Year of the Cat is a nice record and all, but as Gerald says Past Present & Future is his masterpiece, closely followed by the follow-up Modern Times. After that he got signed to RCA, put out YotC and it was soft rock FM-land from then on, a few later killer tracks notwithstanding.
A few years ago I ran an Al Stewart albums poll here which garnered all of one vote, my own.
― heaven parker (anagram), Friday, 4 August 2017 09:24 (six years ago) link
listening to PP&F now does indeed sound great
do love that FM land of soft rock though...
I considered posting to your poll thread but ultimately found it too sad
― niels, Friday, 4 August 2017 11:01 (six years ago) link
past present & future, modern times, year of the cat, time passages are all underappreciated classics imo. haven't really ventured further forward than that in his catalog though
― ciderpress, Friday, 4 August 2017 14:33 (six years ago) link
Russians & Americans is probably the strongest one after that, but they all have a mixture of killer and filler on them. There's a v strong compilation to be made from those later records.
― heaven parker (anagram), Friday, 4 August 2017 14:36 (six years ago) link
Go backwards!
― cwkiii, Friday, 4 August 2017 15:07 (six years ago) link
Seriously, all of the albums before Past, Present & Future are so good.
― cwkiii, Friday, 4 August 2017 15:08 (six years ago) link
i've heard all the early ones already they're good too
― ciderpress, Friday, 4 August 2017 15:09 (six years ago) link
I know what you mean, niels i.e. Lennon's voice. It's the aspect that makes you want to stick out your chin a little if you try an impersonation.
― pplains, Friday, 4 August 2017 18:17 (six years ago) link
If someone wants to cherry pick the best tracks, I'd love a list!
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Friday, 4 August 2017 19:06 (six years ago) link
I'd say the strongest albums that followed Time Passages were 24 Carrots and Last Days of the Century. The latter has a late-80s sheen but the songs are great, esp the title cut, Fields of France, Where Are They Now and Antarctica. Russians & Americans was disappointing to me after 24C.
― doug watson, Friday, 4 August 2017 19:38 (six years ago) link
My father-in-law is a hardcore Al Stewart fan. Has seen him live dozens of times, brings him up in conversation regularly, and would not hesitate to say he never made a less-than-great album. I will try to hit him up for a post-Time Passages playlist.
― cwkiii, Saturday, 5 August 2017 01:29 (six years ago) link
Or, you know, you could just ask me, what with me also being a hardcore Al Stewart fan who has seen him live dozens of times.
My post-Time Passages playlist would be:
From 24 P/Carrots:
Murmansk Run/Ellis IslandRunning ManMerlin's Time Rocks in the Ocean
From Russians & Americans:
Accident on 3rd StreetRussians & Americans
From Last Days of the Century:
Fields of France Antarctica
From Famous Last Words:
Trains Feel Like
From Between the Wars:
Three Mules League of Notions
From Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time:
Coldest Winter in Memory (one of his greatest songs ever, yet it languishes on an outtakes compilation)
― heaven parker (anagram), Saturday, 5 August 2017 07:34 (six years ago) link
From Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time:Coldest Winter in Memory (one of his greatest songs ever, yet it languishes on an outtakes compilation)
No arguments here. This one is fantastic.
― doug watson, Saturday, 5 August 2017 14:33 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR4-CvASpkI
I already recommended this song upthread but with the recent requests for suggestions, it bears repeating.
― doug watson, Saturday, 5 August 2017 14:40 (six years ago) link
Cool! I think there will be a lot of overlap between his playlist and yours (asked him about it tonight before I saw your post), but I'll post it anyway when he gets it to me.
I remember really enjoying A Beach Full of Shells when it first came out but haven't listened to it in years.
― cwkiii, Sunday, 6 August 2017 02:57 (six years ago) link
1) I have heard "Year of the Cat" on my favorite radio station (87.7 MeTV radio!) and have enjoyed it but never knew who was singing because they rarely say (I know you can check the website but I don't look at the internet in the shower or while I am driving and I always forget to look it up) 2) Thanks to this thread I knew it is Al Stewart3) The radio also tells me that Al Stewart is touring with the band America
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Sunday, 6 August 2017 16:19 (six years ago) link
here's what i don't know -- is there some connection between Al Stewart and the band America?
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Sunday, 6 August 2017 16:20 (six years ago) link
Al Stewart is English, which wouldn't necessarily preclude him from being somehow associate with America, but, no, I don't think they have any sort of history with each other.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Sunday, 6 August 2017 17:24 (six years ago) link
Oof, my bad. He's actually a Scotsman.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Sunday, 6 August 2017 17:34 (six years ago) link
he sounds kinda like robyn hitchcock
even if i watched this on mute i would have bet for sure he was from somewhere in the UKhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckthyI3UQbI
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Sunday, 6 August 2017 19:28 (six years ago) link
here he is in 2014 -- he still sounds good imo!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMZ9gEPgI9o
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Sunday, 6 August 2017 19:32 (six years ago) link
I know what you mean, niels i.e. Lennon's voice. It's the aspect that makes you want to stick out your chin a little if you try an impersonation.hehe, exactly
America and Al Stewart have the soft rock FM radio thing in common?
he's also playing the... Moody Blues Cruise aka Moodies Cruise http://moodiescruise.com/
― niels, Sunday, 6 August 2017 21:22 (six years ago) link
had no idea how deep this dude's catalog is. been listening on spotify all afternoon.
