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Rod Stewart: Human

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Atlantic Records
Released: 2000.11.14
Time:
 45:23
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): See Artists ...
Rating: ***....... (3/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.rodstewart.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2001.10.13
Price in €: 7,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Human (Gordon/Reeves) - 3:48
[2] Smitten (Gray/Marshall/Ruzumna/Wilder) - 5:00
[3] Don't Come Around Here (Barry/Joyce/Taylor/Thomas) - 3:49
[4] Soul on Soul (Capek/Jordan) - 4:30
[5] Loveless (Frank/Reeves) - 4:00
[6] If I Had You (Davis/Rachmaninoff) - 4:18
[7] Charlie Parker Loves Me (Capek/Jordan/Kipner) - 4:41
[8] It Was Love That We Needed (Mayfield) - 4:11
[9] To Be With You (House/Malo) - 3:56
[10] Run Back into Your Arms (Rawling/Reid/Stack) - 3:26
[11] I Can't Deny It (Alexander/Nowels) - 3:44

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


ROD STEWART - Vocals, Producer

JESSE JOHNSON - Guitar
MARK KNOPFLER - Guitar
PINO PALLADINO - Bass
CHRIS PELCER - Bass, Keyboards
STEVE PIGOTT - Bass, Keyboards
ROBERT MACINTOSH - Guitar
NICK RICHARDS - Percussion, Drums

THE LONDON SESSION ORCHESTRA - Orchestra
GAVYN WRIGHT - Leader, Coordination
TOBY CHAPMAN - String Arrangements
GARY WALLIS - String Arrangements
ROBYN SMITH - String Arrangements, String Conductor

CHRISTOPHER NEIL - Background Vocals, Producer
DANIELLE BRISEBOIS - Background Vocals, Producer
MICHELLE ESCOFFERY - Vocal Producer
DANNY KORTCHMAR - Vocal Producer
SUE ANN CARWELL - Background Vocals
JOE TURANO - Background Vocals
YVONNE WILLIAMS - Background Vocals
CONNER REEVES - Background Vocals

RICK NOWELS - Producer
GREGG ALEXANDER - Producer
BRIAN RAWLING - Producer
GRAHAM STACK - Producer
OCTAVE - Producer
Nick Richards - Percussion, Drums
ROB DICKINS - Executive Producer
STEVE CHURCHYARD - Engineer, Mixing
WALTER TURBITT - Engineer
AVRIL MACKINTOSH - Engineer
ROGER SOMMERS - Engineer
ANDRE HORSTMANN - Engineer
CHRIS BROWN - Engineer
NEIL ALDRIDGE - Engineer
RICHARD WILKINSON - Assistant Engineer
MEREDITH LEUNG - Assistant Engineer
NIVEN GARLAND - Remixing, Mixing
MICHAEL BRAUER - Mixing
MARK-ANTHONY TAYLOR - Mixing
DAVE WAY - Mixing
STEWART WHITMORE - Editing
SIMON HALE - Transcription
TONY DURAN - Photography
SIMON HURRELL - Engineer
STEPHEN MARCUSSEN - Mastering
ANDREA BROOKS - Art Direction, Design
RICHARD BATES - Art Direction

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


2000 CD Atlantic 83411
2000 CS Atlantic 83411



The last time Rod Stewart put his balls on the line was for "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?," a ridiculous, superb disco classic. That was twenty-three years ago. So if you're not salivating at the thought of a new offering from a craggy vet who's coasted throughout much of the last two decades, you can be forgiven. Enter Rob Dickins, the U.K. label boss who oversaw Cher's Believe. Dickins brings a bevy of R&B-pop producers and songwriters, including Metro (Enrique Iglesias), Rick Nowels (Madonna) and Gregg Alexander (of the New Radicals), as well as a slew of young and old guest stars eager to give Uncle Rod a Santana-esque resurrection. The R. Kelly-like title cut ingeniously juxtaposes Stewart and ex-Guns n' Roses guitarist Slash against jittery drum machines and gospel wailing, while stylistic stepchild Macy Gray turns in "Smitten," a slow groover that evokes both Gray's debut and Stewart's Seventies ballads. And although Human occasionally slides into easy-listening soul, the still-spiky star delivers assured, remarkably smooth vocals throughout. Finally, Rod once again sounds mod.

