I love watching people hear this song for the first time. My dad is the saxophone player on this song as well as Time Passages. I’ve grown up with it and it’s a lovely thing to watch people discover.
This saxophone sound feels to me like it is travelling through the heavens above my head. A wonderful goosebumps moment. I must admit I have a twinge of envy for you being around that sound in your life. It must make you proud to read the glowing tributes here.
The intro to this song is like a slow revelation. I live in California, and when I drive home in the evening, I drive up a rocky hill, and as I go up, the city lights are slowly exposed like a curtain slowly revealing the twinkling lights. That's how I feel the intro of this song is.
Al Stewart the most underrated musical artist, he is a great story teller with a unique voice musicianship ..he did have a few hits. Please react to Al's..."One stage before". Stewart is alive and performing!
I could not agree more. I have been lucky enough to see Al live many times since the 1970's and this is obviously his most famous work... But listen to "Man for all Seasons".....IMHO the greatest song that has ever been written and hardly anyone knows of it.
When I hear this song I am transported back in time to 1976...sitting in my Trans Am...8 track playing Year of the Cat....late at night...making out with a beautiful girl that I let slip away. She will always be the girl in this song. 1976 is my Year of the Cat. Wonderful memories.
Me too. I had a red TransAm and listened to this tune over and over on my 8track player for the entire 45 minute drive to and from work. Just my humble opinion, but this was the best song of 1976, and that is saying a lot because there were so many songs to choose from.
@@Debcatawba Was it a 73 455HD? I had one with black interior and brushed aluminum dash... I WISH I still had it! Somehow 8 tracks sounded so good in it and this was one of the best songs to listen to on the way to class.
Ascoltai casualmente alla radio questo brano per la prima volta nel 1980, avevo 16 anni e non conoscevo assolutamente Al Stewart. Fu un'enorme sorpresa a cui seguì subito la ricerca dei dischi di questo straordinario e inimitabile cantautore scozzese. L'incontro e la collaborazione fra Alan Parson e Al Stewart che condividevano la passione per le atmosfere storiche e sognanti, supportati da un gruppo di virtuosi session men e da un arrangiatore orchestrale di primissimo livello, produsse due album capolavori, Year of the cat e Time passages, che secondo me rimangono ancora oggi insuperabili per raffinatezza sonora, ispirazione compositiva e maestria esecutiva. Memorabile resta anche il concerto live in Belgio nel 1988 con la Flanders Philarmonic Orchestra.
Harri, I’m on the north left coast of the USA, and I saw Al Stewart perform twice...74’ & 75’ here. He’s from there, as are you. Not I. You’ve never heard of him? I’ve got the ticket stubs from those shows from before you were likely born. Oh Harri, I feel as young as the music. Al Stewart is a true historian when it comes to his diligence writing the content of songs he performs, and his world class musicianship is just that, WORLD CLASS. Harri, this song WAS and remains, B I G
This is one of those songs you could play 100 times in a row and still love and enjoy it every time. I never get tired of hearing this song. It always takes me away.
Surprisingly for me, I've yet to see any talk about the absolutely gorgeous chord changes that underlie everything in this song. Not unusual chords, but beautifully timed atypical progressions.
I must have watched 15 reviews of people listening to this song for the first time and without exception they are practically left speechless by its brilliance!
Alliteration: She comeS out of the Sun in a Silk dreSS (all those S's) and that lovely rhyming "sun" and "running"...great songcraft...even the closing "r" in "watercolor" and then again in "rain"...marvelous line.
I'm right there with you, Harri, love how the middle of the song (around 4:15) moves from his voice, to the strings, to acoustic guitar, to electric guitar, then to the sax. Brilliant!
Always liked the Humphrey Bogart and the Peter Lorre reference in the song, it gave the song a Casablanca feel to it like the story was right out of a classic Bogart movie
Yes, especially since the first line of the song is 'On a morning from a Bogart movie in a country where they turn back time...' A great way to set the scene and mood of the song up front!
When we would go into a stereo shop back in the day, they would have listening rooms where you could test out different systems and speakers - THIS was one of the songs you would put on to listen to for all of it's sonic greatness!
I remember seeing Al play with a full band at a club north of Seattle on 99, in maybe 1983. The saxophone player had a radio mic, and wandered all over the stage. When they started Year of the Cat, the sax player was nowhere to be found. It got closer and closer to the sax solo, and he was still AWOL. People started looking around. Then the climax of the bridge hit, and the follow-spot hits an exit tunnel at the back of the house, and there's the sax player, right on time, playing his heart out. One of the greatest moments I've ever seen at a live music venue. I've now seen Al so many times I can't count. At least 12. Most of the time I got to chat with him after the show. Really nice guy, smart as hell and knows a hundred times more about wine than I ever will.
