds to say racist things about a woman he met on a ferry in Peking/Beijing? Great album opener there, Rod. A good portion of this album is dated white guy rock that steals heavily from blues and is nowhere as good. I've always really liked Maggie May, but it has super misogynistic lyrics. The last few songs are good, though.

Maybe I just take this kind of music for granted, but I couldn’t imagine a more unremarkable album.

I've had a lifelong dislike of Rod, so was dreading this. It was actually reasonably harmless and there has certainly been a lot worse included in this quest so far!

I'm gonna try to recreate my train of thought while listening to this yesterday, because it was all over the place... -This is kinda boring -This seems like a very, very long time. It says 4:02, but it's clearly been 20 minutes of repeating that line. -It's trending more towards blues and bluegrass? That's kind of unexpected. -I don't remember "Maggie May" starting like that? Have I never heard the whole song before? -This came out in 1971!? Never would have guessed that. Rod's been around a long time. The folk elements make more sense in that context. Would have guessed early 80s if you asked me about the two singles on this record. -A lot of bluegrass/folk vibes, but in a boring way... how is he making bluegrass that boring? -These last two songs do not fit on this album. Much more electric guitar and piano. Overall uninspiring. A lot of classic songs have a nostalgia factor that makes me like them more now than I would if I heard them today for the first time. But I actually liked "Maggie May" less than the version stuck in my deep memory circuits.

Every pictures tells a story and damn was this a story. Just a great folk aesthetic I really appreciated :)

Ugh. Sounds like a mediocre bar band - you know the one... they have some raw talent but they're either too lazy or too drunk to bother learning the songs. My overwhelming impression while slogging through this sloppy set was "Geez - how much longer is this song?". Not without charm, but certainly lacking in execution.

Brilliant. Proper rock from when Rod could sing and before it all went gooey (ie everything from Atlantic crossing onwards). Absolutely love The Faces. I haven't played Maggie May for decades because I thought I was bored of it, but the shit this list has put forward so far reminds me that I am so not. It is a world apart and brought a tear to my eye - and what a guitar solo! Mandolin wind, Reason to believe, Every picture... track after track top quality. Just wonderful, wonderful, music. Joy from start to finish. Get in, get up, get out!

See that picture of Rody singing with a vintage something as background? That's right, that bathroom corner colored photo. Like any pictures, it tells a story. A story about the most generic album of 1971.

322/1089 - Damn! This limey's got better Country chops than alotta us yanks!

I don't want to talk about it, just listen to Mandolin Wind.

As working-class rockers go, this is the British equivalent of prime Bruce, and I'm in two minds about which I prefer, pulled in one direction by the anthemic pomp and literary chops of Springsteen, and in another by the Britishness of Stewart's act. And act being the operative word here, because the spiritual birthplace of Stewart's persona and style is the British Legion or Working Man's Club. I can picture his less talented brethren standing up in front of my nan this weekend, giving it some welly while she makes short work of her Bacardi and black. He even sounds like half the audience, throat racked from smoking. These roots also bear out in the meanings he extracts from his lyrics (whether his own or others'): simple, everyday truths to live by, even if their provenance is grander (Dylan, say, or Amazing Grace). “I couldn't quote you no Dickens, Shelley or Keats / Cause it's all been said before” he sings on the opener, just as my mum’s Auntie Jo might, before also telling you “Make the best out of the bad, just laugh it off”, or “we all need a reason to believe”, or “every picture tells a story”, or “hard times are only the other side of good times”. As for the chief quality of working class music, the one that gets the local greasers down to the disco to dance themselves into puddles of sweat on the floor, he’s a master. I’m talking, of course, about rhythm. The Big Beat. Even the gentler songs provide a kick up the ass. This alchemy might sound simple when divided into its constituent parts but it’s magic when all bubbling together, especially as Stewart’s really an epicure in disguise – just check out the mandolin, celeste, violin and other embellishments.

Album number 800! A collection of 8 well written tracks of Rod Stewart singing like Rod Stewart about Rod Stewart things - love, broken hearts and Maggie May. The folk rock sound suits him and adds some authenticity that would later, at various times throughout his discography, be hard to find. 'Amazing Grace' was a bit jarring.

Very good album, not a single bad song, very consistent, although it's not necessarily my type of music it is still very good

Great rock album. Classic Rod Stewart that launched him from the Jeff Beck years. Long before he became Rod 'The Bod' and the disco years, this album shows why he was great.

