Rod Stewart
When a rock superstar releases the disco track from his new LP as a single, he's performing with a net. The risks are gone, and commercial success is ensured for the whole album. The Stones proved this when after a prolonged sales slump the danceable Miss You turned Some Girls into their largest-selling LP in recent years. Now Stewart is leading with his booty, too, using his throbbing (if wholly derivative) cut Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? to peddle this new album. Unfortunately, what the customer gets is mostly slow numbers that sound like Tonight's the Night and fast ones reminiscent of Hot Legs. Only this time the guitars are tepid, the arrangements clichéd as ever and the sax is overdone. In all fairness, Scarred and Scared and The Best Days of My Life are raspingly memorable. But more typical of this production is Standin' in the Shadow of Love, a cluttered redo of the Four Tops classic, and a lot of whining about how tough things can get in the fast lane (Is That the Thanks I Get? and Ain't Love a Bitch). Was it Sartre who defined hell as a room with another rock star in it?
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