@@sourisvoleur4854 I saw Heart there before they became nationally known, around 1973 I think. It was called the Aquarius Tavern at the time. Now it's Parker's Casino.
1971 Was my first Concert : Curved Air @ THe Royal Festival Hall and my main years from 1971-78 were fantastic years....Yes, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Wishbone Ash (multiple times) and Status Quo REALLY "paid their dues" then. One of their Croydon gigs had 5 Encores ending with a 7 Part Medley :)
This and "On the Border" are my favorites by Al Stewart. So many different solos in this song: piano, cello, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, sax, and synth. Amazing lyrics, story, and musicianship.
This is an orchestral masterpiece. Huge hit in the late 70s. I had a quadraphonic stereo & four big speakers & good headphones. The sound quality on my album (still have) was phenomenal. Glad you appreciated it. Thank you.
This sounded beautiful to my ears in 1976 playing vinyl on a Panasonic turntable. I confess that I was too young to realize it was a one night stand but I knew beautiful, joyous music when I heard it.
I was 16 yrs old when this came out. I remember when it came on the radio one day when I was getting ready for school, and I just had to sit down and listen.It still has the same effect today as it did back in '76.
I was 14 and I can still remember this song blaring on the radio with the windows rolled down. I wouldn’t trade our childhood and teen years for what they’re faced with today. The music had heart and emotion. Best wishes always.
Here are a couple of explanations though the opening lines are DEFINITELY "The Maltese Falcon" Humphrey Bogard/Peter Lorre references and The Cat is the fourth animal symbol in the 12-year cycle of the Vietnamese zodiac and it IS a North African Love Song.. " I think the song is an analogy for a staid, conservative man having an affair (contemplating a crime) with a flamboyant, free-spirited woman (silk dress running like a watercolor in the rain) who shows him a secret world which he's never even dreamed of (hidden door) or maybe just forgotten from his youth (turn back time) " Alternatively " The Tourist visits Algeria as evidenced by "blue tiled walls." He is seduced by a mysterious, exotic woman. The Peter Lorre reference describes someone prone to hedonistic pleasures so it's likely he was selected by the woman who observed and identified him as a receptive, willing mark for her seduction. The night of passion and overall allure of the woman lures him into abandoning his tour bus and staying on with her. He knows there's something 'not quite right about the woman who is very secretive and he knows it won't last ("you're bound to leave her") ...but there's no definite end in sight. The song just sort of trails off with ambiguity and the listener suspects the man may wind up staying with her a lot longer than he knows." etc...
I love how this song is arranged, first you get the strings, then the acoustic guitar,then electric guitar ,followed by the sax solo, the music just keeps coming in waves…this has been my favorite song ever since 7th grade ,when I heard it at school in the lunchroom back in 1976-77.
You can thank Alan Parsons of the "Alan Parsons Project" for that. He engineered the album and is the one who suggested adding the sax. He also did "Dark Side of the Moon" among others.
This was one of the first albums I bought, specifically because I loved this song so much. 👌 description of the arrangement, BTW. Thank you, Harri, for this!
Harri, pls note: What you're hearing in the production isn't so much the remastering, but the genius of Alan Parsons as a producer (best known for his work with Pink Floyd on Dark Side of the Moon, Alan Parsons Project). Remastering is often done because the early original stereo *CD* masters didn't account for the RIAA eq curve properly (one reason why early CDs got a bad rap for sounding "cold, sterile"). I'll put it this way: The digital version (which *is* an improvement) was done in 2004, but many years earlier the original was one of those albums hi fi salespeople would put on to show off a system to customers.
yes that is a problem with recorded sound. One reason I like live rather then recorded when I can get it. At one time I listened to nothing but live. U see I have hearing that very few ppl do. I can hear down to 40Hz and up to 22.45K So harmonics play a big part in my enjoyment of music. By the way when i was listening to only live music it was my years trying to make it as a singer in bands If I was a kid of 28 today 9that was the year i think my voice sound its best) I would go on AGT alone and so an A cappella version of Terrapin Station
@@rollomaughfling380 I just thought it was nice to know I am not the only Parsons fan still out there. I believe Alan just finished a new home and studio in Los Angeles a few years ago. Between him and Jeff Lynne I have so much respect for they can do. Thanks
Those lyrics are next tier brilliant. And all those little tinkling piano flourishes are just superb. And can we talk about the strings? And the sax?!?!? Meticulously crafted song. Everything done with purpose. Artists nowadays don't approach this level of musicianship. Nice one Harri!