BARRY WALTERS - RS863
© Copyright 2001 RollingStone.com



Throughout his career, Rod Stewart has been remarkably skillful at adopting current musical trends, whether it was disco, new wave, adult contemporary, or even Brit-pop. Still, his records started to slip off the radar screen toward the end of the '90s, so he parted ways with Warner Bros. and signed to Atlantic, where he released Human in early 2001. Again, he tried to change with the times, which, theoretically, may have been a wise move, since his thoroughly credible trad rock When We Were the New Boys was largely ignored. Since he tried contemporary rock, it made sense that the pendulum would swing back and he would take a stab at contemporary soul. Seems logical, but as the neo-TLC title track starts, it's hard not to think "what the hell happened?" Cher's neo-electro move on "Believe" made some sense, since she had always indulged in trashy modern dance, but Stewart never played that game — even when at the height of superstardom, he never pretended to be hip, which is what he's trying to do here. Surrounded by skittering drum machines and En Vogue-styled harmonies, crooning Babyface-styled ballads, it sounds like he's auditioning for the La Face roster. Rarely does Human try to be outright modern dance music, instead blatantly stealing these production techniques for a set of mid-tempo tunes and ballads that are firmly adult contemporary territory in content — they're just delivered as if they had a chance of sitting at the top of the charts, alongside Pink. In general, the slow ballads wind up being a bit better, since Stewart has gravitated toward that style during the '90s, while the livelier numbers, such as "Don't Come Around Here" (the Mary J. Blige duet) also work at times. Still, it's bizarre to hear Stewart in this setting, since he not only doesn't mesh with the sound, but he also has a really awkward batch of songs, typified by the clumsy "Smitten," the bewildering love song "Charlie Parker Loves Me," or the cut-time "love's merry-go-round" refrain of "It Was Love That We Needed." Consider this: the most effective songs are "To Be With You," "Run Back Into Your Arms," and "I Can't Deny It," three fairly conventional Rod Stewart numbers tucked away toward the end of the album. Apart from that, Human is the sound of an artist painfully trying to sound modern but — by trying to sound fresh — sounding older than he ever has.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine - All Music Guide
© 1992 - 2001 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.



If Rod Stewart's ongoing sense of musical curiosity was confirmed by his surprising collection of 1990s rock covers (When We Were the New Boys), Human seems more bent on career reinforcement. Helmed by executive producer Rob Dickins, a lineup of production pros (including Mark Taylor and Brian Rawlings, the team behind Cher's Believe) keeps the sound polished, yet warm and spacious. Stewart takes on a mature, reflective slate of songs by an array of contemporary writers (including Macy Gray) and a strong cover of Curtis Mayfield's "It Was Love That We Needed". The album also features a handful of guest stars (including guitarists Slash and Mark Knopfler) and a surprising, playful duet with contemporary stylist/Dickins protégé Helicopter Girl on "Don't Come Around Here". Human proves, once again, that Rod Stewart may yet have the last laugh on those who have accused him of selling out one of rock's great vocal talents.

