Al Stewart Greatest Hits Rar
Over the years, there have been plenty of collections, most featuring the same five or six songs, giving the impression that he's an easy artist to compile. That, however, isn't quite the case. Most of these collections are haphazardly assembled, focusing either on his early elaborate historical story songs or his lush productions of the late '70s and early '80s, choosing songs that were not necessarily hits and not necessarily good showcases for his idiosyncratic gifts. Despite its nondescript (and misleading) title and its cover art, which bewilderingly mimics the cover of, Rhino's 2004 collection is the first to truly to capture at his best, from his baroque British folk-rock in the late '60s to his soft rock hits a decade later. While all his American hits are here, this is more of a 'best of' than a hits compilation, since it doesn't follow the charts and zeroes in on songs that capture his precious, sighing, sophisticated, lightly psychedelic and elaborately produced progressive folk-pop. It bypasses such dirges as 'Nostradamus,' which often appears on comps even if it's a bore, and includes such gems as the swinging '60s side 'Bedsitter Images,' 'Electric Los Angeles Sunset,' the wonderful 'You Don't Even Know Me' (from, one of his finest albums but one of the most overlooked), and 'Carol' before settling into the familiar hits - 'Year of the Cat,' 'Lord Grenville,' 'On the Border,' 'Song on the Radio,' 'Time Passages,' 'Midnight Rocks' - that all sound better here than on other hits collections because the context is right.
And remain noteworthy albums in their own right, as do and, but as a career overview and introduction, this is nearly perfect.
About Al StewartAmerican audiences will know the name for two reasons, 'Time Passages' and 'Year of the Cat.' Before Al Stewart hit American pay dirt, however, his recorded output consisted largely of pastoral folk tunes that indicated a preoccupation with lyric poetry and romanticized notions of the Old Country.
Al Stewart Greatest Hits Rar
But whether he's singing about courtly ladies-in-waiting or downtown ladies-for-the-taking, Stewart's restrained delivery, his incredible equanimity is what makes his music instantly recognizable and downright hypnotic. He sounds like a man who found Zen early on and just kind of stayed there.Chad Driscoll.
Al Stewart Greatest Hits Torrent
American audiences will know the name for two reasons, 'Time Passages' and 'Year of the Cat.' Before Al Stewart hit American pay dirt, however, his recorded output consisted largely of pastoral folk tunes that indicated a preoccupation with lyric poetry and romanticized notions of the Old Country. But whether he's singing about courtly ladies-in-waiting or downtown ladies-for-the-taking, Stewart's restrained delivery, his incredible equanimity is what makes his music instantly recognizable and downright hypnotic. He sounds like a man who found Zen early on and just kind of stayed there. American audiences will know the name for two reasons, 'Time Passages' and 'Year of the Cat.' Before Al Stewart hit American pay dirt, however, his recorded output consisted largely of pastoral folk tunes that indicated a preoccupation with lyric poetry and romanticized notions of the Old Country.
But whether he's singing about courtly ladies-in-waiting or downtown ladies-for-the-taking, Stewart's restrained delivery, his incredible equanimity is what makes his music instantly recognizable and downright hypnotic. He sounds like a man who found Zen early on and just kind of stayed there. About Al StewartAmerican audiences will know the name for two reasons, 'Time Passages' and 'Year of the Cat.'
Before Al Stewart hit American pay dirt, however, his recorded output consisted largely of pastoral folk tunes that indicated a preoccupation with lyric poetry and romanticized notions of the Old Country. But whether he's singing about courtly ladies-in-waiting or downtown ladies-for-the-taking, Stewart's restrained delivery, his incredible equanimity is what makes his music instantly recognizable and downright hypnotic. He sounds like a man who found Zen early on and just kind of stayed there.Chad Driscoll.