Gasoline Alley

Rod Stewart - Gasoline Alley

List Price: ~~$10.99~~
Our Price: $5.97
You Save: $5.02 (46%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $5.96 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Listen soundtracks from this album

Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store

CD Details

Artist: Rod Stewart
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 1998-03-31
Music Label: Island / Mercury
Soundtracks:

Gasoline Alley
It's All Over Now
Only A Hobo
My Way Of Giving
Country Comforts
Cut Across Shorty
Lady Day
Jo's Lament
You're My Girl (I Don't Want To Discuss It)

Music reviews of Gasoline Alley

Music Review: good boy gone bad
Rating: 4 Stars

Believe it or not, at one time Rod Stewart was one of us. A quick glance at the songwriting credits for this, Stewart's second 'solo' effort, reveal where Rod's head was at: covers of Bobby & Shirley Womack's 'It's All Over Now' (more famously, and somewhat more enjoyably covered by The Rolling Stones), Bob Dylan's 'Only a Hobo', Elton John and Bernie Taupin's 'Country Comforts', and Steve Marriott & Ronnie Lane's 'My Way of Giving'. I've tried to keep my record collection pure of disco, and with composers such as these I don't believe anyone can accuse me of harboring anything as defiling as 'Hot Legs' or 'Do Ya' Think I'm Sexy?'. Unfortunately for me, each time I hear Rod's voice, a bit of the 'Hot Legs' overplay corrupts my capacity to concentrate on his earlier (and better) sensibilities. Rod's raspy vocal cords made him one of rock's premier vocalists before career decisions became of more immediate concern than the art. His defection to 'the other side' was perhaps the most disconcerting loss of the era.

Nevertheless, from his debut 'Rod Stewart Album' through his epic 'Every Picture Tells a Story' and it's sequel, 'Never a Dull Moment', Stewart left behind a fine legacy. 'Gasoline Alley' is Rod's second 'solo' effort, and while it failed to spawn even one single, it is a consistantly fine production. In fact, since it generated absolutely no Top 40 attention, the songs on this disc have managed to escaped the dred overplay that has afflicted some Stewart numbers, most notably 'Maggie May', and even 'You Wear It Well'.

At first glance the disc appears weighted toward more subdued numbers, such as the lilting 'Only a Hobo' and the gentle strains of 'Country Comforts', and in sheer numbers the disc is fairly reserved, especially toward the end when two Stewart compositions, 'Lady Day' and 'Jo's Lament' emerge. But the three longest songs on the disc are all rockers, and they are wisely distributed on tracks two, six and nine. 'It's All Over Now', 'Cut Across Shorty', and 'You're My Girl' consume nearly eighteen minutes of the disc's 41 minute running time, and 'My Way of Giving' is no slouch either. It predictably possesses an upbeat pop sound (reminiscent of Rod's previous gig with The Small Faces) since it was written by Marriott and bassist Ronnie Lane.

Here and there we are enticed by tell-tale sounds that allude to the emerging Stewart epic, 'Every Picture Tells a Story'. The fine back-home opener, 'Gasoline Alley', possesses a mandolin that harkens to 'Mandolin Wind', and 'Cut Across Shorty' and 'You're My Girl' feature sharp guitar riffs that would fuel similar Stewart classics such as his cover of the Temptation's 'I'm Losing You'.

The only disappointing aspect of this particular disc is that the rework didn't add any bonus tracks or informational material to the package... you get only what you got in 1970 with the original vinyl release. Weren't there any other tracks sitting in the vault from this session that ended up on the editing floor, or interesting anecdotes from the contributing artist's that could spice this up a bit? Many people buying this CD today also purchased the recordings on vinyl and cassette. We deserve a few more crumbs from the table.

More Gasoline Alley free music reviews:
1 2 3

Description of Gasoline Alley

Japanese only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) paper sleeve pressing. Includes one bonus track. Universal. 2009.

Working in what was not then called an "unplugged" format, Stewart mixed acoustic guitars, mandolin, and piano with a hard-rock attitude to create a distinctive sound that seems as fresh today as ever. Building on the success and innovations of The Rod Stewart Album, Gasoline Alley contains unfettered, laddish takes on Bobby Womack's "It's All Over Now" and the bluesy "Cut Across Shorty," plus a definitive version of Bob Dylan's "Only a Hobo" and the brilliant, nostalgic title track, a Stewart original. The singer is very near the top of his game here. --Daniel Durchholz

Rod Stewart has become such a clown prince of rock & roll that it's sometimes hard to remember that at one point in his career he was making some of the best music on the planet. Gasoline Alley, Stewart's second solo album and his first after joining the Faces, was but one of four brief, brilliant records he issued in the early 1970s. All of its sure-handed tracks, the ballads and the burners, still sparkle and crackle today--especially the gorgeous autobiographical title track and his definitive takes of Elton John's "Country Comforts" and Bob Dylan's "Only a Hobo." Stewart's magic rasp invests every word with passion, making even a simple rockabilly chestnut like "Cut Across Shorty" into a lover's anthem. Great, great stuff. --Michael Ruby

Classic Rock CDs

Music Genres

Bestsellers in Classic Rock CDs

Paul Mccartney, Wings - Wings at the Speed of Sound
Release date: 1996-09-24; Music CD
Best price: $269.99

Small Faces - Boxed
Release date: 1997-11-01; Music CD
Best price: $43.38

Dr John - Gris Gris
Release date: 1994-07-15; Music CD
Price in other shops: ~~$18.98~~

Eric Clapton: Live in Hyde Park [VHS]
Warner Bros / Wea; Release date: 1998-02-17; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.75
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

Human Highway [VHS]
Warner Bros / Wea; Release date: 1995-08-08; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $120.79

The Monkees - Head [VHS]
Rhino / Wea; Release date: 1995-01-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.42
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

Ozzy Osbourne - Live & Loud [VHS]
Sony; Release date: 1993-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $3.96
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

Bruce Springsteen - Unplugged [VHS]
Sony; Release date: 1992-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $2.75
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel - P.O.V. [VHS]
Virgin Records Us; Release date: 1992-06-29; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $121.90

Toto - Past to Present [VHS]
Sony; Release date: 1991-07-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $72.82

Similar CDs

Rod Stewart - Foot Loose & Fancy Free
Release date: 2011-03-21; Music CD
Best price: $5.50
Price in other shops: ~~$11.98~~

Jeff Beck - Truth (Exp)
Release date: 2006-10-10; Music CD
Best price: $4.69
Price in other shops: ~~$7.99~~

Faces - First Step
SMALL FACES; Release date: 1993-09-14; Music CD
Best price: $5.86
Price in other shops: ~~$13.96~~

Faces - Long Player
FACES; Release date: 1993-09-14; Music CD
Best price: $5.95
Price in other shops: ~~$13.96~~

Rod Stewart - Smiler
Release date: 2004-02-16; Music CD
Best price: $1.89
Price in other shops: ~~$6.98~~

Rod Stewart - Night on the Town
Release date: 2011-03-22; Music CD
Best price: $4.52
Price in other shops: ~~$7.98~~

A Nod is As Good As a Wink to a Blind Horse Image

Faces - A Nod is As Good As a Wink to a Blind Horse
FACES; Release date: 1993-09-14; Music CD
Best price: $4.40
Price in other shops: ~~$13.96~~