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Who wrote the Book of Love? One can make a good case for Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Rod Stewart with If We Fall In Love Tonight, his new collection of classic love songs past and present. Long revered as one of planet Earth's great rockers, Rod has been equally celebrated as one of pop music's premier balladeers. The new album's 15 tracks - which includes four newly recorded songs, a pair of re-recorded hits, and several others appearing on a Stewart album for the first time - confirm what fans have known forever: Rod and romance go together. For some time, Rod had contemplated putting together a collection of his best love songs. However, he wanted to make the package special. For If We Fall In Love Tonight, Rod teamed with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis at their Minneapolis studio on a pair of new songs: the tender title track (written and produced by Jam and Terry) and a spectacular rendition of the classic 1977 #1 Leo Sayer hit, "When I Need You," featuring the 40-voice Sounds of Blackness choir in the climax. When Rod's voice, so influenced by the music of black America, meets the sound of a Gospel choir, something undeniably magical happens. Rod also joined forces with producer James Newton Howard on "For The First Time," an original by Newton Howard and one of the album's most beautiful new tracks. The two also collaborated on a fire-breathing interpretation of "Sometimes When We Touch," the Top 10 smash by Dan Hill from 1977. Other tracks include Rod's 1975 hit "I Don't Want To Talk About It" and the original studio version of his 1993 Top 5 single "Have I Told You Lately." Rod's interpretation of "So Far Away," which appeared on the Tapestry Revisited album saluting Carole King, is also included, as is "All For Love," the #1 smash by Rod, Sting and Bryan Adams from the soundtrack to the 1994 film The Three Musketeers.
Although the songs on If We Fall In Love Tonight span two decades, it is a testament to Rod's timeless style that not one note on the album can be tied to a specific period in pop history. His music has always spoken to every generation in every time, and will continue to do so. From his auspicious early days with the Jeff Beck Group in the 60s, through his rise with the Faces and as a solo artist in the 70s, Rod has never failed to bring a touch of class to every recording. His list of immortal hits includes the #1 "Maggie May," "You Wear It Well," "Hot Legs," "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy," and "Passion." His numerous multi-platinum albums include the pioneering Gasoline Alley in 1970, Blondes Have More Fun (1978), Camouflage (1985), Storyteller: The Complete Anthology (1990), Vagabond Heart and 1993's phenomenal Unplugged...and Seated, which spawned, "Have I Told You Lately." In 1994, Rod was cited in the Guinness Book of World Records for headlining the largest outdoor concert ever (a riotous New Year's Eve bash on the Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janiero, attended by more than 4.2 million people). That year he was also honored as an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Rod's last studio album, Spanner in the Works (1995), was completed on the heels of his enormously successful ten-month "Unplugged" Tour, which for the first time had the singer performing in the round. Rod's latest world tour was similarly staged in the round, placing him dead center and leaving not one bad seat in the house. Along with his 12-piece touring band, Rod was joined on stage by a 22-piece orchestra, and traveled around the globe for 14 months, breaking box office records in country after country In the months ahead, Rod heads back to the studio to record a new album with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. While that undeniably constitutes a match made in heaven, even more enduring is the bond between Rod and his legion of fans around the world. It's a bond held by mutual affection and a passion for music that never dies. If We Fall In Love Tonight is only the latest chapter in Rod Stewart's on-going Book of Love. |
Clocking in at 67 minutes of music,