I heard Al on the radio. After the song came out, he’d come to the US, California I think, and it never hit in the UK, but went nuts here in America. He stayed.
Fantastic adv timeless masterpiece When I first heard this track for the first time I was absolutely amazed and I knew it it was ant still is an instant classic
Love your interpretation. I think his price was the disappointment to wake up and know it was an experience only to be savored as memory. I liked your statement to the effect of, "If you've never met a woman like that - I'm sorry.
It sounds the same to me. To tell the truth, I rarely hear the sound we used to listen to on vinyl with the stereo phonics we had. Of course our stereo systems would take up a whole side of the room.
i just love the way you feel it!! one of my favorite reactions from you..this is how people are supposed to hear a song, every instrument , every lyric just everything about it..i get lost in this song everytime i hear it now and way back when..you are the best
There is an absolutely stellar live performance of this song that they do on the Old Grey Whistle Test - check it out if you want to see Al Stewart and his band.
i was listening to these al stewart hits in the 70's when they came out and was bitten hard, there is just so much to appreciate here and it sticks in my mind forever it's too bad you haven't been enjoying this magic all along. The original recordings where quite good and I never felt they needed cleaning up since the sound engeneer was on his game to begin with and the old analog gear was fairly limited in the day. A treasure that will allways be at the top of my favorite list, glad to see you liked it.
I've never listened all the way through!!!! I used to not like it, mostly because of the way he sang the part, The Year of the Cat... his voice drops down, and I couldn't get into it. This is awesome. When the sax came in, my mouth dropped open. It stayed open... oh my gosh!!!!🥰
Second time hearing the sax... the guitar was awesome already... second time hearing the sax... my mouth dropped open, again!!!! like oh my gosh!!!! This is amazing!
Harri, you can't imagine how much effect this had at the time. No one had ever heard a song quite like this. Two years later Al introduced Time Passages with almost as much popularity. Some songs are truly timeless and this song is one of them. By the way when the song came out in 1976, it was the year of Cat.
The real reason the song sounds so crystal clear is because Alan Parsons was involved in the project and all of his projects sound crystal clear.
👍
Exactly. Youre right!! The sound of Alan Parsons Project is smelled
Just go back to Ambrosia thats A.Parsons...Find the David Pack and Alan Parsons duet of a Beatles song . awesome
Alan Parsons knows a thing or two about doing a project...
@@KyleS3m3noff
NOICE!!!
I love watching people hear this song for the first time. My dad is the saxophone player on this song as well as Time Passages. I’ve grown up with it and it’s a lovely thing to watch people discover.
Very cool
He did an amazing performance…pure magic
Really??!
This saxophone sound feels to me like it is travelling through the heavens above my head. A wonderful goosebumps moment. I must admit I have a twinge of envy for you being around that sound in your life. It must make you proud to read the glowing tributes here.
A big thank you to your dad.
The intro to this song is like a slow revelation. I live in California, and when I drive home in the evening, I drive up a rocky hill, and as I go up, the city lights are slowly exposed like a curtain slowly revealing the twinkling lights. That's how I feel the intro of this song is.
She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running like a watercolor in the rain. I love the lyrics and arrangement of this song. Just a masterpiece.
Amazing lyric I've loved since I was a child...!
One of the greatest lines ever by an unbelievably talented lyricist and musician...
ya beat me to it lol, was going to say the same... I"ve always loved that line...can sing this song all day long especially this line...
Perhaps my favorite lyric from ANY song!
Great evocative lyrics.
Simply one of the most beautiful sounding recordings ever made. Al Stewart a very under-rated artist. Ear candy, Harri.
Roads to Moscow is really good too...!
This song was very, very popular.
@@2869may YUP YUP YUP. Story telling perfection.
Most definitely!
I know this is cliche but, they don't do songs like this anymore. Great pick and reaction Harri!
Impeccably produced by the one and only Alan Parsons 🎧
Another hero of mine.
Time by APP has been chosen as my funeral tune.
There won’t be a dry eye in the house.
Well, that explains it. :)
Mega
The album, ''Year of the Cat", is a masterpiece. Every song in itself is a work of art - among my top ten albums.