That was amazing, a great artist. I have to listen sober this album now.

Another man I've been senselessly prejudiced against for years, I'm glad to get a chance to listen to him. I Like his raspy voice, a bit like CCR's John Fogarty. Enjoyed Maggie May, probably the only one I was properly familiar with. Class mandolin section near the end. Similarly liked Mandolin Wind. Shit I didn't know Rod did I Know I'm losing you! Great Song and great cover.

I listened to this 4 or 5 times in mild disbelief at how good this was. The title track fucking rips, particularly the drum sound, they hold off on the soulful back up vocals just long enough. It also moves so fast, hard to believe 40 minutes have gone by when it’s through. Before this I would definitely say I was a Rod detractor. I thought of him as a sort of 70’s rock poser. One of hundreds, but this changes that. Kind of like a light weight Exile? Haven’t checked the dates but this sounds almost like a direct response.

I'll be honest I regularly forgot he was in Faces and is entirely capable of making good music. So this was a very welcome surprise lmao

Preconceptions are a terrible thing. I first heard this album last year, having had no interest in Rod Stewart for most of my life. He just seemed one of those performers from a distant era and of little relevance nowadays. Then I discovered that this album is quite rated, so I gave it a spin. And I was totally blown away. It turns out old Rod's a excellent interpretor of songs, capable of delivering real warmth and sentiment. Now, Rod was still in Faces at the time, and Every Picture Tells A Story is compabale to the excellent A Nod Is As Good..., but Every Picture Tells A Story just manages to pip its half-brother by the sheer weight of the songs. In particular, (I Know) I'm Losing You is surely one of the best covers of a Motown song out there. An unalloyed delight.

I bet I would have thought Rod Stewart was dreamy AF if I was around in the early 70's. My only exposure to Mr. Stewart is watching the older middle-aged ladies go nuts over his 2000's albums of Jazz standards, so I didn't know what to expect with Every Picture Tells A Story. It was very soulful and very enjoyable, and there were a few songs I absolutely recognize. One of them, "Reason To Believe", is one of those songs I know all the words to but I never think of when I think of Rod Stewart, so I just kind if forget it's there. It was nice to finish the album off with such a pretty song, it really made my morning.

An elder and wiser maven tipped me to this, which sits on my drive. Not quite top tier 70s buffet rock, but perhaps more comfortable for it: listening to it is a warm bath in “records sounded better then, didn’t they?”

Rod Stewart is a weird pervert but I can’t deny the talent

Rod Stewart was pretty great around this time, and Maggie May is an all-timer. Still, the album is 50% covers, some great, some ordinary, which loses it a mark or so.

Maggie May plus wallpaper. Songs are fairly long for no apparent reason. [EDIT: It's a bit better than a 2, but doesn't linger]

i guess he actually _was_ quite sexy

I'll be honest, I can never remember the difference between Rod Stewart and James Taylor. They're basically the same type of guy to me, even though they don't really sound the same. I guess actually Rod Stewart is significantly better, but he's still not anything that feels like I've been missing out on over the 28 years I've been around.

definitely rod stewart

Solid stuff

3.5

Gotta respect the Rod and his impact on music. He was my second concert ever. Mom was a little bummed because was supposed to be my first, which she was pretty excited about to bring me to my first one but then my sister picked up some Yes tickets which ended up being before Rod. I remember Rod had a hell of a lot of energy, running all around the stage and kicking soccer balls into the crowd. I also remember the group next to my dad smoking weed and my dad asking me if I wanted to switch seats. Kind of a lot of slower songs on this album. Every Picture Tells a Story is classic rock and roll, Maggie May used to be one of my favorites and always liked Reason to Believe.

No real stand-outs. Mandolin Wind do be kinda nice doe

Maggie may is een prachtig nummer, mandolin wind is ook tof. voor de rest, gewoon een goed album, denk wel dat ik nog eens iets van hem wil beluisteren.

Love the mandolin.

Okayish, kinda oatmeal rootsy folk rock. Maggie May is the only real essential classic snapshot on the album that has a memorable melody and a story worth telling. Underpowered closer Reason To Believe was done better by The Carpenters. The playing from the backing band throughout is good and with feeling but the hoarse scarecrow tonsils of Rod Stewart could join Betty Boop-mode Cyndi Lauper, Drive Like Jehu front guy and the Residents crew in my own personal 1001 harmony group from hell. This is a resoundingly 3 star album because of the good playing yet mainly average songs but I have to knock it further down for Rod Stewart being a Nigel Farage and Enoch Powell supporter.

