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Year of the Cat is the seventh studio album by Al Stewart, released in 1976. It was produced and engineered by Alan Parsons. Its sales helped by the hit single "Year of the Cat", co-written by Peter Wood and described by AllMusic as "one of those 'mysterious woman' songs", the album was a top five hit in the United States. The other single from the album was "On the Border". Stewart wrote "Lord Grenville" about the Elizabethan sailor and explorer Sir Richard Grenville (1542–1591). Stewart had all of the music and orchestration written and completely recorded before he even had a title for any of the songs. In a Canadian radio interview he stated that he has done this for six of his albums, and he often writes four different sets of lyrics for each song. The title track derives from a song Stewart wrote in 1966 called "Foot of the Stage" with prescient lyrics about Tony Hancock, one of Britain's favourite comedians who died by suicide two years later. When Stewart discovered that Hancock was not well known in the United States, he went back to his original title "Year of the Cat".
Ahhhh...now this takes me back to the long hot summer of '76 cruising down to Cornwall with the window open. A beautifully crafted 70s album (Alan Parsons) with great guitar and saxophone solos. Lovely listening.
Al Stewart seems like the kind of musician that had a much larger influence in the UK than anywhere else. I’ve never heard of him prior to this but his melodies are pretty standard soft rock that resemble Paul McCartney, Bowie, and Elton John but lack the ability to write classics. Stewart is a good artist but he just gets overshadowed by the more popular artists of his time. 6.5/10
Nice and happy pop/rock album from the 70s. Of course Year of the Cat and On the Border are great songs. The other songs are also not that bad. All in all a pleasant listen, but not something I would put on again (apart from the two classic tracks).
Well Al Stewart certainly deserves a spot on a list like this. I love the songs “Year of the Cat” and “The Border” - fantastic songs - but had never listened to this. There’s a lot more great stuff on here! In particular, “Flying Sorcery” and “One Stage Before” are already in my musical rotation giving me something “new” to listen to from Al Stewart. There’s a lot of great gold left to mine yesterday’s LPs!
Never heard of this before, but big Bowie/Elton John vibes. I like it. 4/5. Update towards the end: this is fantastic. No idea how I'd never heard of it before. 5/5.
Never heard of this album. Never heard of this musician. This is amazing. Thanks for the recommendation.
Rating: 8/10 Best songs: On the border, If it doesn't come naturally leave it, Broadway hotel, Year of the cat
This was a really enjoyable listen. There's so much to like here, and that title track is a pure delight. I just want to play that song on a loop all day. Melodic, richly produced arrangements that are mildly proggy, but still have an easygoing vibe. That's actually a hard balance to pull off, which Al Stewart/Alan Parsons manage beautifully. I can point to several artists Stewart reminds me of (Elton John obviously, also George Harrison and even some early Steely Dan), but Stewart also brings a lot of his personality to these songs as well. My main critique would be that Stewart lacks much in the way of lyrical nuance, but he really makes the most of the material here. Fave Songs: Year of the Cat, One Stage Before, Lord Grenville, On the Border, Broadway Hotel, Midas Shadow
Never heard of Al Stewart before and really enjoyed this. At first I thought it was just another 70s album riffing on The Beatles, Bowie and Elton… and it basically is, but it does it really well. Great hooks and some real theatricality and character to the songwriting
It's alright, I just can't get past his voice for some reason. It's always bugged me. 3 stars.
David Bowie core
It came from Abbey Road
4 3
I enjoyed this but the style does feel very dated. Some things survive and they just feel timeless, other things hold up but more as museum pieces, and this seems trending to the latter side to me. I also kind of spent the whole time trying to decide if the lyrics were really saying all that much or were just very artfully constructed. On the whole positive though.
Was okay. Nothing too exciting
Good enough.
Rock, soft rock, progressive pop. Ni fu ni fa.
It sounds like Kermit the Frog trying to sound more like a human and drop a 70s album. Not for me but maybe for frogs?
It's a 3 stars album, but since you have a track of commentary you lost a star...
There’s the sense of a strong songwriting effort attempting to break through here, but from a modern perspective it’s hampered by the sonic trappings of the past. Found myself questioning whether this was a lost Bowie B-sides album at points, as the LP just can’t clear a defined path for itself.
Probably because I have no nostalgia for him, nor am I British, but I was mostly unimpressed. It's an album style I've heard a thousand times. 2.5/5 but rounding down since there are 3 star albums I like way more.