Ultimate Hits vinyl

Rod Stewart's voice has always sounded like it's just crawled out of a Soho bar fight - gravelly, charming and faintly ridiculous. But somehow, it still gets you. This new compilation, spanning everything from his 70s bar-room soul to recent swing experiments, is a reminder of just how strange and compelling his career has been. Few singers could convincingly move from 'Maggie May' to 'Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?' to 'Rhythm of My Heart' without seeming like a novelty act. Fewer still could make it all hang together with any sense of emotional truth. Born in London and once a failed footballer, Stewart turned rascal energy into stadium-filling charisma. The early material - with Python Lee Jackson, with the Faces, or solo - still feels beautifully tossed-off, full of unfiltered ache. Later tracks lean into gloss and schmaltz, sometimes to great effect and sometimes less so. But taken as a whole, this is a portrait of a singer who never quite gave up on the idea that pop music could be both daft and devastating. It's not cool, and it's not trying to be. That's the charm. If you're not moved by something here, you're either too young or trying far too hard.