2 stars. Not really my cup of tea. It’s got a couple of well known songs like Maggie May. I do like the song Losing You but a bit too long.

Is it bad? No. Did it have a lasting impact on popular music? I don't think so. Did I need to hear it? No. Favorite song: Mandolin Wind.

Not a bad album by any means, not quite my cup of tea but had some moments I enjoyed.

At this point, I think I’ve heard more Rod Stewart albums than Rod Stewart has.

*Yawn*... Assets: Classy and multilayered instrumentation going from the usual guitar solos to mandolin, steel guitar and fiddle. Plus, Rod Stewart is a more than decent vocal performer, I guess... Flaws: Most of those songs, whether covers or originals, are middle-of-the-road rock numbers, including *Maggie May* (I don't get what some listeners heard when they made this song a hit--it's pretty middling in my book). And those compositions are *all* too fucking long anyway, except "Tomorrow Is A Long Time" which sounded far less grating than the rest. At first, I wondered why this one stood out... Surprise, it's a cover of an old and quite obscure Bob Dylan cut. Thanks, Rod, for letting me know this song exists, at least (everyone else, please listen to the original or Nick Drake's version). To return to the bulk of *Every Picture Tells A Story*, and to put it in a nutshell, the overall energy that's displayed in this clearly overrated record seems to be squandered. Besides, everytime the music could go to an interesting chord or harmony, it chooses a bland, boring, or predictable one instead. Energy and jam shenanigans can't just sell *everything*. Conclusion: to be honest, as downright cheesy as it is, I think "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" is a lot more *fun* than anything in this earlier, supposedly better album. Rod Stewart seems to be a nice bloke, though. Him boycotting the Qatar World Cup's opening ceremony probably helps him avoiding a 1/5 grade from me. Not that he cares about what I think, obviously. Good for him if others want to include *Every Picture Tells A Story* in their list of essential records. Personally, I'm out. Number of albums left to review: 726 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 135 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 65 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): 75 (including this one)

When you don’t really have a good hook for a song but you’re just gonna put more backup singers and different instruments on top, and you just shove it across the finish line. And I like a lot of other Rod Stewart

I think I hate this era of rock, where if you weren't trying to figure out where you were in a post-Beatles world, you were copying the Rolling Stones' "I miss the old days of bluesy rock 'n' roll" shtick, and boy do I already dislike it when they do it, so when I have to listen to another lesser artist do it worst, with a voice that sounds like he's choking on gravel and instrumentation only fitting in a Celtic rock record, my blood boils. This is just not a good album, if it has hits I wouldn't be able to tell them apart because they all sound the same, and I knew this would be pandering to the "good ol' days" the moment a song that has already gone on too long ends with Amazing Grace. Talk about pandering, and while I know Rod Stewart can make good songs, I've heard them, I didn't find a single good one here.

Damn, this generator REALLY wants me to listen to Rod Stewart. This guy was absolutely made in a lab or something. I don't believe it's humanly possible to be a more boring person than Rod Stewart. Man had to go out of his way to create an album that has literally no interesting qualities whatsoever. Can's Tago Mago released in the same year as this, there are no excuses. Essential listen my ass. My crackhead neighbor yelling out of the window at 3AM is a more essential listen than this album. The Hampster Dance probably had a bigger impact on the history of music than this.

Nääää

This album is generally boring and mosty leaves me asking why Rod Stewart is singing Amazing Grace in a key where he has no chance hitting the high notes?

