Rod Stewart

It Had to Be You... The Great American Songbook

This is the best CD I ever bought

Review Score:

(10/10)
Most CD's are classified according to well-known categories, and people who like a certain category tend to concentrate their purchases in that area. This CD doesn't fit the mold. So, many people are passing it up. But go into any store, and it is playing in the background without you even noticing it. It is slipping into your subconscious even though you may have never heard of it. This is Rod Stewart singing songs that were popular before most of the CD-buying public was even born. They are the songs that Rod Stewart heard in his home as a boy when he was growing up, and he has a special feel for them that is extraordinary. The arrangements are genius. Although the initial reaction is that he is singing in too hign of a register, that feeling quickly fades into a romantic frame of mind that transports you to wherever you go when thoughts of romance and love take hold of you. I have been waiting to get tired of it, but it never happens. Flat out--it is the best CD I ever purchased. If all your ear can appreciate is heavy metal, you won't like it. If you have never heard these songs, maybe they won't mean a thing to you. So, I won't guarantee it to everyone. But if you don't like it, you are missing a some music that makes other people want to dance, daydream, or get lost in some romantic fantasy. It is happy, gentle, friendly and evocative of a time when lyrics were poetry. If you like "I got to have you baby" you won't like it. But if you like, "You got to my head, and you linger like a constant refrain, and I find you swimming round in my brain like the bubbles in a glass of chanpagne," all sung to an infectous melody, then this CD is for you. This is the classy side of Rod Stewart. This is Rod Stewart at his best. I have heard some critics give it less than high praise (actually in connection with his second volume) but don't listent to them. These are people who probably can't carry a tune and problably don't appreciate these songs in the first place. I doubt that they even hear the soft guitar in the background or appreciate the very subtle chord transitions. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! Buy this CD!

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