ROD STEWART : UNPLUGGED ... AND SEATED

  1. Hot Legs
  2. Tonight's The Night
  3. Handbags And Gladrags
  4. Cut Across Shorty
  5. Every Picture Tells A Story
  6. Maggie May
  7. Reason To Believe
  8. People Get Ready
  9. Have I Told You Lately
  10. Tom Traubert's Blues (Waltzing Matilda)
  11. The First Cut Is The Deepest
  12. Mandolin Wind
  13. Highgate Shuffle
  14. Stay With Me
  15. Having A Party

Label : Warner Bros. Records

Venue : Universal Studios, Los Angeles, California, USA

Recording Date : February 5, 1993

Release Date : May 24, 1993

Length : 70:04

Review (AllMusic) : Eric Clapton's Unplugged turned the MTV series into a pop culture phenomenon, one that was especially appealing to veteran rockers because all they had to do was dust off their old hits and give them a nice, relaxed reading - the perfect re-imagining for middle-aged rock stars. Rod Stewart leaped at the opportunity and, in many ways, he seemed even better suited for the gig than Clapton as much of his '70s prime prominently featured acoustic guitars, including "Maggie May" and "Every Picture Tells a Story." Stewart upped the ante by reuniting with his old friend and Faces bandmate Ron Wood, giving Unplugged...and Seated the appearance of an event...an appearance that was entirely intentional. That Unplugged...and Seated falls well short of actually being an event is a disappointment but also inevitable. Where Clapton's Unplugged was a natural phenomenon, a blockbuster delivered with no preconceived notions, Unplugged...and Seated is designed as a hits revue, playing upon nostalgia while delivering mellow sounds for middle age. This is no bad thing, necessarily, particularly when the song selection is so strong - all the big hits from that early-'70s golden age, plus Rod's recent cover of Van Morrison's "Have I Told You Lately," Tom Waits' "Tom Traubert's Blues," and a reworked version of the folk standard "Highgate Shuffle" thrown in for good measure - and the chemistry between Stewart and Wood is still so cheerful. Occasionally, this frivolity is a wee bit forced but that's not quite as big of a problem as the punchy, professional production; these are ultimately nothing more than mild signs of road wear on a record that's a nice night out with the boys, nothing more, nothing less.

Review (Wikipedia) : Unplugged...and Seated is a live album released by British musician Rod Stewart on 24 May 1993. It is Stewart's second live album and his first (and only) appearance on MTV Unplugged. The album was released by Warner Bros. Records (WEA 9362-45289-1/2). The unplugged versions of "Have I Told You Lately" by Van Morrison, "Reason to Believe", "Having a Party", and "People Get Ready" were released as singles, with "Have I Told You Lately" and "Having a Party" reaching success as singles. A special collector's edition was released in March 2009 on Rhino Records. This two-disc package included the DVD of the MTV performance with 13 songs while the CD contained 17 tracks including two songs ("Gasoline Alley" and "Forever Young") not on the original 1993 release. The album was recorded on 5 February 1993 at Universal Studios, Los Angeles as part of MTV's Unplugged series. The event aired on television on 5 May of the same year. Unplugged finds Stewart reunited, for the first time in nearly twenty years, with Ronnie Wood, a fellow Faces band member. Stewart performs some of the classics from his repertoire such as "Tonight's the Night" and "Maggie May", but also adds some new material such as "Having a Party" and "Highgate Shuffle". The album title comes from a joke Stewart made during the taping about "Stay With Me" being difficult to perform while sitting down. Six songs were taped but not included on the subsequent album release, though "It's All Over Now" was included as the B-side to the single for "Reason to Believe".