SGR

Okay, reviewing Al Stewart's Time Passages:

The songwriting on this album is just great. I haven’t really attempted to make heads or tails of the lyrics, but damn does it work - he could really be singing about his favorite crayon colors for all I care. Al Stewart has a great voice. This sounds to me somewhat like a Bowie album in the best ways. The one two three punch of the album’s opening track and the two succeeding tracks work wonderfully to capture the listener’s interest, all displaying a different approach and sound. And the album continues in that vein. I’ve listened to it nearly three times thus far and it seems to get better with every listen, each pop hook slowly revealing itself, as the album unfolds. The mark of any great album is that you continue to be entertained with more listens and this is the case here - everything just seems so well crafted. The production on this thing is stellar - as an album from 1978, I’ve gotta say it’s aged wonderfully. Props to Alan Parsons because the mix here is wonderful - it sounds so natural and everything seems to be in sync and polished without ever sounding overproduced.

The one criticism I will levy is that after the great “Timeless Skies” - “Song on the Radio” just seems out of place. I feel like it kills the mood a bit and the album would’ve benefited by going directly to “End of the Day” instead. Not to say that “Song on the Radio” is a bad tune, it just seems to be out of place and a bit long.

I will readily admit I’ve never even heard of this guy before, and after this album, I’m impressed. I plan to continue listening to it and hopefully he has other material I will enjoy as much, if not more. So to Trollheart I say: A wonderful pick! Great job.

10/10

(In the strange foreign hypothetical universe where Trollheart didn’t approve me submitting a house mix for nomination to this album club, I may or may not have awarded this album an 8/10 instead )

music_collector

Yes, I misunderstood. Go ahead and review everyone! It's music. Good review, horrible review, makes no difference to me. I like it, and that's good enough!

I forgot to post a review of the Al Stewart disc. I give it a 8.5/10. I liked it.

I didn't know the man existed. It was a part of the 70's music scene that I missed. I'm surprised my father didn't have this record in the house. I'm sure I would have picked it up and listened to it on my own.

I'm a sucker for a good saxophone solo.

Thanks for posting.

Trollheart

No problem. We all make mistakes.

SGR, the review and delighted you like it so much. You surely though have heard

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Lisnaholic

I'm beginning to believe there is another, parrallel universe: one has the Time Passages album that you and TH listened to and one has the Time Passages album that I heard. They surely can't be the same album.

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"Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953

rubber soul

I still say Year of The Cat is better

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SGR

Damn, that song is brilliant. Guess I know which Stewart album to listen to next. And no actually, I have not heard that before. Granted, I'm also only 27 from northern New England.

Marie Monday

My thoughts on Electric Lucifer:

the first track rules. like a bunch of electronic birds grooving, with some extra weird blips.
I dig the ominous sounds that open the second track, I don't really care for the spoken word over it but then we get nice harmonic singing with more great electronic pulses and buzzing.
I really like the muffled percussion that kicks off the third track. And the tinkling sounds too, they give great texture. There's also something that sounds like a distorted organ which I'm into. I like this in the same way as I often like psychedelic or oriental music. I don't really care for the melody here but who cares if there's so much else going on.
Hell yes then we get sweepy broom percussion and drony sounds. White noise. A baroque electronic bit like Bach on a synth. Heavily distorted clown music. Hypnotic eeriness. And we're only 12 minutes in at this point lol.
What follows is a pretty straightforward song, but through electronic distortion like it comes from under water.
Again some amazing percussion for the next song, which actually appears to be a distorted string instrument, a guitar? This grooves really hard.
I like the didgeridoo sounds on the next track, and the way it keeps changing its mind about what chord it's in.
The next song sounds a bit like a 1967 George Harrisson concoction.
What follows is the first one I don't get enthusiastic about. Meh to lyrics like 'universe.. one poem...love...' or that it tries to teach me how to spell 'devil'.
The multi-layered chaos of the next track is great. Then spooky wind sounds. More great percussion. This sounds quite like typical psychedelic music, but at its very best. The vocals should have been scrapped though.
After all that, it's a good choice to sound quiet, with a few bells and voices. It develops into a straightforward melody, with more groovyness, and then it swerves back in a great organic way towards psychedelia, and back again.
Really great, groovy, whimsical album. 9/10

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Neapolitan

One of the very first albums I owned was Year of the Cat. I was just a kid so I mostly played the title song -- as far as I remember. Another great song by Al Stewart is Sirens of Titan inspired by the Kurt Vonnegut story of the same name.

Sirens of Titan

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Trollheart

Agreed.
Wow, how I envy you, hearing this for the first time. Yeah it's a fantastic classic, and yet was never a hit. Go figure as you guys say.
Like I said I think in my review, Al Stewart is the greatest songwriter you've never heard of. Kind of think Jackson Browne but more obscure.

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music_collector

As for the Electric Lucifer album, I think it will take me a few listens to fully appreciate it. I admit, blips and beeps aren't usually my cup of tea. I've had trouble listening to Radiohead's later works for that reason.

That said, I'll give it a 7/10. I can definitely see it as a soundtrack to some futuristic movie. It's definitely something I'd play while working, which isn't a bad thing.