Blondes Have More Fun: Rod Stewart’s New Album, ‘Tears of Hercules’
by Best Classic Bands Staff
Blondes have more fun? Rod Stewart and friends in the “One More Time” video
Rod Stewart has released his 31st studio album, The Tears of Hercules, which arrived November 12, 2021 via Rhino/Warner Bros. It’s his fourth new album of original songs since 2013. For his latest, the legend wrote nine of the album’s 12 songs, including an upbeat love song, “I Can’t Imagine,” one of the singles released from the album. Watch the video for the song and listen to several others below.
Stewart once again worked with Kevin Savigar, the keyboardist-songwriter-composer who has co-produced Stewart’s last three studio albums: Time (2013), Another Country (2015), and Blood Red Roses (2018). Their long-running collaboration began in 1978 when Stewart invited Savigar to join his studio and touring band.
The album’s title track is a ballad written by Marc Jordan. Stewart has recorded other songs written by Jordan over the years, including “Rhythm Of My Heart” (#5 U.S./#3 U.K.) from Vagabond Heart and “This” from his gold-certified album, A Spanner in the Works.
Listen to the title track from The Tears of Hercules
Watch the video for the joyful track, “One More Time,” first released on Sept. 16
Additional covers include Stewart’s take on Soul Brother Six’s “Some Kind Of Wonderful,” and a rendition of Johnny Cash’s “These Are My People.”
The two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee will play some of the new songs live in 2022 during his tour of North America, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand. Tickets to see Stewart are available here and here.
Watch the video for “I Can’t Imagine,” released on Nov. 5
Stewart, who turned 76 on Jan. 10, 2021, is one of the best-selling artists in the history of recorded music, with an estimated 250 million records and singles sold worldwide. His signature voice, style, and songwriting have transcended all genres of popular music, from rock, folk, soul, R&B, and even the Great American Songbook; making him one of the few stars to enjoy chart-topping albums throughout every decade of his career. He’s earned many of the industry’s highest awards, among them, two inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the ASCAP Founders Award for songwriting, and the Grammy™ Living Legend. In 2016 he officially became Sir Rod Stewart after being knighted at Buckingham Palace for his services to music and charity.
The Tears of Hercules Track Listing
1. “One More Time”
2. “Gabriella”
3. “All My Days”
4. “Some Kind Of Wonderful”
5. “Born To Boogie (A Tribute To Mark Bolan)”
6. “Kookooaramabama”
7. “I Can’t Imagine”
8. “The Tears Of Hercules”
9. “Hold On”
10. “Precious Memories”
11. “These Are My People”
12. “Touchline”
Listen to “Hold On”
1 Comment so far
Jump into a conversationAs it’s been awhile, so I guess Rod figured it would be OK to take a page out of Robert Palmer’s playbook for his newest video. Hey, it worked big for Palmer, so what the ‘ell, eh?
It’s kind of hard to believe that Stewart is “one of the best-selling artists in the history of recorded music,” as, in my opinion, his musical career has been kind of all over the place. I guess that’s what’s worked for him, but for most recording artists, inconsistency in the music they make tends to alienate their fans. I know Stewart couldn’t stay the same guy he was with the Faces, and early solo work (even though he didn’t mind keeping the same hair), but so much of his later work just seems shallow and lacks substance, to the point where he lost me as a fan long ago. It doesn’t help that he’s continued to be a bit of a fop, while making music over the years that, apparently, concerned itself, primarily, with being radio friendly pap, as opposed to holding up the quality of the rock legacies with which he started his career.