Tag: Rod Stewart Live Albums

Live Albums By Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart benefits from having a very distinctive, raspy voice which helps to give his solo and group songs a unique flavour.

He found fame initially with the Jeff Beck Group on the studio albums Truth and Beckola in the late 1960s.

Then he and Ronnie Wood joined with the remaining Small Faces after Steve Marriott left to join Humble Pie to create The Faces.

Parallel top his time in The Faces, he was also building his reputation as a songwriter and song interpreter with his solo work which gave him UK #1 hits with Maggie May and You Wear It Well. Gradually his solo success overwhelmed his time with The Faces and the group fell apart.

While this website concentrates on live albums, the best live recordings are often closely linked in time to the best studio albums since the tour helps to promote the album.

Studio Albums by Rod Stewart

The first four of these are particularly highly recommended and the next few albums also had strong highlights, even if the overall albums weren’t up to par.

1969 – An Old Raincoat Won’t Ever Let You Down
1970 – Gasoline Alley
1971 – Every Picture Tells a Story
1972 – Never a Dull Moment
1974 – Smiler
1975 – Atlantic Crossing
1976 – A Night On The Town
1977 – Foot Loose & Fancy Free
1978 – Blondes Have More Fun
1980 – Foolish Behaviour
1981 – Tonight I’m Yours
1983 – Body Wishes
1984 – Camouflage
1986 – Every Beat of My Heart
1988 – Out of Order
1991 – Vagabond Heart
1995 – A Spanner in the Works
1998 – When We Were the New Boys
2001 – Human
2002 – It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook
2003 – As Time Goes By: The Great American Songbook 2
2004 – Stardust: The Great American Songbook 3
2005 – Thanks for the Memory: The Great American Songbook, Volume IV
2006 – Still the Same… Great Rock Classics of Our Time
2009 – Soulbook
2010 – Once in a Blue Moon: The Lost Album
2010 – Fly Me to the Moon… The Great American Songbook Volume V
2012 – Merry Christmas, Baby
2013 – Time

Every Picture Tells A Story through to A Night On The Time were #1 albums in the UK and even since his popularity waned, he’s managed to stay in (or close to) the top 10.

In the USA, Every Picture Tells A Story was #1 and then the four albums from Atlantic Crossing to Blondes Have More Fun were #1 albums.

Live Albums by Rod Stewart

For such a long, successful career I don’t think he’s released many live albums and The Faces are very poorly represented. Please, please, please can we have a great soundboard recording Mr Record Company Executive.

1973 Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners
Billed as Rod Stewart and the Faces, this mainly focuses on songs from his solo albums. It’s often criticised but I really like it.

1975 Live In London
The final days of the Faces, this album runs through his solo songs but it’s disappointing.

1982 Absolutely Live
By this stage, his career was waning and but he acted the big rock star performing to excited fans at large venues.

1993 Unplugged And Seated
A terrific performance for the MTV series gave Rod Stewart a big hit album.

1976 to 1998 Tonight’s The Night
A 4 CD live compilation pulling together a very long list of songs performed live. Probably too much for the causal fans but great for those who are dedicated.

I have a readers poll to help you to find the best live albums by Rod Stewart.

Buying Albums By Rod Stewart

You can get these albums from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

The Best Live Albums Of All Time

Please vote in the poll to find the best classic rock live albums.

Because there are so many excellent classic rock live albums I have split the poll into two and you may find some of your favourites in the second division. Albums will be promoted when they get enough votes.

You can get these albums from Amazon.com – Amazon.co.uk.