― constitutional crises they fly at u face (will), Sunday, 6 August 2017 21:43 (six years ago) link
i saw al stewart live last year, he's wonderful
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Sunday, 6 August 2017 23:27 (six years ago) link
Every time I've seen him he has been great, but it's almost always in a duo with this dude Dave Nachmanoff who probably Googles himself so I won't say anything else about him. He's been sporadically getting together with a backing band called The Empty Pockets and playing Year of the Cat in its entirety. I just found out last night that they're finally coming within driving distance in October, so I'm extremely excited for that.
― cwkiii, Sunday, 6 August 2017 23:31 (six years ago) link
this dude Dave Nachmanoff
that dude is extremely endearingly lame
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Sunday, 6 August 2017 23:41 (six years ago) link
oh wait lol i am definitely thinking of someone else
(sorry dave if you googled yourself)
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Sunday, 6 August 2017 23:42 (six years ago) link
xp are you sure? endearingly lame is super otm.
― cwkiii, Monday, 7 August 2017 00:03 (six years ago) link
(also sorry dave)
― cwkiii, Monday, 7 August 2017 00:04 (six years ago) link
someone praised him in the comments to the 2014 video! called him "fabulous"
America and Al Stewart have the soft rock FM radio thing in common?i already know this, wondered if there was something else i was missing
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Monday, 7 August 2017 01:36 (six years ago) link
Uh, who are musicians from the UK who later relocated to California?
― doug watson, Monday, 7 August 2017 01:44 (six years ago) link
Artists with animals in the title of their biggest hit?
― pplains, Monday, 7 August 2017 01:46 (six years ago) link
Artists filed under "A" by record store clerks of less than average intelligence?
― doug watson, Monday, 7 August 2017 01:52 (six years ago) link
An Al Stewart listening thread might be esoteric but could also be fun someday.
― Eazy, Monday, 7 August 2017 03:02 (six years ago) link
i recommend just listening to 'apple cider reconstitution' 1000 times like i have
― ciderpress, Monday, 7 August 2017 03:18 (six years ago) link
I love that song
― harbinger of failure (Jon not Jon), Monday, 7 August 2017 11:30 (six years ago) link
― pplains, Sunday, August 6, 2017 8:46 PM (yesterday) Bookmark
i think we have a winner
there are a surprising number of these oldies tours in 2017
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Monday, 7 August 2017 12:41 (six years ago) link
Btw LL I never thought about a voice timbre kinship between Stewart and robyn but there is something there. They are both double reeds but RH has more croak; if Al is an oboe robyn is a cor anglais
The big resemblance for me is al stewart/singer from pet shop boys. When west end girls first came out I was like wait what is happening?
Also I had completely forgotten about the al Stewart single Midnight Rocks even though, as a denizen of the K-Tel album Full Tilt, I must have listened to it a hundred times. Great verse melody.
― harbinger of failure (Jon not Jon), Monday, 7 August 2017 13:28 (six years ago) link
Ha! Totally hear that.
― pplains, Monday, 7 August 2017 13:36 (six years ago) link
for some reason he also reminded me of this guy and this song (tom newman- sad sing) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYMWPD51XKE
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Monday, 7 August 2017 13:59 (six years ago) link
Tennant got many Al Stewart comparisons in 1986, not always flatteringly.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 7 August 2017 16:39 (six years ago) link
― ciderpress, Sunday, August 6, 2017 11:18 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― harbinger of failure (Jon not Jon), Monday, August 7, 2017 7:30 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Yes, if you could only save on Al Stewart song in a fire, that's the one.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Monday, 7 August 2017 21:21 (six years ago) link
I might go for "In Brooklyn"
― by the light of the burning Citroën, Monday, 7 August 2017 21:46 (six years ago) link
heard this song this morning while getting my coffee in London, always a good way to begin a morning.
― akm, Tuesday, 8 August 2017 11:19 (six years ago) link
Grew up in England, hence the accent.
― weird echo of the falsies (Tom D.), Tuesday, 8 August 2017 11:52 (six years ago) link
But, yes, Bert Jansch, Donovan, John Martyn, Al Stewart, there was a lot of them bumping around in Soho coffee houses at the same time.
― weird echo of the falsies (Tom D.), Tuesday, 8 August 2017 11:59 (six years ago) link
Just found this, feel like I've been looking for this album for years without knowing it. I just walked into an apartment in North Beach in 1982 with a bunch of hanging plants, a Ganesha on the end table, smoking a gentle spliff and laughing about our plans to start a cult focused on good sushi and regular naps.
― lukas, Wednesday, 31 March 2021 20:30 (three years ago) link
Thought the revive would be about the reissue box set that has just come out, remastered by Alan Parsons, 5.1 mix etc.
― joni mitchell jarre (anagram), Wednesday, 31 March 2021 20:31 (three years ago) link
They're not gonna release a remastered vinyl, really?
― lukas, Wednesday, 31 March 2021 22:59 (three years ago) link