Al Stewart the most underrated musical artist, he is a great story teller with a unique voice musicianship ..he did have a few hits.
Please react to Al's..."One stage before". Stewart is alive and performing!
I could not agree more. I have been lucky enough to see Al live many times since the 1970's and this is obviously his most famous work...
But listen to "Man for all Seasons".....IMHO the greatest song that has ever been written and hardly anyone knows of it.
When I hear this song I am transported back in time to 1976...sitting in my Trans Am...8 track playing Year of the Cat....late at night...making out with a beautiful girl that I let slip away. She will always be the girl in this song. 1976 is my Year of the Cat. Wonderful memories.
Amen, Brother!
What a year that was...Summer in the UK was one of the hottest on record...
Me too. I had a red TransAm and listened to this tune over and over on my 8track player for the entire 45 minute drive to and from work. Just my humble opinion, but this was the best song of 1976, and that is saying a lot because there were so many songs to choose from.
@@Debcatawba Was it a 73 455HD? I had one with black interior and brushed aluminum dash... I WISH I still had it! Somehow 8 tracks sounded so good in it and this was one of the best songs to listen to on the way to class.
Oh my God!!!!! I had a TransAm. A 1977 red TransAm 6.6.L
And then I had (at the same time) a blue 1980 TransAm with the honeycomb rims.
Ascoltai casualmente alla radio questo brano per la prima volta nel 1980, avevo 16 anni e non conoscevo assolutamente Al Stewart. Fu un'enorme sorpresa a cui seguì subito la ricerca dei dischi di questo straordinario e inimitabile cantautore scozzese. L'incontro e la collaborazione fra Alan Parson e Al Stewart che condividevano la passione per le atmosfere storiche e sognanti, supportati da un gruppo di virtuosi session men e da un arrangiatore orchestrale di primissimo livello, produsse due album capolavori, Year of the cat e Time passages, che secondo me rimangono ancora oggi insuperabili per raffinatezza sonora, ispirazione compositiva e maestria esecutiva. Memorabile resta anche il concerto live in Belgio nel 1988 con la Flanders Philarmonic Orchestra.
This song is a fantastic example of music as an art form.
Harri, I’m on the north left coast of the USA, and I saw Al Stewart perform twice...74’ & 75’ here. He’s from there, as are you. Not I. You’ve never heard of him? I’ve got the ticket stubs from those shows from before you were likely born. Oh Harri, I feel as young as the music. Al Stewart is a true historian when it comes to his diligence writing the content of songs he performs, and his world class musicianship is just that, WORLD CLASS.
Harri, this song WAS and remains, B I G
This is one of those songs you could play 100 times in a row and still love and enjoy it every time. I never get tired of hearing this song. It always takes me away.
A hauntingly beautiful piece of art. The entire album is a masterpiece.
Surprisingly for me, I've yet to see any talk about the absolutely gorgeous chord changes that underlie everything in this song. Not unusual chords, but beautifully timed atypical progressions.
Esa magia experimenté cuando reproduje esos acordes en mi guitarra. simplemente, sublime..!
I must have watched 15 reviews of people listening to this song for the first time and without exception they are practically left speechless by its brilliance!
Al Stewart & Alan Parsons take you on a dream journey ! I love listening to this outside with the moon and ✨ 😻☮️💜🇨🇦
Time Passages by Al is my favorite song of all time. It will be played at my funeral. "Buy me a ticket on the last train home tonight..."
Right on..!
really enjoy watching your videos. It's like watching an old Friend
It sounds crystal clear because it is a master piece of a song, not just because it was remastered for goodness sake....
"She comes out of the sun in a silk dress
running like a water color... in the rain"
Amazing lyric..!
I said the same thing!
Absolutely AGREE. His lyrics touched my ❤. He was an amazing ARTIST. HEY Y'ALL FROM NORTH CAROLINA 🇺🇸👍
Alliteration: She comeS out of the Sun in a Silk dreSS (all those S's) and that lovely rhyming "sun" and "running"...great songcraft...even the closing "r" in "watercolor" and then again in "rain"...marvelous line.
@@davidkarr1490 Not as beautiful, But......
"Little ole lady got mutilated late last night"..... Another GREAT line..!
This song has such a mood, that you feel immediately.
I'm right there with you, Harri, love how the middle of the song (around 4:15) moves from his voice, to the strings, to acoustic guitar, to electric guitar, then to the sax. Brilliant!
