Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart - When We Were the New Boys (Warner Bros) Rod Stewart should have heeded the warning signals years ago, slipped quietly into semi-retirement and opened a corner shop. That way he would have avoided embarrassing nonsense like this: a crooner demeaning himself by warbling to songs by rockers of a younger generation.

The sleeve notes, condescendingly, have our Rod being impressed by, and deigning to cover, songs from the likes of Primal Scream.

The idea, apparently, was that Rod would revisit his youth by calling on some new, young songwriters and sprinkling magic fairy dust over their work, not that they needed it.

This has led to a catastrophe of an opening track: the Oasis standard Cigarettes and Alcohol.

Songwriter Noel Gallagher should have refused permission for Stewart to record it, and saved him from himself. Unless the intention was to make him look foolish.

Hearing ludicrously wealthy Stewart sing a young man's song about unemployment and alienation driving him to 'do the white line' is obscene.

Mercifully, he doesn't try to imitate Liam Gallagher's Manchester twang, although the song still sounds off-key. Thanks Rod, but no thanks.