Entertainment Scene
by Lloyd Carroll
Queens’s Chronicle Correspondent
January 06, 2005
Rod Stewart
“Stardust” (The Great American Songbook, Volume III) (J)
Rod Stewart has been at this standards game for a few years now and he has recently released his third “Great American Songbook” album. Stewart’s hoarse voice has always been an acquired taste and listening to him sing in front of a big band is not for the faint of heart. He comes off on this CD as a slightly more polished version of “American Idol” mascot William Hung judging by his awful renditions of “For Sentimental Reasons” and “What A Wonderful World.” The lone trumph is his duet with Bette Midler on the Rogers & Hart ode to the Big Apple, “Manhattan.” It’s too bad that Midler couldn’t be on every track to throw Rod a much-needed life preserver.
