Rod Stewart Never A Dull Moment CD

Essentially a harder-rocking reprise of Every Picture Tells a Story, Never a Dull Moment never quite reaches the heights of its predecessor, but it's a wonderful, multi-faceted record in its own right. Opening with the touching, autobiographical rocker "True Blue," which finds Rod Stewart trying to come to grips with his newfound stardom but concluding that he'd "rather be back home," the record is the last of Stewart's series of epic fusions of hard rock and folk. It's possible to hear Stewart go for superstardom with the hard-rocking kick and fat electric guitars of the album, but the songs still cut to the core. "You Wear It Well" is a "Maggie May" rewrite on the surface, but it develops into a touching song about being emotionally inarticulate. Similarly, "Lost Paraguayos" is funny, driving folk-rock, and it's hard not to be swept away when the Stonesy hard rocker "Italian Girls" soars into a mandolin-driven coda. The covers -- whether a soulful reading of Jimi Hendrix's "Angel," an empathetic version of Dylan's "Mama, You Been on My Mind," or a stunning interpretation of Etta James' "I'd Rather Go Blind" -- are equally effective, making Never a Dull Moment a masterful record. He never got quite this good ever again. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
NEVER A DULL MOMENT picks up where EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY left off. Here we have more raucous rock & roll with healthy dollops of soul and twang thrown in for good measure. Always looking for a good songwriter to cover, Stewart's honorees here include Jimi Hendrix ("Angel"), Dylan ("Mama You Been On My Mind"), and Rod's personal hero, Sam Cooke ("Twistin' The Night Away"). Sidling up nicely next to these heartfelt interpretations are some of Stewart's finest original songs. Teaming with spiritual brother Ron Wood, Stewart offers up the cheeky "Italian Girls" and "True Blue," a track that goes along at a mid-tempo clip before exploding into a heartfelt rave-up.
Most notable is a collaboration with Martin Quittenton on "You Wear It Well," an irresistible addition to the Stewart canon. Although the Sam Cooke cover is the one spot where the soulful Scot would be expected to indulge his R&B jones, Etta James's "I'd Rather Go Blind" is where Rod brings it all back home with a slow-burning vocal that wraps itself around the strolling tempo of the song. While not quite up to the perfection of EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY, NEVER A DULL MOMENT follows closely in its footsteps, and weighs in as Stewart's last classic album of the early '70s.