Bright Side Of The Moon: Al Stewart - Year of the cat (MFSL)

Al Stewart - Year of the cat (MFCD 803)
MFSL Alumunium

Un relajante disco de predominio acústico, con textos de esencia literaria y referencias históricas, pasajes memorativos y rica imaginería de empleo figurativo.
La sofisticada producción de Alan Parsons, en vez de asfixiar la escritura, confiere al album un sonido elegante, fresco y dúctil.

Entre sus composiciones pop y soft-rock de reminiscencias folk, casi en su totalidad sin tacha en sus melodías y en su sedosa ejecución vocal, destaca "Lord Grenville", canción que recupera en clave poética la historia real de Richard Grenville, un marino británico en lucha contra la armada española, desarrollada con un sonido que no se aleja demasiado de algunos cortes encontrados en el "Hunky Dory" de David Bowie.

Otras de las mejores piezas del album son "On the border", extraordinario tema con resonancias españolas, la dylaniana "Sand in your shoes", "Broadway hotel", poseedora de una sombría atmósfera acentuada por un clavicordio, un expresivo violín y un desarrollo turbador, al igual que la simbólica "On the stage before", de iterativo ritmo y espectral clima.
La obra maestra es "Year of the cat", una canción que atrapa desde su piano inicial hasta su conocido solo de saxo, bellamente arreglada y con una letra que epitomiza bien el carácter lírico de este ensoñador y excelente Lp.

This, Stewart's first platinum album, was the one that cemented Stewart in the annals of pop-music history (the album hit Billboard's Top 5) and made him a huge international star. Producer Alan Parsons' formula from Modern Times, mixing Stewart's historically themed folk-rock pieces with jazz conventions (like the unforgettable Phil Kenzie saxophone break in the title song) and absolute gorgeousness (Peter Wood's heartstoppingly lovely "YOTC" piano intro), worked like the proverbial charm when it came to electrifying music listeners and encouraging them to part with their dollars and pounds. Why? Yes, the combination of the sophisticated Parsons touch with Stewart's folk-rock foundation piqued interest, but in the end, Stewart won appreciators through his unforgettable stories and songs: the arousing title track, the sad "Broadway Hotel," and "Flying Sorcery," the first of Stewart's songs to focus on the exploits of pilots. At the time, Billboard hailed YOTC for its "exceptionally well-arranged songs that are progressive without being pretentious. ... This set was recorded at the Abbey Road Studios in London, and through heavy use of strings has a symphonic, almost classical beauty." Extremely noteworthy is the first appearance of guitarist Peter White, then a sessionist hired to play Spanish style guitar for the swirling, intriguing Top 20 hit "On the Border"; his long, fruitful collaboration with Stewart began on Year of the Cat.