Rod Stewart annoys me. Partly because he spent much of the 1980s looking like a boozy lech upholstered in leopard print. More seriously, because Every Picture Tells A Story proves that beneath the hair and trousers was a musician of enormous intelligence: singer, producer, arranger, songwriter, interpreter and expert judge of when other people should enter the room. The album’s defining quality is unshowy virtuosity in the service of social warmth. Its players possess frightening ability, but nobody uses technique to establish hierarchy. They use it to make the room more habitable. You can hear the beer being spilled. It is being spilled on cue. The title track establishes the method, travelling from a solitary acoustic guitar in the left channel to an enormous rowdy mess through accretion. Rod’s narrative phrases have irregular dimensions, the pulse keeps shifting and there is no proper chorus until everybody discovers the title at the end. Micky Waller’s drumming is magnificent. His kit has just enough room around it to be genuinely alive, and he doesn’t stabilise the performance so much as weaponise its instability. It sounds close to falling downstairs while Waller decides which stair everybody will land on. Then Maggie Bell arrives. The conventional arrangement would add sweetness or contrast; Rod adds more of the same. Another torn, blues-saturated voice makes him plural and turns private narration into public uproar. The sleeve calls the backing singers “vocal abrasives,” which is unusually accurate. This should not work. It works magnificently. “Seems Like a Long Time” reveals that the album’s companionability is not merely about having fun. Yes, wars end, nights become mornings and bad times pass. That knowledge is no comfort while you are trapped inside them. “This too shall pass” jumps from suffering to recovery, but somebody must still make the hellish interval bearable. Don’t merely point to the other side; make the bridge weight-bearing. That is what the gospel arrangement does. The supporting voices do not sing Rod’s suffering away; they gather around him and make the waiting survivable. Rod makes this recent Theodore Anderson song sound fifty years old. He repeatedly forges provenance: new material emerges sounding as though several generations have already needed it. “That’s All Right” makes the pub-session quality explicit. Sam Mitchell’s slide guitar rambles towards a song it appears not to recognise, with little interest in recreating Elvis. Pete Sears’s piano sounds as though it is being poured downstairs from a bucket. Then the performance falls into “Amazing Grace,” and the album suddenly acquires moral seriousness. Rod does not milk it. The pub becomes a congregation without anybody announcing that church has begun. Mitchell bosses the transition, but Rod’s arrangement understands that the change of material carries enough drama. The music gets simpler rather than larger. “Tomorrow Is a Long Time” proves the same point through restraint. Rod resists the temptation to cover Dylan and teases out the song underneath. No impersonation, strangulation or grandstanding. It arrives, establishes its emotional weather and leaves. I would call it good enough without snobbery. Albums need breathing spaces. Shelves do not require breathtaking filigree; they need to be level and capable of holding the books. Side two begins with Martin Quittenton’s “Henry,” thirty seconds of counterfeit English folk that everybody knows without knowing they know. The album invents a folk memory, then enters a song about a man trying to understand a memory of his own. “Maggie May” is sonically peculiar: compressed, boxy and concentrated in the middle. But that boxiness is made for 247 metres, Wonderful Radio One. Its important information sits where a kitchen transistor can reproduce it. I can hear Tony Blackburn arriving after the final chord with “…aaand good morning!” When somebody heard it on the radio and bought the single, that strange midrange preserved the original Oh, I like thatmoment. No surprise it escaped the clutches of its designated A-side, “Reason to Believe,” and became the radio single. Its single-ness was discovered through transmission. Lyrically, it is odd hit material: wistful, damaged and unresolved. The narrator is angry, grateful, boastful, humiliated and affectionate. Ronnie Wood’s guitar solo is as stumblingly unreliable as the narrator, while Pete Sears’s celesta places a trace of childhood inside the adult grievance. Then Ray Jackson’s mandolin emerges from the compressed middle like sunlight from behind clouds. Nothing has been resolved, but the memory becomes beautiful. In a sparkling mix, the mandolin would be decoration. Here it is sunlight the record has earned by remaining overcast. “Mandolin Wind” is where Rod becomes actively infuriating. It is a tremendous composition, written by Stewart alone. He constructs an entire relationship through weather, work and endurance. Love is not declared; it is demonstrated by somebody remaining when remaining is materially difficult. The music bears the same burden, beginning exposed, acquiring shelter instrument by instrument and rising into electric force without ceasing to be a folk ballad. This is also where Ronnie Wood’s extended audition for the Rolling Stones becomes obvious. The song could grace Sticky Fingers. Wood knows how to enter a ballad without violating it and make it rock while preserving its vulnerability. He doesn’t merely play alongside people; he plays with people. He reads the room, reinforces singers and makes performance feel like conspiracy. A social Stone in waiting. Rod wrote “Mandolin Wind” alone. This annoys me further. You cannot excuse the leopard-printed twat by claiming he lacked depth or judgement. The profound interpreter and the pillock are simultaneous operating systems. Then “(I Know) I’m Losing You” arrives and the album develops muscles. The full Faces translate the Temptations onto a British football terrace. Kenney Jones supplies the stomp of boots, Ronnie Lane gives the chant physical insistence, and Wood and Ian McLagan create the sensation of bodies accumulating behind Rod. Anything might break out: a singalong, fight, embrace or pitch invasion. The performance remains soul because terrace singing, gospel and Motown share a mechanism. One voice makes private feeling public; the crowd returns it as force. Its coda doesn’t conclude; it leaves evidence that an event occurred. It has the What the hell just happened? quality of the Beatles’ “Long, Long, Long.” The Beatles leave us in a dark room where something has begun vibrating by itself. The Faces leave us on a terrace after the chant has disintegrated, unsure whether the crowd is dispersing or something worse is beginning. Finally, “Reason to Believe” returns us to the pub band at last orders. Pete Sears’s piano, McLagan’s organ and Danny Thompson’s double bass make the players feel gathered rather than professionally assembled. There is a false ending at which somebody surely always claps. Rod returns alone and allows the ensemble to reform around him, casting both spotlight and hat around the room before the landlord calls time. The emotional problem remains unresolved; the social occasion has simply ended. This is one of the most companionable albums I have evaluated. Blues, gospel, folk, country, soul and rock are not displayed as influences; they behave like shared social languages. Leave space. Listen. Enter when useful. Carry weight without advertising the effort. Stay through the difficult interval. Pub, football, music: possibly the best distillation of that British social trinity. Rowdy without being emotionally mute, accomplished without becoming hierarchical, sentimental without requiring everybody to stop taking the piss. Tony Parsons chose this as his favourite British album. My aesthetic is different: my pinnacle remains four Scousers and a former Fleet Air Arm man turning the studio into a playbox. But Parsons’s choice is entirely defensible. The Beatles turn virtuosity into play. Sonic Youth turn it into research. Rod Stewart and company turn it into hospitality. It may be the finest British album of its particular social type. And the leopard-printed twat made it.

