After four mega-selling trips through the Great American Songbook, Rod Stewart puts on the blue jeans and opens up the great (mostly) American rock'n'roll songbook. He lends his rasp to 13 well-worn hits, primarily from the '70s and delivered in arrangements mostly identical to the originals -- although his treatment of "It's a Heartache," Bonnie Tyler's Stewart wannabe smash, is surprisingly smooth. Elsewhere, Stewart tosses some clever Dylan intonation into the chorus of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain," the album's first single, and sounds particularly strong on more tender tracks from the Badfinger, Cat Stevens and Poco canons.
On his third release, Bentley makes the transition from raw, unbridled talent to seasoned professional, abetted by relentless touring and the natural maturation process. Bentley's wilder impulses, thankfully, are still evident, as on the Waylon-esque "That Don't Make It Easy Loving Me," the observant "Band of Brothers" and a breezy "Free and Easy Down the Road I Go." Aided by expert musicianship and spot-on production, Bentley translates his on-stage charisma to the studio better than ever before.
But he really shines on the ballads, like the powerful, expressive "Every Mile a Memory," the syncopated "Hope for Me Yet" and a softly percolating "The Heaven I'm Headed To." These more mature themes showcase a confident songwriter (all 11 cuts were co-written with producer Brett Beavers) and performer that is becoming a major star. 2004's "License to Chill" was the first No.
1 album of Jimmy Buffett's three-decade career, so it's no surprise that he goes country again for a set that's breezy even by his flip-floppy standards. "Weather" is heavy on covers but boasts a wider palette of them, as Buffett works in Crowded House ("Weather With You," incongruously featuring Gomez), Mark Knopfler (who penned and plays on the gorgeous "Whoop Dee Doo"), Merle Haggard ("Silver Wings") and Guy Clark ("Cinco de Mayo in Memphis"). There's a nice sense of self-awareness here; "It seems I've run out of reasons to be here, so I'm just gonna steal from myself," he smirks in the faux-calypso "Party at the End of the World," before tossing off a quick rhyme about attitudes and latitudes.
For now, Buffett seems to have briefly put off the search for his lost shaker of salt.
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