With 'Time,' rocking Rod Stewart finds contentment

Rod Stewart may be back to writing original material after more than a decade of recording standards, but he's still a long way from Gasoline Alley or even A Night on the Town.

Much of his new album, Time (* * * out of four), out Tuesday, finds him settling into a life of content moderation — he even sings of watching his waistline on She Makes Me Happy — but the title track and It's Over bring pangs of heartbreak.

Elsewhere, he makes nods to familiar styles: the guitar-laced rock 'n' soul of Finest Woman, the disco grooves of Sexual Religion.

Sometimes it's hard to tell whether he's addressing his audience or an old lover, though perhaps, at this stage of his career, it's the same thing.

Download: Picture in a Frame, It's Over, Pure Love