Jerry McCulley - Amazon.co.uk



Hoppla, der raubauzige Rod Stewart wird mitten im sechsten Lebensjahrzehnt doch nicht mild und weise geworden sein? Unüberhörbar ist jedenfalls, dass er quasi Kreide gefressen hat: So konsequent soft und sensibel hat man ihn noch nie gehört! Allein an seiner Schilddrüsen-Operation, die auch Stimmprobleme nach sich zog, kann's nicht gelegen haben, denn immerhin die Hälfte von Human war da schon im Kasten. Und noch zwei Dinge fallen auf: Rod hat vor den Aufnahmen offensichtlich höchst aufmerksam auf neuere musikalische Trends gelauscht. Und er ist, abgesehen vom einen oder anderen kleinen stilistischen Sidestep, ganz und gar Soul Man, zwischen Motown und Moderne, nicht nur in der stilvollen Coverversion von Curtis Mayfields "It Was Love That We Needed". Das Zeug zu definitiven Stewart-Klassikern haben auf Human mindestens zwei Stücke. "Loveless" ist sicherlich eine der stärksten Uptempo-Balladen, die er je dargeboten hat. Da stimmt einfach alles: die an der Seele kratzende Stimme, die seidige Soul-Aura, die dezent modernen Sound-Effekte. Und geradezu sensationell (und hip) ist das brüchig-gefühlvolle Duett mit Helicopter Girl, "Don't Come Around Here", das Mark Taylor (Cher) unspektakulär, doch effektvoll auf aktuellen Sound-Kurs steuerte. Ähnliches gilt für das von Karl K-Gee Gor-don (All Saints) produzierte Titelstück "Human", mit schwelgerisch-dichtem Arrangement, frickeligen Effekten im Untergrund und Saiten-Beigaben von Ex-Guns'n'Roses-Gitarrero Slash. Mit anschmiegsamem Reggae-Puls nimmt "If I Had You" ein, angereichert durch Backing Vocals à la Fugees und ein Mini-Solo von Ex-Dire Straits-Boss Mark Knopfler. Auch hübsch ist die von Macy Gray zugelieferte, leicht angekatzte Ballade "Smitten". Doch das Album als Ganzes hält diese hohen Standards nicht durchgängig, und so kann man sich immer mal wieder beim Tippen auf die Skip-Taste ertappen.

Claus Böhm - Amazon.de



Human is Rod Stewart's first record since his voice-threatening throat surgery, which seems to have brought neither havoc nor improvement to the singer's patented, polarizing rasp. Human (also the first release for his new label, Atlantic) is in all ways the prototypical Rod Stewart record: A carefully made collection of gently done, Motown-reminiscent R&B tracks, with the occasional lite-rock ballad thrown in. Like John Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen, Stewart has done a reasonably good job of making his music millennium-friendly without alienating aging baby boomers for whom the occasional Tom Waits cover is adventure enough. Here, Stewart wisely surrounds himself with adult contemporary-skewing hipsters: Former New Radicals frontman Gregg Alexander co-writes the record's first single and strongest track, "I Can't Deny It." (Slash and Mark Knopfler show up in unobtrusive capacities as well.) Given Stewart's recent high profile as an R&B interpreter, it's surprising that the record's only even remotely classic cover is Stewart's take on Curtis Mayfield's "It Was Love That We Needed." Only five years old, the track isn't that classic, but it's faithful and clean, and nicely done, anyway.

Allison Stewart - February 5, 2001
CDNOW Senior Editor, Rock
Copyright © 1994-2001 CDnow Online, Inc. All rights reserved.



It's no secret that Rod Stewart would rather follow the hit parade instead of his own roots. For his most recent outing, Stewart enlisted a team of crack specialists known for doctoring up and effectively resuscitating wayward superstars' declining careers and came up with Human. Topping the list are such high rollers as Rob Dickins -- the man behind Cher's Believe. Dickens undoubtedly made a few calls to some hip producers and songwriters like Metro (Enrique Iglesias), Rick Nowels (Madonna) and Gregg Alexander (of the New Radicals). Then he probably rang up guest stars like Slash, Macy Gray, Mark Knopfler and Helicopter Girl (!) -- all put in place to give the old Mod a run for his money. In the meantime, Stewart was trying to recover his ailing voice after a nasty thyroid infection as well as getting through a failed marriage to model/babe Rachel Hunter (yeah, THAT would hurt) and taming his own youthful exuberance. You have to figure Stewart is, at this point in his life, willing to go along with anything that'll keep him in step.

