Year of the POLL: Al Stewart Studio Albums

I imagine Year of the Cat will walk this, but Past Present and Future easily gets it for me, being the apex of his grand historical songwriting style. Modern Times runs it a close second.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Tough crowd. I guess Al isn't too big with the kids these days. I only know the hits record which wasn't represented.

Yes, the paltry response to this poll shows how unjustly ignored this man is.

I imagine Year of the Cat will walk this

http://www.bigfatzero.com/images/bfz001.gif

damn i missed this poss...

The first 4 albums are solid gold as far as I'm concerned.

Would have voted for Love Chronicles. Pretty much the best example of folk-rock of the period..

It's really time his early stuff got some re-evaluation and appreciation...

I like Al Stewart in a casual way, but I haven't heard 16 of his albums.

I had no idea he had recorded that many.

ahahaha this poll

:(

Time Passages wuz robbed!!!

i have yotc and past present & future.. where next? avoided him for the longest time but he's kinda like a radio 2 roy harper or something

finally found a cheap copy of year of the cat. seems like i used to see that record all the time then as soon as i wanted to buy it, it disappeared. anyway, great album.

was neil tennant ever a fan of this guy?

I doubt it, I think they just have genetically the exact same vocal cords

Modern Times is a great record. Zero She Flies has a version of A Lyke-Wake Dirge on it, I was surprised to find

internet says the neil tennant observation is a huge cliche, ah well at least it's not just me then

will keep an eye out for mod times. did try some of the earlier ones a while back, but they seemed to have that very post-dylan thing of cramming far too many words into each song

big oof on these results.

i've listened to year of the cat and orange for the first time ever this afternoon and i have to say i really like them! i said elsewhere that i always thought he was an arena rocker or some sort of blues wanker so this is fairly refreshing stuff. kind of rootsy, nick drake-lite, and i love his voice (lol weird for folks of our generation to be like "he sounds like neil tennant!" but it's true!). musically reminds me of something else i can't quite put my finger on — maybe george harrison's albums of the time? are all of his 70s albums this consistent?

I like Al Stewart in a casual way, but I haven't heard 16 of his albums.

― _Rockist__Scientist_, Monday, August 24, 2009 11:19 AM

awww man

but yeah, he does have a shitton of albums.

Loved the title tracks of Year of the Cat and Time Passages as a kid, but listening to the whole records later, there's a majority of tracks that are merely nice. I haven't heard the earliest, folky records.

Here's a somewhat atypically emphatic song from the album that won the poll:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHTzlcD0YUg

2008 - Al Stewart released his 16th studio album, Sparks of Ancient Light
2009 - this poll is created, with a less than stellar turnout
2023 - Al Stewart still hasn't released a follow-up to his previous album; ILM, have you broken the man?!?

really love this balearic banger off Modern Times:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCOQJjbX5-Y
Al Stewart - What's Going On?

got a soft spot for this one as well, squint your ears and it could almost be lucio battisti:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ga518oAmeE
Al Stewart - Running Man

Past, Present and Future
Modern Times
Year of the Cat
Time Passages

love this whole 4-album run, dont think i've heard anything else outside it

Time Passages is a jam

24 carrots is one for the Horrible 70s album titles like I've Got My Own Album To Do

thanks all! digging in with your picks and enjoying.

also you savages lol

Al Stewart still hasn't released a follow-up to his previous album; ILM, have you broken the man?!?

Time Passages wuz robbed!!!

― kornrulez6969, Friday, September 19, 2014 12:36 PM (eight years ago) bookmarkflaglink

otm

buy me a ticket on the lahst train home tah-night

Yawww on mYYY mYYnd like a song on the raydeeoh

Funny this thread comes up, I had just been poking around on Wikipedia and saw that "Time Passages" was number one on the Billboard Easy Listening chart for a remarkable ten weeks in late '78/early '79. So I thought I must know this song, since I remember most big hits from that time, but listening to it rings no bells whatsoever.

That's crazy, "Time Passages" was huge on FM in my market (US- Midwest)

Wonder how many units of that mega box set of his they shipped? Think it was like 80 CDs or something.

Write in vote for Love Chronicles, which features Richard Thompson and Jimmy Page.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gstLU4SxnkQ

He had a pretty interesting career before he even got to the mid-70's albums that everyone knows him for (sort of like Steve Miller in that sense?)

Modern Times for me

Yeah that'd be my choice as well. A perfect rainy Sunday afternoon record

About 20 years ago someone on ILM flagged “In Brooklyn” as a great lost song, and it’s been one of my favourites ever since - it sort of became “our song” for me and my partner. Thanks, whoever that was!
I’ve tried the albums but can never get into them - for this vibe I kind of prefer Gerry Rafferty. But will try again.

The man's on his farewell tour right now fyi: https://alstewart.com/shows

Classic poll.

It was the first poll I ever started and I think I'd only been on ILX for a matter of days when I started it. I was a bit disapppointed by the lack of response but I guess it's par for the course for a no-mark poster like me whom no-one had ever heard of. I'd be interested to know if there has ever been another poll in the history of ILM which got no votes at all except for one from the person who created it. I suspect probably not.

belated thank you for posting! i would have voted time passages if i had been an ilxor back then.

(xp) Possibly one of Mark G's polls?

damn he's playing 3 nights in park city this weekend. $50 tickets. i'm going to think briefly about going and then not go.

just picked up year of the cat and time passages in a dollar bin, great records

I'm in a huge Al Stewart phase, perhaps not coincidentally around the time I discovered marijuana soda in my liquor store. Right now my favorite is Murmansk Run/From Ellis Island off the 24 Carrots album. Classic shit man.