Rod Stewart
Soulbook

Once again here to celebrate my total bewilderment, the undeniable wearing down of my brain cells, the sublimation of the art of being content, typical of advancing age.

Well, that said, let's talk about the guy, and the album.

When it comes to Rod Stewart, you can say anything except that his "pop-rock" past is not noteworthy: a handful of great records, a grand live performer and, above all, a voice that is anything but banal or anonymous.

Just as you can say anything except that his present (as well as his recent past) isn't characterized by a nice laid-back backward glance, perhaps a bit cheeky, but certainly with great professionalism, even if very Las Vegas.

It becomes difficult to evaluate by the criterion of usefulness, if that makes any sense (probably, by saving only "useful" works, each of us would save a handful, and no one the same as another...). Comparisons are also difficult: all the latest albums are covers, so comparisons inevitably arise with the originals. First the three jazz/swing classics, then classic rock songs, and now it's the turn of soul (understood, moreover, in a very broad sense).

Ultra-famous melodies, which immediately lead to "humming" and shortly after, inevitably, to comparison with the originals.

But the discourse applicable, in the case of Stewart, is in my opinion akin to that already made for figures like Joe Cocker or Mina, that is, for pure interpreters: the value of the cover as an "act of love," a theory without which we risk throwing away a handful of beautiful records, just because they're not "cantautorial"...

Therefore, in my opinion, it is only on one field that the match is played: whether these interpretations say something good (perhaps even "more") or if we are in the exclusive field of pure entertainment.

There have been cases where the doubt never even crossed my mind: the latest cover works by Robert Plant or Paul Weller are fundamental works, as in my opinion is Mina's album on Modugno's music ("Sconcerto"), albums where the act of love is evident in a very personal interpretation but not only: also in the alternative but not "violating" conception of the score.

The prime, and historical, example can be Cocker's "With A Little Help From My Friends." Voice, interpretation, and arrangement make it a unique episode, respectful but light years away from the original.

Here, there is the risk of having only Stewart's always stunning voice interpret beautiful and well-known pages of American soul.

It may not be what we wanted, but it's not little either.

It is happily heard... while cooking or dining, and at times you hum along.

An album not for the very young, but it could be a good way to get to know music now distant.

And anyway a means to entertain, in a high and etymological sense.

I repeat: it won't go down in history, but still, it's not little.