When it comes to the deployment of the ultimate rock vocal, that indefinable sand, glue, honey, whisky, grit ân’ gravel cocktail that speaks of a life well-lived and more than a few hearts broken, thereâs no one quite like Rod Stewart.
Following a formative apprenticeship on Londonâs RânâB scene and fronting The Jeff Beck Group, Stewart enjoyed a concurrent success with the Faces as his solo career exploded in 1971, when his pivotal third album, Every Picture Tells A Story, and its attendant Maggie May single, simultaneously topped charts on both sides of the Atlantic.
He went on to dabble in everything from disco to the Great American songbook, bagging a knighthood in the process, and now he’s finally beginning to wind down, with a farewell tour announced for 2027. But these are the six essential Rod Stewart solo albums.


An Old Raincoat Wonât Ever Let You Down (Vertigo/Mercury/Fontana, 1969)
Rodâs solo account opens with an absolutely belting version of Mick Jagger and Keith Richardsâ Street Fighting Man. How good was it? Well, that guitarist Ronnie Wood and keyboard player Ian McLagan both ended up playing with the Rolling Stones certainly speaks in its favour.
Elsewhere on the record (originally released in the US as The Rod Stewart Album) a definitive take on Mike DâAboâs Handbags And Gladrags reveals Stewartâs unerring ability to inhabit even the most personal lyric and unerringly make it his own, while its gloriously chaotic title track is a full-tilt Faces carouse in all but name.

Gasoline Alley (Mercury/Vertigo, 1970)
Its opening title track, and sole Stewart/Wood-credited composition, shines brightest on a second album (recorded directly in the wake of the Facesâ First Step debut) that again captures Stewartâs remarkable way with a cover.
Both Rod originals Lady Day and Joâs Lament reveal a wild-hearted, wistful, romantic folkie at heart, but where he truly makes his mark is on spirited versions of Eddie Cochranâs Cut Across Shorty (latterly a Faces live favourite), Little Richardâs Youâre My Girl (I Donât Want To Discuss It) and, the albumâs only single, Bobby and Shirley Womackâs (irrevocably Rolling Stones-associated) Itâs All Over Now.

Every Picture Tells A Story (Mercury, 1971)
This is where it all came together, Ladâs rockâs ground zero. The all-conquering album that proved beyond doubt you didnât have to be a denimed-down Laurel Canyon nepo posho to be a singer-songwriter, you could be a geezer, a swordsman, an itinerant, footie-literate, hedge-backwards boozer of no fixed hairstyle.
From a wildly un-PC, Maggie Bell-soaked title dust-up, to an entirely sublime reading of Tim Hardinâs Reason To Believe, via a full-throated assault on The Temptations (I Know) Iâm Losing You, a blissful Mandolin Wind and an utterly unassailable Maggie May, this end-to-end seventies essential represents Rod The Mod in excelsis.

Never A Dull Moment (Mercury, 1972)
Not exactly a clone of Every Picture⊠save to say this chart-topping follow-up owes much to its esteemed predecessor in terms of pacing and mood.
From the glorious wheel-spinning Stewart/Wood opener True Blue to a seemingly off-the-cuff clatter through (Rod blueprint) Sam Cookeâs Twistinâ The Night Away by way of joy-filled finale, Never A Dull Moment captures a fame-glazed (check the cover) Rod operating at the peak of his powers. Lost Paraguayos is as irresistible as itâs incorrigible and Italian Girls almost more Stones than even the Stones. And then thereâs You Wear It Well. A stone cold classic.

Following the introductory arfs of a barking dog, Ronnie Wood riffs out a feral, off-the-leash version of Chuck Berryâs Sweet Little Rock âNâ Roller that – with hindsight – only seems to scream âPlease may I be in The Rolling Stones now?â.
Smiler marks the end of an era. Without the grounding presence and influence of the Faces, Rod Stewart would never make records that sounded quite so much like an impromptu after-hours lock-in had broken out in the studio again. Smilerâs a customarily overlooked album, but Stewart/Wood swansong Sailor is magnificent, and Sam Cookeâs You Send Me, a complete joy.

A Night On The Town (Riva/Warner Bros, 1976)
Following his first post-Faces collaboration with Tom Dowd (Atlantic Crossing) where Stewart got to enjoy his own Mull Of Kintyre moment with the ultimately wearing, if inescapable, ocean-going strains of Sailing, A Night On The Town not only features the questionable charms of Britt Eklund-encumbered defloration ditty Tonightâs The Night (Gonna Be Alright), but also the brave-for-its-time The Killing Of Georgie (Parts I And II).
An accomplished six-minute plus track, âŠGeorgie (also a hit single) recounts the true story of a gay Faces associate killed for no other reason than his sexuality. Meanwhile Rod original The Balltrap rocks like a dry-run for Hot Legs.

