AL STEWART: Year Of The Cat (ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

This album is perfect. Perfect in the way that nothing is missing, nothing is too much, and everything is in balance and measure, from the beginning to the end.

AL Stewart is a British folk artist who distinguished himself in the first half of the seventies by singing pages of history, his great passion. In 1976, he wrote a song, "Year of the cat", which was a hit a few months before sinking into oblivion. The album which accompanied the release of this song is a true example of the relaxed, liberated, blossoming and rich sound that the end of the seventies brooded in the Abbey Road studios, before the synthesizers of the eighties opened up a new era.

Al Stewart explores all the facets of the music he loves, with no limits, no pretensions, and no ambition other than to make the best possible album. The result : a magical Fender Rhodes electric piano on "Midas Shadow", some Hammond organ on "If it doesn't come naturally, leave it", a violin solo on "Broadway hotel", saxophone on "Year of the Cat", and a Pink Floyd style of electric guitar on many tracks (including a fabulous solo on "One stage before"). Al Stewart knew how to surrounded himself with Tim Renwick on lead guitar (formerly of the Sutherland Brothers who played with Pink Floyd in the 90s), and the whole team of Alan Parsons, the producer, including Stuart Elliot and Andrew Powell. A dream-team of the years 1976-1980.

Yes, it's true, this album is a bit too smooth. But at least it has the merit of never irritating with tasteless pseudo-experiments. That doesn't prevent Al Stewart from marrying with a lot of originality his folk influences and his love for strings, saxes and keyboards. There's absolutely nothing missing in this album to make it a complete work, between the optimistic travels of "Flying Sorcery" and "Sand in your shoes", the deep ambiences of "Midas Shadow", the fiery spirit of "Lord Grenville", the emotionally strong originality of "Broadway Hotel" and "One stage before", and the flamboyant fusion of genres represented by the most legitimate hit of the decade, the song "Year of the Cat".

It's hard to choose the best song on the record. Perhaps the ultimate mix of the title song, the touching violin solo of "Broadway Hotel", or the authentic sound of "Midas Shadow"... If the middle of the album is a bit more conventional, the whole record is of a rare quality. And the title song, which combines emotion, musical mastery and invention, is one of those unforgettable ballads that go down in the legend of popular music in the broadest sense.

To sum up, "Year of the cat" is an album that has been unjustly forgotten and left aside by too many generations of music lovers who will be able to appreciate its multiple qualities. They may not be 20-minute tracks, but they are at least perfectly free of all restrictions and basically touch perfection. - Official website

AL STEWART

YEAR OF THE CAT

EMI

ROCK