Rod Stewart: Never A Dull Moment

WELL, IT TOOK AWHILE, but Rod Stewart is back again with his fourth straight formula solo album. He's rounded up roughly the same crew of musical cohorts and deployed them in the same general fashion, and the result, like his three previous efforts, is a superb album. Only the songs have been changed, to protect the inner sense of individual integrity amongst the albums; but, actually, that's all you need. The Stewart formula is broad-based enough to allow for widely varied species of old folk tunes, blues and funk numbers, hard rockers, and the melodic 'Maggie May' mainstream; the instrumentalists have it all down, Rod himself stands ready to apply the smooth sandpaper finish, and all that's required for another ace album is a new set of dynamics -- and on Never A Dull Moment there's no letdown in this department.