Unfortunately, it's hard for some of us old warhorses to get past Stewart's glory days, when he was writing and singing like a real rock star. Today, just like he did over 20 years ago during the disco craze with "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?," Stewart has latched onto a fabricated blend of soulful and easy-listening lounge music with all his might, hoping that somehow he'll lose 30 years and become the missing sixth member of the Backstreet Boys. That's the impression one gets when the title cut cha-chas out of your speakers. This is heartbreaking stuff on so many fronts, I don't even know where to begin. Gray's "Smitten" just softens the blow, while Stewart's voice is mildly well adjusted to the material. It's just the material that's hard to get through. "Don't Come Around Here" and "Soul On Soul" sort of spring forth without much excitement or purpose.

"Loveless" is a Ricky Martinesque samba that finds Stewart in a disquieting, yet tender vocal range. Robbie MacIntosh's calm guitar work swells almost enough to give it some rock and roll credibility, but not for any substantial amount of time. "If I Had You" raises the stakes and "Charlie Parker Loves Me" has potential, but they both ultimately start dripping over with glossy production and orchestration. The one song that starts to really showcase any backbone is "To Be With You," the only track that Stewart produced himself. The CD carries on with "Run Back Into Your Arms," perhaps the worst rip-off of Stewart's own "Tonight The Night" ever recorded. The closer, "I Can't Deny It," is just another striking example of how far the apple has fallen from the tree. I imagine there is probably a large block of people who like or will like Human because they like whatever Rod Stewart does. I'll never understand such simple blind devotion. Maybe they suffer from deaf devotion too.

Review by Shawn Perry - Copyright © 2001 About.com, Inc.



If only he was ‘Human’: Stewart’s latest a bomb

In an attempt to revitalize his sagging career, Rod Stewart attempts a bold transformation to a soulful R&B style with his new CD "Human." If you thought for a second that this would work, you are probably 52 years old and have a pinup of Rod in tight pants with floppy hair from when he was the world’s sexiest man (no joke) in 1873. Stewart’s new sound isn’t too bad, strangely, but overall the CD is crushed by lyrics that range from insipid to vacuous, and are, above all, cliche. I had to check to make sure Britney Spears didn’t write most of the songs.

Now, Rod Stewart is supposed to be sexy. This CD is supposed to be sexy, just like every one he made before was supposed to be sexy. And it just may be, for someone who doesn’t understand English. Contrary to what my female friend who listened to the CD with me said ("Worst ...CD ...ever"), I expect that some cuts from "Human" will garner major airplay on soft and adult rock stations. Stewart does have that type of following. However, just because it might pad his already bulging pocketbook does not mean ole Rod should be proud to have his name associated with the music involved.

Stewart, whose fans tend to be as white as the driven snow and getting up there in years, tries hard to reach out to a younger, more diverse crowd. It’s most evident in Stewart’s teaming with flavor-of-the-month Macy Gray, who does a duet with Stewart, and can be heard doing background vocals in the rest.

Not coincidentally, "Human" has two tracks that are most likely to succeed among listeners, and neither one is written by Stewart. Former New Radicals frontman Gregg Alexander co-wrote the record’s first released single, "I Can’t Deny It." It has a very New Radicals feel in beat and flow, but, like the rest of the CD, the lyrics are soulless and tepid.

The title track "Human" has a nice R&B vibe and isn’t bad for about 15 seconds, but the reprise is stupid and once again, the listener can’t relate Stewart to the words he is singing. For those 15 seconds, you think the CD might be good, until Stewart says, "Am I rooted to the ghetto? Maybe I should let go." Come on, are you kidding me? Rod Stewart and the ghetto? Has he ever set foot in a ghetto? Would he survive five seconds in one? You can earn listeners with a reinvented feel, but you need songwriting to win credibility. "Human" is sorely lacking. Personally, I’ve always believed Stewart’s best phase was his early folkish rock period, in which his songwriting was rough and uneven, but deeply personal, as in "Maggie May" and "Reason to Believe."

