This is the “raw” Rod Stewart. Before his pop hits. Before his move to Los Angeles. Before the dip into disco. When he was still “Rod the Mod,” having just left the Jeff Beck Group, and, with Ron Wood, begun a new group as the Faces, and still with enough time to kickstart a solo career. With Wood on guitar and his own incredible natural wonder of a voice, Rod Stewart held nothing back on this eight-song solo debut. His choice of covers is impeccable and well suited to his sandpaper rasp. And the band is simply relentless, the drums pounding, the acoustic guitars often more urgent than the electrics, and the keyboards tinkling as if performing in a bar filled with rowdy applause. The Rolling Stones’ “Street Fighting Man” shudders with conviction. Mike d’Abo’s “Handbags and Gladrags” delivers a strong sense of self-reliance. “Man Of Constant Sorrow” is taken from its folk roots and turned into a rock epic. Stewart’s own tunes equally impress. “Blind Prayer” is practically heavy metal with brooding blues. “An Old Raincoat Won’t Ever Let You Down” demands a honky-tonk stomp. “I Wouldn’t Change a Thing” sends the organ into overdrive. And “Cindy’s Lament” is pure rock drama. A classic.