Track Listing

1. Rhythm Of My Heart
2. Rebel Heart
3. Broken Arrow
4. It Takes Two
5. When A Man's In Love
6. You Are Everything
7. Motown Song
8. Go Out Dancing
9. No Holding Back
10. Have I Told You Lately That I Love You
11. Moment Of Glory
12. Downtown Train
13. If Only

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11627 in Music
• Released on: 1991-03-25
• Number of discs: 1

CD Description
When Rod Stewart released his eighteenth album VAGABOND HEART, he'd hit a few milestones in his personal life. In addition to getting hitched to model Rachel Hunter, Stewart was faced with the passing of his father. The choice of material on this record found Rod the Mod looking back at his life and career through the power of song. The bagpipes on the drinking-song ambiance of "Rhythm Of My Heart" was an obvious nod to his Scottish heritage, and the cheeriness of "The Motown Song" found Stewart harmonising (appropriately enough) with the Temptations, expressing his fondness for the R&B of his youth.
Covers of Robbie Robertson's "Broken Arrow", VanMorrison's "Have I Told You Lately" and the Philly soul ballad "You Are Everything" gave the normally ribald singer a chance to express his sentimental side, no doubt prompted by his recent marriage. In going back to the past, Stewart madea wise choice in getting Tina Turner to play Tammy Terrell to his Marvin Gaye, as the two go toe-to-toe in an extremelyfun reading of "It Takes Two".

Customer Reviews

Rod Stewart regaining his strenght
It doesn't come close to the magnificent "Every Picture Tells A Story", but compared to Rod Stewart's awful 80s output, "Vagabond Heart" is actually a pretty strong and quite diverse album.

The production is a bit slick, but Stewart's performance is soulful and sincere, and "Vagabond Heart" includes a great cover of Runrig's "Rhythm Of My Heart", a couple of very good originals ("Rebel Heart", "When A Man's In Love"), the radio-friendly duet with Tina Turner, "It Takes Two", a fine rendition of Van Morrison's beautiful ballad "Have I Told You Lately", and a swinging rendition of Larry John McNally's "The Motown Song".

"Vagabond Heart" is quite heavily influenced by soul music (and less by disco, fortunately), and even though it contains a lot of "filler", there are also several really good songs here.
Worth picking up for Rod Stewart-fans (unless they're only fans of his disco-period in the 80s).
3 1/2 stars.

Moments of glory
Vagabond Heart kicks off with the beautifully crafted (if nothing else) Rhythm Of My Heart. Then it's remember-my-past-glory time with a bone thrown to the fans in the form of Rebel Heart which is reminiscent of the rocking Rod we know. There are some gems though, like It Takes Two, a duet with Tina Turner. Sadly Rod is outclassed by Tina. Moment Of Glory is another, but again the outstanding element of this track is the gospel-like backing vocals of Angela Winbush. Full credit goes to Rod on You Are Everything, a moving ballad about lost love that allows the true beauty of his voice to shine through, because for once the overbearing sentimentality seems apt.

A truly incredible musical experience
I simply had to have a copy of Vagabond Heart when I heard Rhythm of My Heart on my radio at university. I expected the rest of the album to disappoint in comparison with the first track but I have been pleasantly surprised. If like me, a hopeless romantic, you dream of a man who can not only express his emotions but put them (successfully) to music then this is the album for you. In fact I would recommend buying it simply so you can put Rhythm of My Heart on Repeat.