HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE RAIN -
Rod Stewart blessedly has issued a cease-fire on his desecration of the Great American Songbook, but a peak into his “Great Rock Classics of Our Time,” due October 10, is nearly as distasteful. Granted, the Creedence Clearwater Revival classic “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” is better suited to his rasping, ragged vocals, but even so, Stewart’s reading of the song is irritating and moth-bitten-barren of feeling, passion or anything unique to make it worthwhile (in spite of producer John Shanks’ exceptional organic instrumental groove). While Barry Manilow added a convincing kitsch to “The Greatest Songs of the Fifties,” also Clive Davis-driven, this effort smacks of pure commerce, lacking inspiration or reason. AC radio will play this, but Stewart’s resume grows increasingly insipid. Billboard