Fabulous album.

Fantastic album! I’d listened to it in full at least once before with no memory of it being particularly intriguing. Of course I was very familiar with the classic back-to-back Maggie May and Mandolin Wind, but this time around I found myself engaged from start to finish in this eclectic mix of folk/rock/blues. The opener with its bold drop-D acoustic strumming hooked me in and kept me there throughout. I’m going all the way with this one - 5 stars to you, Sir Rod.

Maggie May 💪🏼

Ronnie Wood's guitar solo in Maggie May is one of my favorites of all time. So simple and straightforward but feels so human to me for some reason. I love this album. The mandolin, the big folky chords, the simple melodies and Rod's scratchy yowl, it all works perfectly together. Rod Stewart is an all-time rascal but this album was before he became self-aware and cheeky about it.

[x-country road trip 2026] A bit of backstory: Im moving and driving from CA to MN. Its ~35 hours of driving if you include the detours I plan on taking. Im splitting the drive into two sections - first half with my wife and second half with my Dad. This isnt the first album I chipped off the list for the big drive with my wife. Im trying to find the right balance of new, old reliables and random picks people have floated me in the last few weeks. I’ll put out a message into the group to drop some names (so far Geese has been a really cool find that my wife hated at first and slowly warmed up to - personally, I thought it was great) I saw this pop up and thought it would be a perfect time for a really loud hour. It definitely showed up Rod is as pure of a rock star as you can get and this might be the best of his work that I know of. The journey of this album feels very genuine and hits home. A lot of the thoughts I had in my early/mid twenties are represented here even though Rod is 100 times cooler than I am. And the tunes are just as solid (except for Seems Like A Long Time - shouldve been cut IMO). Thats All Right finishing with Amazing Graze surprisingly worked (looks corny AF on paper afterwards). Maggie is an all timer and totally fits with the rest of the album too Also shoutout to the Almost Famous soundtrack

Grew up knowing Rod as kind of a washed up soft rocker. Never really knew this side of him - was ready to not like this that much. Very pleasantly surprised. I Know I'm Losing You is awesome - so are Maggie May, Find a Reason to Believe, and title track. This one really opened up with a few listens on headphones too. Excited to come back to this - feels like one I can play in the kitchen that everyone will enjoy, which always helps with replays. Duck Stab I would put in the same category, obviously.