It’s worse yet. Rod Stewart’s imitation of Slim Shady, "Hello, allow me to introduce myself, I am smitten" is cheesy. "I Can’t Deny It" is the last track. If I hadn’t checked the Stewart website out, I would never have gotten to it. His duet with Macy Gray is nothing special and the entire middle of the CD ranges from non-descript to flat-out bad.

It isn’t so much that any one track is really that bad, because the instrumentals are solid, and Stewart’s voice still sounds good. It’s just that Stewart hasn’t aligned himself with songs and musicians that are synergistic with his sound and background. In the process, he’s created another $3.99 Ames clearance coaster.

BY TED CHAN - February 15, 2001



Rod Stewart a little less than Human

Rod Stewart - best known for his raspy crooning and his runway-walking ex Rachel Hunter - emits a smoother yet cloyingly romantic tone on his newest album, "Human."

The singer's ability to transcend musical genres is definitely clear by the end of the 11-track CD, but "Human" still disappoints with sappy lyrics and predictable rhythms.

On the title track, ex-Guns-n-Roses guitarist Slash provides an undertone reminiscent of the Backstreet Boys for this cocky song of human triumph.

Stewart sings, "I'm the one who took a walk on the moon / And I made the seven wonders, too / There is nothing that I cannot do / 'Cause I am Human."

In spite of its silly lyrics and punctuated Stewart-esque outbursts, "Human" remains a catchy, even uplifting tune.

"Smitten" - co-composed and softly co-sung with fellow raspy singer Macy Gray - is a bluesy tune about being scorned.

Stewart sounds like a pathetic playboy with lyrics such as "Hello / Allow me to introduce myself / I am smitten / And she could care less."

"Don't Come Around Here" features the U.S. debut of Scottish singer/songwriter Helicopter Girl. Though her name may raise eyebrows, her soulful crooning is even more noteworthy.

Vocally a dead ringer for Macy Gray, Helicopter Girl provides a sultry echo to Stewart's pleas to "Don't come around here / Just to see me crying / Don't come around here / Just because you can."

Helicopter's impressive chords overshadow Stewart's and make the track worth hearing.

Fans of smooth jazz and gospel will like "Soul on Soul," a song about holding onto love that's slipping away.

"No one ever listened to the things I tried to share / You gave me everything I needed . . . You gave me hope / You gave me love / You gave me faith."

Latin listeners will enjoy the rhythmically smooth "Loveless," which features Stewart singing a bit above his range.

"There's no magic / No sunshine / No rainbow in my life . . . Baby I'm loveless / Feeling so hopeless / Feeling so foolish for being so helpless."

"If I Had You" contains an initial reggae beat that switches to straight-out, soul-bearing crooning with lyrics like, "I saw you walking / As pretty as a peach / Out of reach / If I had you / I could change the world."

Sexy whispers and a jazzy tempo are scattered throughout "Charlie Parker Loves Me," a song with such "original" lyrics as "I'm your streetcar Romeo / Everybody knows you're my Juliet in rags."

"It Was Love that We Needed" is a skippable tune on the need for love and "To Be With You" reflects beats from classic oldies.

"Run Back Into Your Arms" keeps with the overall theme of the album and highlights Stewart as a hopeless romantic.

"A shoulder to cry on / Someone to lean on / Someone to take me away / Someone to talk to / Somewhere to walk to."

The CD, Stewart's 19th solo album, ends with "I Can't Deny It," the most upbeat song on the track. Featuring Gregg Alexander of the New Radicals, the song incites Stewart to exclaim, "Let's riot / Get excited / I can't deny it / When it feels this real."

The main problem with the CD is the corny, seemingly insincere and unbelievable lyrics.

Stewart has remarked that the CD makes him feel "extremely jolly," which is ironic since the only place this lovey-dovey CD belongs is in the bedroom.

BY AMY L. CONVER - Entertainment Editor
 

 L y r i c s


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