<span class="s1"><strong>Rod Stewart<br/> </strong></span>Time<br/> (Decca)<span class="s2"><br/> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><strong><span class="s3"> ????</span></strong></span> For fans of Rod Stewart's raunchy, early 1970s output with the band Faces, the five-album <em>Great American Songbook </em>series he released between 2002 and 2010 was sometimes a difficult task. You had to admire his interpretational skills as he covered songs by Porter, Berlin and The Gershwins, but where was the edge, the appetite for something other than a soft shoe shuffle? And where, come to that, was his muse? Happily, writing last year's memoir <em>Rod: The Autobiography</em>, seems to have blown away some cobwebs. <em>Time </em>is a surprisingly candid record showcasing Stewart's first self-wrote songs in 20 years – and rather good they are, too. Though <em>Live the Life</em>, offering words of wisdom to his son Liam, borrows heavily from Rod's 1970 classic <em>Maggie May</em> and the 80s-sounding floor-filler <em>Sexual Religion </em>conjures Rod in leopard-skin leggings, his voice remains a classy and unique instrument and there are some indelible melodies here. It's the singer's willingness to parse difficult subjects (<em>It's Over </em>tackles divorce; <em>Brighton Beach </em>concerns the ill-starred love affair that led to the birth of his first daughter) that makes <em>Time </em>compelling. Follow us Follow us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thenationalArtsandLife">Facebook</a> for discussions, entertainment, reviews, wellness and news.