Drastically different from his later efforts, "Every Picture Tells a Story" is essentially Rod Stewart's masterpiece. Toting the monstorous hit "Maggie May," Rod Stewart's career shot into overdrive after this album was released and eventually sent him spiraling into superstardom; it was this stardom that changed his music (for the worst) forever. Here, however, he's at the top of his game.

It opens up with the folk-rock of the title track. Stewart proves right off the bat that he can rock without any electricity, as he and his band (and they are a BIG part of it) belt out this rocker with only acoustic instruments.
This formula was present in his first two brilliant albums, and it's even more refined here.

The rest of the album follows suit as Stewart delivers the srtaight-forward folk of Dylan's "Tomorrow is a Long Time," the hard rocking "That's All Right" and "I Know (I'm Losing You)," and of course two of his own folk-rock masterpieces: "Maggie May" and "Mandolin Wind," the latter two being some of the best blends of folk and rock in the 70's and to this day for that matter. Stewart's use of mandolin in his music is an authentically masterful touch, and his frequent use of the violin adds a delicate touch to his soft compositions.

To say the least, it's the best folk-rock album of the 70's and ranks as one of the best ever. It really is hard to believe that the writer of "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" could possibly write something as delicately beautiful as "Mandolin Wind," but I'm not complaining. Rod Stewart managed to be brilliant back in the day, even if he preferred to sing about "Hot Legs" later in his career.

When Rod Stewart released his third solo album in 1971, he was still a full-time member of the Faces. [In fact, Ron Wood plays on all tracks and Ian McLagan also provides organ on a few tracks.] EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY is arguably the best album of Stewart's entire career. There is not a weak track to be found. The three Stewart originals are superb. The title track (co-written with Wood) rocks as hard as anything he did with the Faces. "Maggie May" (co-written with guitarist Martin Quinttenton) was Stewart's breakthrough hit. "Mandolin Wind" showed that Stewart had not completely abondoned his folk roots.

Rounding out the album are five well chosen covers. From Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right" to Bob Dylan's "Tomorrow is Such a Long Time" (with its "Amazing Grace" intro) and Tim Hardin's "Reason to Believe," Stewart's too-much-whiskey-and-cigarettes voice add a warmth and depth to these songs. And his cover of the Temptation's "I Know I'm Losing You," powered by Mick Waller's drumming, shows his affinity for soul music.

If all you know of Rod Stewart are his hits--and he's had plenty--you've only been exposed to one facet of this gifted artist. This album belongs in any serious music fan's collection. ESSENTIAL

Thank God I didn't grew up with this kind of music. Today we have cool stars like Britney Spears and 50 Cent not goofy looking hippies that came crawling from under a rock! And you can tell by the music that they hadn't a clue about what they were doing back then, nowadays only professionals do music like Sean Paul with Dutty Rock and P Diddy. This is a part of the music history that will be forgotten sooner or later. Hopefully sooner!