Recorded at some of the largest auditoriums in the world, Rod Stewart's, Absolutely Live, is a mostly noisy record that, in all its grand showbiz gesturing, plays to the back rows. Stewart's entrance, to the strains of "The Stripper," is strictly burlesque, as is the program that follows. True to that fanfare, he offers all the bump-and-grind hits from his disco playboy period and winds up stripping some of his worthiest older songs of their affecting nuances.
In a few respects, Stewart's intentions seem noble enough. This is a true warts-and-all live recording, without the cosmetic surgery that is routinely performed upon many so-called in-concert albums. And Stewart is a generous host who knows how to keep the party spirit high. But what's hot in the concert hall is lukewarm in the living room, and the undoctored sound of an adoring audience soon becomes a major annoyance. There are times when all the screaming and whistling will convince you that a family of parakeets has nested inside your speakers. A more unfortunate flaw is that passable readings of Stewart favorites die when the singer plays to his canniest "entertainer" instincts and thrusts the mike into the crowd. Thus, "Hot Legs," "Tonight's the Night," "You're in My Heart" and "Maggie May" feature the woeful warbling of 15,000 or so cheerful punters.
They're all here, though you'll have to pick and choose to find live tracks that improve on the studio originals. Two such cases, oddly enough, are the disco pleasers "Passion" and "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy," which seem somewhat more human (and no less dance-worthy) before a crowd of people.
Love him or hate him, Stewart does have his act down cold. The fourth side of this two-record set is a textbook-perfect treatise on dynamics. From the cocky-rooster preening of "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy," he changes gears for the wistful "Sailing," a song whose anthemic strains have brought a tear to many an Englishman's eye, and the one time it makes sense for performer and audience to raise their voices together on record. Next up is the lugubrious ballad "I Don't Want to Talk about It" — the torch singer in Stewart gets his chance — and the side rides out with one more balls-to-the-wall rocker, the Faces staple "Stay with Me," replete with campy cheerleading from the ever-lascivious Tina Turner and the sexless Kim Carnes.
In its best moments, Absolutely Live has a certain waggish charm — Roddy is a lovable brat, after all — though as a package, it's far from indispensable.
Like the Who, the Stones and any world-class pop entourage of longstanding, Stewart's concert program, cues and all, is eminently predictable. It's hard to forget that this is big-time rock, not rock & roll, and that it thrives in cavernous places where performers communicate in broad, stagey strokes to an audience able to answer only with a dull roar. For all its pleasures, the motivations are basically, and blatantly, manipulative.
It is never a good sign when a live album begins with a snippet of David Rose's "The Stripper," and that's surely the case with Rod Stewart's 1982 album, Absolutely Live. This captures Rod at a particularly awkward stage, as his recordings were gradually becoming the commercial-minded dreck that many critics had claimed they were for years.
Despite the negative press of his late-'70s albums, they often had their moments, but Stewart lost his way in the early '80s, becoming glossier. That's evident on this live album, where he sounds like he's going through the motions, even as he digs out such chestnuts as "Rock My Plimsoul." This isn't unlistenable, but it's stilted and slick, losing much of the joie de verve that marked Rod at his best.
It's the first bland, worthless record Stewart released, the first that felt like sheer product.
Side A
A1. The Stripper (0:12)
A2. Tonight I’m Yours (4:01)
A3. Sweet Little Rock And Roller (4:03)
A4. Hot Legs (4:13)
A5. Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright) (3:58)
A6. The Great Pretender (3:34)
Side B
B1. Passion (5:04)
B2. She Won’t Dance With Me / Little Queenie (4:34)
B3. You’re In My Heart (The Final Acclaim) (4:34)
B4. Rock My Plimsoul (4:24)
Side C
C1. Young Turks (5:05)
C2. Guess I’ll Always Love You (4:51)
C3. Gasoline Alley (2:14)
C4. Maggie May (5:03)
C5. Tear It Up (3:14)
Side D
D1. Da Ya Think I’m Sexy? (5:37)
D2. Sailing (4:27)
D3. I Don’t Want To Talk About It (4:28)
D4. Stay With Me (Vocals – Kim Carnes, Tina Turner) (5:14)
Companies, etc.
- Phonographic Copyright (p) – WEA Records B.V.
- Copyright (c) – WEA Records B.V.
- Made By – WEA Musik GmbH
- Manufactured By – Record Service GmbH
Credits
- Bass, Vocals – Jay Davis
- Drums, Vocals – Tony Brock
- Engineer – George Tutko
- Engineer [Assistant] – Ricky Delena
- Guitar – Wally Stocker
- Guitar, Vocals – Jim Cregan, Ricky DeLena
- Harmonica, Saxophone, Keyboards, Bells – Jimmy Zavala
- Mixed By – George Tutko, Jim Cregan, Rod Stewart
- Piano, Organ, Synthesizer – Kevin Savigar
- Producer – Rod Stewart
- Vocals [The Singer] – Rod Stewart
- Written-By – Taupin (tracks: C2), Appice (tracks: C1, D1), Rose (tracks: A1), Hitchings (tracks: C1), Grainger (tracks: B1), Cregan (tracks: A2, B1, C2), Savigar (tracks: A2, B1, C1, C2), Quittenton (tracks: C4), Chen (tracks: B1), Lemesurier (tracks: C2), Stewart (tracks: A2, A4, A5, B1, B3, C1, C2, C3, C4, D1, D4), Wood (tracks: C3, D4), Brock (tracks: C2)
Notes
Released: 6 November 1982
Recorded: Venue The Forum, Los Angeles, Long Beach Arena, San Diego Sports Arena, California, Wembley Stadium, London, The NEC, Birmingham, England
Genre: Rock, pop, folk rock
Length: 84:26
Label: Warner Bros. Records (2LP)
Catalog# 92.3743-1
Prijs: €14,95
Vinyl: Goed
Hoes: Goed
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