Storyteller - the Complete Anthology: 1964-1990 [Box set, Import]

Okay, it isn't especially cheap. And it's another honker of a box-set. But this one also tells Rod's story very well, drawing on material from the various stages of his career. (Not much in the way of obscure rarities, however.) I don't know if it's now done in a "cost-reduced" form, like the "Beckology" set, but my (secondhand) copy comes in an LP-size box with a huge booklet. Some of the older material has an iffy sound quality, but that's hardly surprising. Doubtless it would benefit from being freshened up.

The first cd starts off with five early recordings, before moving on to three really excellent Jeff Beck Group selections. Up next are the non-album oddity "In A Broken Dream", followed by "Street Fighting Man" and "Handbags & Gladrags" from Rod's first solo album. "Gasoline Alley" is represented by four tracks, with things brought to a close with "Sweet Lady Mary" and "Had Me A Real Good Time" by the Faces. The second cd features a generous selection from "Every Picture Tells A Story", including five of the eight tracks. Then it's back to the Faces for "Stay With Me", before a whopping chunk of "Never A Dull Moment". The less-than-essential "Smiler" album provides two tracks, and the Faces' "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything" closes the second disc.

From here on, the collection does become a bit patchier. Rod had, arguably, passed his creative peak but was about to enjoy bigger commercial success. The third cd takes material from those albums recorded after his relocation to the USA. "Atlantic Crossing" yields three cuts, including the inevitable "Sailing". Then comes a relative rarity, in the shape of "To Love Somebody". This is a collaboration with Booker T & The MG's, whose members helped out on his first two American albums. Up next are the best-known tracks from "A Night On The Town", his decent cover of "Get Back" and three cuts from "Footloose And Fancy Free". Unfortunately, we're given the cringe-inducing "You're In My Heart" rather than the excellent covers of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" or "If Loving You Is Wrong....". But that's kinda understandable. Much like the inclusion of "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?". This was always a good bit of fun, however, in spite of its lascivious lyrical content.

Thereafter, just about all of us would agree that Rod's albums become distinctly hit and miss. The remainder of this box-set manages to be a decent trawl through this period, including all the stuff you'd probably expect. Some of the tracks are okay ("What Am I Gonna Do?", "Love Touch", "Forever Young") and some even very good ("My Heart Can't Tell Me No", "People Get Ready", "This Old Heart Of Mine" and "Downtown Train"). But the quality does, inevitably, dip quite markedly.

Even so, this remains a pleasing retrospective of Rod Stewart's career, up to 1990. A few more Faces tracks and a bit less of his eighties output would have been appreciated. As we all know, however, it's extremely rare for ANY four-cd box set to maintain the highest quality all the way through to the end.

PS. New copies of this are, indeed, done in a compact, book-sized, cost-reduced form.
PPS. And now available in a truly mega cost-optimised form. Just bought a back-up copy because it was so darned cheap.

storyteller is great value not long ago the long box version cost over £40.
i believe that the contents are the same apart from a smaller booklet.
which has rod's notes on every track that are very interesting.
i would have preferred to pay a few pounds more for a modern book pack.
many of the songs are the full length album versions.
some of the biggest hits were double a sides these are all included.
no b sides are here but many were just album tracks.
the music is a great overview of his career up to 1990.
there was not much very exciting after that apart from tom traubert's blues.
rod stewarts solo albums up to 1980 and all of the faces albums are well worth having.
these should be reissued as mini cd album collections.
the later ones were quite patchy and he has only released the 5 volume american songbook in recent years.
there are a multitude of greatest hits albums that are all now redundant.
if you love good music buy this and relive rod the mod's glory years!
Storyteller

Rod Stewart recorded some incredible work during the 1960s & 1970s, this collection covers many of the highlights from those decades and also the 80s and 90s work.
The Jeff Beck group is fairly well covered, The Faces only includes a few tracks which is the biggest disappointment, his solo work in the 1970s was his strongest and thankfully is very well covered here in this collection.
There is no really rare or unreleased stuff, just the hits and classics, a good set for the price for sure.