Disco de Dinosaur Jr.: “Hand It Over”

Stewart's first recording for Warner Brothers, this set is satisfying but no match to his finest Mercury output (most notably "Every Picture Tells A Story").

That said, for those who bought the original CD (which was extremely hissy and flat), this remastering is a *revelation*! 24-bit audio (not listed on the outside of the packaging) and a very obvious attention to detail make the upgrade a no-brainer (the other Stewart remasters are similarly striking).

Hear Rod's Muscle Shoals effort like you've never heard it before. Musically, it's above par. Sonically, it's never been better.

I am of the humble opinion that this might have been Rodney's last truly great album. He still was serious about making great music and you can clearly hear it. I remember being heartbroken over the fact that he abandoned the Faces and this solo album would have no Ron Wood or Mickey Waller playing on it. I also remember getting over it quickly once I heard this album originally back in '75.

The deluxe version here gives you more of a great thing. The tunes with the MG's are really terrific. That band could always play and backing Rod seemed to be a natural thing. No star trips here, just great music. The other demos/studio rehearsals are all outstanding in their own right too. I think the version of Sailing found on disc two surpasses the original released version easily in fact. Drift Away is another. There was serious musicianship on this album, and Rodney was clearly inspired by it.

Sometimes deluxe re-issues can be letdowns despite their promises. Not this one. This was done properly from start to finish. The re-mastering is stellar and the bonuses found on the second disc priceless.

Buy this. Don't think twice about doing so either.

I love this album its definitely stood the test of time well and it was better than any other Rod did ever after 1975 (is it really 30 years old?).

The title refers to Stewart's departure for the US and the cover depicts the transition and he is accompanied by top session musicians (including Steve Cropper, Barry Beckett and Lee Sklar) and veteran American producer Tom Dowd to create an overall slick sound.

The album is divided into two parts - slow side and fast side. The slow side is much stronger than the fast side overall, and all the hits and best-known tracks are on the slow half. Although there were no major hits in the US, 'Sailing' was number 1 in UK for 4 weeks in the summer of 1975. All 5 tracks on the slow side are excellent.

Stewart's version of Danny Whitten's 'I Don't Want To Talk About It' must be one his best performances ever. 'Its not the Spotlight' is convincing. Track 3 on the slow half is the original version of 'This Old Heart of Mine' which is far superior to the later version. 'Still Love You' grows on you, and last but not least the catchy 'Sailing'.

The fast side unfortunately suffers from one or two weak tracks and the vocals aren't as strong, apart from 'Drift Away' (which really belongs in the slow half). The rest are mostly uptempo rockers, of which 'Three Time Loser' and and 'Stone Cold Sober' catch fire.

I originally had it on vinyl. Interestingly in some editions of the original LP the slow half was side one, and 'Stone Cold Sober' was listed as the final album track. The digitally remastered edition is the best yet - the original CD recording quality was poor so its definitely worth the upgrade.

Even though its not quite as strong as some of Rod's earlier material (including 'Maggie May'), this is his best out of all his albums that came Warner Brothers. A great album, worth having even if you only like the slow tracks, and one that you can always come back to enjoy.

When taken as a whole, this probably is the best recording that Rod did for Warner. Personally, I think all of the albums have their moments, but this one stands out a bit more as a completely solid effort.

For starters, who can resist the catchy surrender of "Three Time Loser"; the classic rock & roll of "Stone Cold Sober", and Rod's soothing version of "Drift Away"(even if it is an incredibly overplayed song).

Then there's the slow half...

"I Don't Want To Talk About It" features one of the most convincing vocals ever.. Then when you listen to the next track, "It's Not The Spotlight", it's confirmed that almost no one can bring home the emotion of a sad song like Rod. For someone who supposedly never had his heart broken(until recent years), Rod certainly does a good job of convincing us otherwise..

The album closes with "Sailing", another heartfelt track, that expresses a certain amount of desperation..

There were no big U.S. hits here, but Rod's version of "I Don't Want To Talk About It" has become somewhat of a staple. In 1990, Rod had a hit with a newer version of "This Old Heart Of Mine", so it's kind of interesting to hear his different approach here..

With this album, Rod began to display a somewhat more explicit approach lyrically, most notably in "Three Time Loser", and it only gets worse from here.. Check out some of the lyrics in songs from "Foot Loose & Fancy Free" & "Blondes Have More Fun". While this maybe true, and some people maybe somewhat turned off by this, it's rock & roll, and there are no limits, and let's face it, it's fun. It's too bad newer music almost never comes close to being this much fun, and rocking this freely, and speaking of some of the offensive lyrics, I guess you could say Rod was the Eminem of the '70s...

Moving to different record companies may not sound like a big deal but in many ways it is. It's like changing from one retail job to another: the responsibilities are essentially the same, but the rules and freedoms are going to differ. With "Atlantic Crossing" Rod Stewart moved from Mercury Records to Warner Bros. Records, and gained new freedoms that Mercury did not grant him. Stewart used his new freedoms to test out new ways to sell his music. Probably the most noticeable change was to firmly separate his songs. By this point he was popular for both his rock songs and his slow ballads, and fans found themselves frustrated with switching to their favorite songs on their records.

So Stewart put his fast songs on one side of this album and the slow songs on the other side. This pleased his fans back in 1975, but in today's day and age where we have CD's that hold songs on a single sided CD the change from rock to ballad is a little jarring. There's not even an attempt to transition the songs properly (which, at the time, wasn't an issue). Then there were the songs themselves, where Stewart tried to be more artful with his lyrics and melody. For the most part the two don't really mix, which yields in only moderately enjoyable tracks. This album does contain one of the highlights of his career, the extremely bittersweet "I Don't Want To Talk About It."

With it's depressing lyrics, non-produced melody, it's a shock that this anti-radio song became such a big hit at all. The album also contains his first remake of "This Old Heart of Mine." Sadly, this is the ballad version that is found on the slow part of the album. Stewart must have admitted this is not the way the song was meant to be heard, and years later re-made it properly with an up-tempo sound to it. As for the rest of the album it's kind of a mixed bag. Each half has some highlights and some low points, but ultimately the album never works as a whole. Even so there are some good songs here, so listening to it is by no means a waste of time.

Download This: I Don't Want to Talk About It, Sailing, Stone Cold Sober