LIVE IS BEST
I simply love live albums where the crowd sings along ,it makes me feel , well , alive . Sure he can be anoying and vain , and yes I'd like to slap him on the head for his dumb rooster haircut , but , next to the Kinks , Rod was one of the best at getting the crowd to sing along on many songs .He gets the crowd singing Sailing , and it is beautiful .I am an older man now ,( i saw this tour at the Music Hall in Boston 22 or so years ago and it rocked -he had 3 guitar players ) and Young Turks still makes me feel like a kid again . I am always of the opinion that if only a couple of songs are magic , it is worth it to buy a c d that makes you feel good. But there are more than just two good songs ,Gasoline Alley is real good .I Don't Want to Talk About is a great sing along as well.
Still Great
This CD recorded in 1982 is still
great when Rod still had it.
The CD is missing the Great Pretender which is no big loss
but also I'll Guess I Will Always Love You
which is a minor loss. So if you like the older Rod stuff
it is worth buying. This is a real live CD not touched up
so it is not perfect but still is Rod's best live CD.
INCOMPLETE!
As the back cover reads, "In order to facilitate a single, specially-priced cd, the songs "The Great Pretender," and "I Guess I'll Always Love You," have been removed." HELLO??!! The main selling point of this album was the inclusion of those tracks as they were not available elsewhere! Both performances added immeasureably to the appeal of this collection, and these songs, as with Stewart's original and definitive reading of Burt Bacharach's "That's What Friends Are For," have yet to reappear on subsequent retrospectives. Stick with the vinyl until Warner does this one right.
No Offense, Rod, But This Absolutely Stinks
I have noticed that live albums over the past twenty years generally arrive at a time when an artist is in a period of transition or confusion. Rod Stewart's 1982 effort, ABSOLUTELY LIVE, is a pure example of that.The opening selection of a portion of David Rose's "The Stripper" serves as a warning as to what this collection is going to be like; the song is stupid, and the arrangement here is glossy. Throughout the other sixteen pieces, the tracks are noticeably glossy, the arrangements are often questionable, but one thing is for sure- Stewart's delivery is terrible. The artist who gave such dumb yet admittedly astonishing performances of "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" and "Hot Legs" a few years earlier is not here at all. The artist who once gave heart to such beautiful ballads like "Sailing" and "I Don't Wanna Talk About It" is MIA. In fact, even the artist who gave a half-hearted performance of "You're In My Heart" one time is just going through the motions this time around! What a disaster for Rod!
We should have seen this coming. It is true that the critics hated his recent efforts because of their sleaziness, which was all too evident. But yet, his albums during this time were actually OK, even if they were practically nothing compared to EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY or NEVER A DULL MOMENT. And even if this album's predecessor, TONIGHT I'M YOURS, was very glossy, it was still actually a pretty good album. (It should be of no surprise that the tracks from that are actually the best moments here.) That does not forgive ABSOLUTELY LIVE for its tepidness, though. This was his first terrible album- and it unfortunately would not be the last. And from a person who lists Rod Stewart as one of his personal favorite artists, that is saying a lot.
As a final note, I would like to ask Warner Bros. a burning question: WHY IS THIS STILL IN PRINT???
One of the greatest live albums ever.
Let me start by saying I recently saw Rod live for the first time (after having been a fan for over 20 yrs) on his current "Human" tour and it was possibly the best damn concert I've ever seen! And that ties into my review in this way, until then the closest I had come to seeing this great entertainer live was this record. And I have to say this record comes pretty close to capturing all the excitement and frenzy of a Stewart concert, plus it showcases most of Rods hits such as the great "Maggie May" all the way down to the equally great "Da Ya think I'm sexy?" And on all the tunes Stewart was in fine voice and the people that worked on this record also did a fine job by just letting it happen and be recorded that way. Even letting the part stay in where 2 female fans showed their appreciation according to the album notes "in topless fashion." All in all this is a great album and a must have for anyone who hasn't seen him live and wants to and for any person who just wants to hear a helluva album. It's great from start to finish, I highly recommend it!