Al stewart music is a rich treasure
Al Stewart. Genius.
One of the top 20 songs of my lifetime Playlist
Always liked the Humphrey Bogart and the Peter Lorre reference in the song, it gave the song a Casablanca feel to it like the story was right out of a classic Bogart movie
He certainly set the scene with that lyric.
Check out the song "Friends of Mr Cairo" by Jon and Vangelis. For a great song about the golden age of TV.
Yes, especially since the first line of the song is 'On a morning from a Bogart movie in a country where they turn back time...' A great way to set the scene and mood of the song up front!
"like Peter Lorre.. contemplating a crime... " -- so great!
Like the beginning of Casablanca
I'm 75 and I still wear patchouli from my time in the 60s
Lol, sandalwood was mine. Keep the faith, brother...
It's been so many years since this beautiful song came out and it's as good as wine...the older it gets, the better it tastes.
A Masterpiece........ to take you away to a musical bliss. Harri, we loved your reaction to this Classic 70's Pinnacle of Soft Rock
I could listen to this song on a loop for the rest of my life.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Such a beautiful elegant masterpiece everytime i hear this im in the 70's again 😢
When we would go into a stereo shop back in the day, they would have listening rooms where you could test out different systems and speakers - THIS was one of the songs you would put on to listen to for all of it's sonic greatness!
For my brother and I, it was "Nostradamus" &/or "Roads To Moscow". The other "test record" we had was ELP's "dove album".
Yes, and the "Aja" album by Steely Dan.
@@jeffcobb2734 - exactly.
I remember seeing Al play with a full band at a club north of Seattle on 99, in maybe 1983. The saxophone player had a radio mic, and wandered all over the stage. When they started Year of the Cat, the sax player was nowhere to be found. It got closer and closer to the sax solo, and he was still AWOL. People started looking around. Then the climax of the bridge hit, and the follow-spot hits an exit tunnel at the back of the house, and there's the sax player, right on time, playing his heart out. One of the greatest moments I've ever seen at a live music venue. I've now seen Al so many times I can't count. At least 12. Most of the time I got to chat with him after the show. Really nice guy, smart as hell and knows a hundred times more about wine than I ever will.
Parkers Ballroom, Maybe? Saw some great acts there! Kingsmen, Rockin Robin and Gail Harris, Jimmy Hendrix! What a time!!
@@j.whisper2379 Yes, that's it, I think. Parker's.
@@sourisvoleur4854 I saw Heart there before they became nationally known, around 1973 I think. It was called the Aquarius Tavern at the time. Now it's Parker's Casino.
The sax is like an aphrodisiac.Awesome!
"She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running
like a watercolor in the rain 🌧 "....one of the most picturesque lyrics I've ever heard.
Growing up in that era of music was perfect, so much talent.
1971 Was my first Concert : Curved Air @ THe Royal Festival Hall and my main years from 1971-78 were fantastic years....Yes, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Wishbone Ash (multiple times) and Status Quo REALLY "paid their dues" then. One of their Croydon gigs had 5 Encores ending with a 7 Part Medley :)
"Time Passages". Another Great song from him. Good Songwriter.
On The Border conjures up wonderful littoral images of the Sea and Lord Grenville and Roads To Moscow :)
Didn't he always sound crystal clear? Remember when l first heard this song.
such a cool song...no one would write this now....it's very British and descriptive..and the tone is solid.
I was there in the 1970s and it sounded just as good back then. Nothing was added to the performance. We were not in the musical dark ages back then.
Every time I hear this song I love it more, a timeless masterpiece, I first heard it 1976.
45 winters ago, this song entered my life, and the feeling associated with it have never left me!
This and "On the Border" are my favorites by Al Stewart. So many different solos in this song: piano, cello, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, sax, and synth. Amazing lyrics, story, and musicianship.
Broadway Hotel and One Stage Before are also magic.
This is an orchestral masterpiece. Huge hit in the late 70s. I had a quadraphonic stereo & four big speakers & good headphones. The sound quality on my album (still have) was phenomenal. Glad you appreciated it. Thank you.
This sounded beautiful to my ears in 1976 playing vinyl on a Panasonic turntable. I confess that I was too young to realize it was a one night stand but I knew beautiful, joyous music when I heard it.
YES EARLY ELTON JOHNS MUSIC IS ALSO MESMERIZING, AL STEWARTS ONE MEGA HIT IS STILL TOUCHING PEOPLES LIVES DECADES LATER!!
One od my all time favorite songs!!!!