Absolutely fantastic album from start to finish. Rod Stewart’s voice is a classic the musicians on this album or top notch. I could listen to this over and over many times.

Rod Stewart is probably best known these days for the goofy disco of his later work, but man his work with Faces and this album is special. Maggie May is likely one of my most played songs of all time going back to when I first heard it when I was in college ~2006. Every song here is amazing.

Early Rod Stewart slaps. Every Picture Tells and Story Don’t It and Maggie May have consistently been randomly get stuck in my head for years and I’m not mad about it.

I mean, this was really good. That voice and the energy and all that he captures what I like to think of the time being like.

Thought this would be quite boring and typical 1001 albums white American rock but actually I really liked it! Another album that knows what it's doing and does it well. I like the american folkiness and it conveys emotions but also is fun, doesn't take itself far too seriously. Top track: tomorrow is a long time.

Legendary.

Much better than I expected and turned out to be a great album.

It's a bit hard to explain why I enjoyed this one except to say that it just sounds both of its time and also timeless. 4.5 bumped up to 5.

I’m at a 5. Perhaps a touch higher. When we got Gasoline Alley 585 days ago, my primary reason behind only giving it a 3 was that Rod Stewart simply hadn’t found his own voice as a songwriter yet, given that it was an album comprised mostly of covers & his original material wasn’t as good as the covers. This is also an album comprised mostly of covers, but what makes it work is the elevated showmanship in the production of those covers, as well as his own material reaching a similar level. Rod Stewart has found his own voice as a songwriter here, and between the title track that feels like a closer, the fun rhythms of “Maggie May”, & the lovely storytelling of “Mandolin Wind”, there’s really not a single complaint I can find about those 3 tracks. How about the 5 covers then? They all range from good to great, especially apparent on “Tomorrow Is a Long Time”, which is a Bob Dylan cover. The band’s instrumentation gives it a nice country-esque swing, and Rod’s gravelly delivery feels like an elevation of Bob Dylan’s voice. It’s a really strong cover, and that strength applies to the rest of the cover tracks here. The push & pull of the album feels really dynamic as well – take the softer ending of “Seems Like a Long Time”, for example. The way everything pulls back to give a bit more gravitas to the wartime lyrics is a great piece of production work. The same applies to the fake-out ending of “(Find a) Reason to Believe”, where Rod’s acapella in the middle makes his sorrow that much more palpable & lets the energy naturally pick back up. If I have any truly minor nitpicks… I probably would’ve ended on either the title track or “(I Know) I’m Losing You”, as both just carry a more definitive gravitas to their endings than “(Find a) Reason to Believe” does, although I think it’s a good way to close out the album regardless. I really am impressed by Rod Stewart here, and since this is the last album we’ll get from him on the list, I might just have to seek out more of the guy. Even if there’s not one better than this as a top-to-bottom album, there has to be a few more great tracks out there. Hell, maybe I’ll look up those old infomercials from 2005 and just play the tracks from that album. As far as this goes, I think it’s a 5, if not a little higher. Very good stuff, Rod.

Was fully expecting 1980s Rod Stewart. This was fantastic. Maggie May might be the 4th best song. Favorite track Tomorrow is a Long Time.

Great debut solo album

Iconic.

Day 252 Absolutely loved this album, Christ I’m getting old. Highlights Seems like a long time I know I’m losing you

Was very happy to hear some of these songs. Rod Steward always reminds me of my house hold as a child in the 90s.

Even at 26 Rod has the gravelly, textured voice and the reflective, sentimental lyrics of someone much older. The acoustic and steel guitars give an unpolished but lovely, sincere sound.

Endlich mal wieder ein Klassiker. Handgemachte, ehrliche Musik. Musikalität wird hier gelebt, nicht ersetzt durch Radau, Gepöbel und Gestottere.

This is easily my favorite Rod Stewart record. Even though more than half of the record are covers, it's a well produced and performed record and is always enjoyable to listen to. Simply an amazing record.

Fabulous album, and am not just saying that because I grew up with most of the tunes. It's sounds like the kind of band you'd wanna see live. They are freaking smoking!

It's been a while since I listened to this one, but what more could you possibly want from a roots-rock record? Eight tracks, nothing too flashy, just make it count.

