Many have long found it difficult to take Rod Stewart seriously. However, once we get past the awkward stuff--leopard-skin leggings, bum-wiggling stage schticks, and a hairstyle unseemly for a man of his age--there remains the undeniable fact that the Caledonian Cockney is responsible for some of the greatest recordings ever made. Again and again, the combination of his heartwracked songs and gravelly, sensitive vocal delivery have conjured sonic magic. The bulk of Stewart's classic recordings were made in the 1970s. His string of albums for the Mercury label across the first half of that decade sent critics into raptures. His 1971 album Every Picture Tells a Story is considered by some of them to literally be the best album of all time. Said semi-decade also saw Stewart front the Faces, whose often likeably ramshackle albums gave his fans a double dose of their idol each year. On top of this are solo-Stewart classics that are neglected because he released them after a point where his