A Night On The Town and Atlantic Crossing were the albums that saw Rod Stewart junk his old buddies in The Faces, bring in a host of top notch session musicians and move fully into the world of adult contemporary music. For a lot of people it was where he lost his mojo, but as he teetered on the edge of becoming a fully fledged cartoon character, there were still some songs worth listening to.
Starting with the lesser of the two, A Night On The Town, from 1976, solidified the success of Atlantic Crossing, but with a stodgier set of songs, and the final smoothing of the rough edges. That smoothing helped create a couple of massive hit singles in the shape of "Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)" and "The Killing Of Georgie (Part I and II)", both from the ever diminishing pen of Rod himself. This remastered set comes as a 2-CD edition, with the first one adding in B-side "Rosie". The second set adds in early versions of the whole album and B-side, along with a studio outtake called "Share" and an alternate version of the Beatles tune "Get Back". The earlier versions actually work very well, as they're less polished than the issued ones. However, the album isn't a classic with only the aforementioned "Tonight's The Night..." and "The First Cut Is The Deepest" making the cut on my personal best of Rod.
Moving back nine months (yes only nine months) we have Atlantic Crossing, the last truly essential Rod Stewart album. Despite the cries of sell out and the move to Los Angeles, this album saw the friction between his past and his future creating something a bit special. Some of the songs were recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and even if the Fast Side / Slow Side split doesn't work as well on CD, this still remains a cracker. Now I loathe "Sailing" as much as the next man, but by the time you get there, you've already heard fabulous renditions of "Three Time Loser", "Drift Away", "Stone Cold Sober" and the big, non-Sailing hits, "I Don't Want To Talk About It" and "This Old Heart Of Mine", the latter recorded with the MGs. Not to forget my favourite of them all, the Barry Goldberg / Gerry Goffin song "It's Not The Spotlight". The main album is augmented with an extra instrumental featuring The Atlantic Crossing Drum & Pipe Band playing the "Skye Boat Song", so you may want to hit pause after "Still Love You".
Article comments
1 - JC Mosquito
Yeah, Atlantic Crossing has its moments, but save your nickels and dimes and hold out for the essential rock 'n' roll recordings of Rod Stewart: the Complete Mercury Recorings box and the Facess' 4 CD box set Five Guys Walk into a Bar.......
2 - Tark
Though I agree that the Mercury Recordings are essential AND the Faces box set is one of the finest rock and roll sets of all time, I think anyone who likes Rod Stewart will like both of these limited edition two-disc CD sets. As far as the bonus discs go, the one on A Night on the Town IS superior. (I also prefer the original to AC as well, though both are great Rod Stewart CDs.)
There may be no denying that Rod's quality went down after 1975, but its not neary as sudden (as both these albums prove)nor as drastic as some critics make it out to be. Yes, there was Da Ya Think I'm Sexy and Love Touch, which were awful, but there was also a ton of great tracks (I was Only Joking; Only a Boy, Scared and Scarred to name a very small few) that, had they been recorded in the early 70s, critics would have fawned over. The post 1975 Rod never got his due with critics, and to some point that's his own fault, but the fact is, he made some amazing music after 1975.
3 - JC Mosquito
I''ll admit there's some decent material there, but as you said so yourself - he went from making "essential" and "finest" recordings to "some amazing" [but not all] and even "awful" recordings after that. I think in general he's been less considered seriously as an artist and more so as a celebrity singer since the mid 70s. I dunno - perhaps it was a choice between rock star or megastar.
4 - Evan
Billy Joel Neil Diamond Rod Stewart Barry Manilow Elton John and Neil Sedaka are the best
5 - Kaf
I chose rockstar, wrong choice, should've gone for the megastar like he did ; ) Rock n' roll will always be the underdog as it speaks the truth, nobody wants truth, we saw/heard the last of that in the early 70's. Love and truth are dead, hence this genious wayning. These albums are great in their own ways, Stone Cold Sober anyone? Also She Won't Dance With Me, Better Off Dead and Oh God I Wish I was Home Tonight from Foolish Behaviour are great tunes. Usually something for us all on there ; ) Viva Rod Stewart, Steven Tyler and Jagger!
6 - Kaf
Pardon, Sir...Mick Jagger hehe. Rock n' roll can still take you there, but it's a long way to the top I guess.