Longtime fan

Sweet and sublime

I know all these songs, but I've never put them all together before. It is like they took all his most artistic work and put them together in one place. One work of genius after another. 4.5/5

Next level folk/rock from Rod while he was also in the Faces (in fact his band here is the Faces). He really had a purple patch in the 70's that is unfortunately overshadowed by his terrible disco and 80's output. Songs have heart and soul and also have attitude. Ignore what you think you know about Rod and get back to basics. Best Tracks: Every Picture Tells a Story; Maggie May; Madolin Wind

Everybody knows Maggie May, the standout hit from this album, but I hadn’t realised it was originally released as the B side to Reason to Believe (a cover of a Tim Hardin song from 1961). The rest of the album more than holds up though - a pleasing mix of blues, rock and folk traditions, played and sung with aplomb. As well as the Hardin song there’s also an excellent version of Tomorrow is a Long Time by Bob Dylan. I get the feeling that everyone involved was enjoying themselves (as can be seen on their iconic performance on Top of the Pops where they all have huge grins and start kicking a ball around while John Peel gamely mimes playing a mandolin). Rod’s distinctive gravelly voice is to the fore here, and it’s something of a surprise to see that he was only 26 when this was recorded. Having said that, at this point he had two solo albums under his belt as well as being lead singer in The Faces and the Jeff Beck group, so that counts as being a grizzled veteran in this biz. Mandolin-tastic!

I like being surprised by whatever record pops up each day, so I make it a point not to check the list of artists or albums online. That said, Joe and I have talked about which ones I hope will show up, and this was definitely one I’ve mentioned. This is an outstanding album. I was always more of a casual Rod Stewart fan, but one day Joe picked this up while we were browsing in a record store. I loved it so much I ended up buying my own copy later on. This is Rod Stewart at his peak; his voice is strong and bluesy and has the perfect rasp. Ronnie Wood is on guitar and the musicianship throughout is top-notch. I love all the songs on here and I’m not even mad that half of them are covers because they’re so well done. An easy 5 for me.

This has become one of my favorite albums. Stumbled on it a few years ago and it's remained in heavy rotation ever since. Rod Stewart's voice in the late 60s/early 70s is amazing. Songs are simple, timeless, and beautifully delivered. Not a bad track on the album.

Top shelf Rod Stewart. Every cut is a winner. The song. “Every Picture tell a Story” is an under appreciated classic.

I am indeed my dad's daughter.

This is the first album i’ve ever listened to by Rod, despite knowing of him, and a few of his songs. I was pleasantly surprised, I enjoyed just about every song on this album, i loved the wide range of instruments, and rod’s soulful singing. This is one discography i’ll be looking into for sure.

Loving this one more each time through. Some classics are here of course but they seem more raw (in a good way) than I remember them. The whole thing feels less polished (again, in a good way:) and has real feeling. So good.

Nice

Such a unique voice. This album is truly a classic.

It still makes me laugh that, growing up in the 70s, Rod Stewart was that bloke on Top of the Pops — all leopard print, pout, and “Da ya think I’m sexy?” energy. Pure naff. If you’d told younger me that one day I’d be completely floored by a Rod Stewart album, I’d have assumed you’d had too much Babycham. But then, about ten years ago, I finally heard Every Picture Tells a Story front to back — and it’s a revelation. This is Rod before the showbiz gloss, raw and swaggering, sounding like he’s recording in a pub with the best band he’ll ever know. The Faces spirit is all over it. “(I Know) I’m Losing You” is an absolute monster — gritty, pounding, alive. “Maggie May” may be overplayed to death, but strip away the ubiquity and you’re left with a stone-cold great song that still feels emotionally honest. And the rest? There honestly isn’t a weak moment. Folk, rock, soul, blues — it’s all folded together in a way that feels effortless. A proper masterpiece from someone I once wrote off as a prancing pop caricature. Funny how albums can rewrite your assumptions.

So so good, warm and filled with life. And rockin'. MM is obv one of the best of all time.

Yeah. So this is raw. This is dynamic and just so damned real. Rods voice is insane and all the songs are fantastic. This one is better than I remembered it and I’m gonna come back to it. Love it.

Fine album, some great sing along songs and sticky melodies.

An all time great

When I started this project I couldn't have predicted what things I'd learn about my own musical taste. But one of the biggest surprises to me is that Rod Stewart absolutely slaps. The middle third of this album in particular is just phenomenal

Up there with the Band

Enjoyable. Knew more songs than I thought I would.

Love his work