The middle transition between four instruments in legendary but the string arrangement is so smooth and beautiful.
It sounds like diamonds in the ears, so crystal clear and fluid. This song always takes me away from this earth really. 🥰
I was 16 yrs old when this came out. I remember when it came on the radio one day when I was getting ready for school, and I just had to sit down and listen.It still has the same effect today as it did back in '76.
Exactly Linda :)
i did a lot of driving and LISTENING BACK THEN.
I was 14 and I can still remember this song blaring on the radio with the windows rolled down. I wouldn’t trade our childhood and teen years for what they’re faced with today. The music had heart and emotion. Best wishes always.
This Song is Amazing!!!
Here are a couple of explanations though the opening lines are DEFINITELY "The Maltese Falcon" Humphrey Bogard/Peter Lorre references and The Cat is the fourth animal symbol in the 12-year cycle of the Vietnamese zodiac and it IS a North African Love Song..
" I think the song is an analogy for a staid, conservative man having an affair (contemplating a crime) with a flamboyant, free-spirited woman (silk dress running like a watercolor in the rain) who shows him a secret world which he's never even dreamed of (hidden door) or maybe just forgotten from his youth (turn back time) "
Alternatively " The Tourist visits Algeria as evidenced by "blue tiled walls." He is seduced by a mysterious, exotic woman. The Peter Lorre reference describes someone prone to hedonistic pleasures so it's likely he was selected by the woman who observed and identified him as a receptive, willing mark for her seduction.
The night of passion and overall allure of the woman lures him into abandoning his tour bus and staying on with her. He knows there's something 'not quite right about the woman who is very secretive and he knows it won't last ("you're bound to leave her") ...but there's no definite end in sight. The song just sort of trails off with ambiguity and the listener suspects the man may wind up staying with her a lot longer than he knows." etc...
Just a fantastic piece of music!
An overdose of goodness, indeed!
One of the most beautiful songs ever composed in my opinion. Production is perfect as well. An incredible journey 🤓
Easily one of my all-time favorites. This came out in 1976, my sophomore year (10th grade) of High School....ahhhh the memories
Just such an uplifting song.
A+ gem.... nothing like a well placed sax solo
I love how this song is arranged, first you get the strings, then the acoustic guitar,then electric guitar ,followed by the sax solo, the music just keeps coming in waves…this has been my favorite song ever since 7th grade ,when I heard it at school in the lunchroom back in 1976-77.
You can thank Alan Parsons of the "Alan Parsons Project" for that. He engineered the album and is the one who suggested adding the sax. He also did "Dark Side of the Moon" among others.
This was one of the first albums I bought, specifically because I loved this song so much. 👌 description of the arrangement, BTW.
Thank you, Harri, for this!
@@bogdog999 Ooh, Bogdog - Alan Parsons! Love him - so brilliant! I really liked his album based on Poe (one of my favorite authors) -
Well written, sung and recorded. Al Stewart still sounds the same today. You can find a youtube video of him performing this... 🤗🎸🎷❣
@@GinMae The musicians used on Tales Of Mystery and Imagination were from Ambrosia and Pilot ( you can do magic)
Harri, pls note: What you're hearing in the production isn't so much the remastering, but the genius of Alan Parsons as a producer (best known for his work with Pink Floyd on Dark Side of the Moon, Alan Parsons Project). Remastering is often done because the early original stereo *CD* masters didn't account for the RIAA eq curve properly (one reason why early CDs got a bad rap for sounding "cold, sterile"). I'll put it this way: The digital version (which *is* an improvement) was done in 2004, but many years earlier the original was one of those albums hi fi salespeople would put on to show off a system to customers.
yes that is a problem with recorded sound. One reason I like live rather then recorded when I can get it. At one time I listened to nothing but live. U see I have hearing that very few ppl do. I can hear down to 40Hz and up to 22.45K So harmonics play a big part in my enjoyment of music. By the way when i was listening to only live music it was my years trying to make it as a singer in bands If I was a kid of 28 today 9that was the year i think my voice sound its best) I would go on AGT alone and so an A cappella version of Terrapin Station
Your preaching to the choir. We all love and respect Alan Parsons.
@@darylkik6204 I was specifically addressing Harri. Not you, nor anyone else, thank you.
@@rollomaughfling380 I just thought it was nice to know I am not the only Parsons fan still out there. I believe Alan just finished a new home and studio in Los Angeles a few years ago. Between him and Jeff Lynne I have so much respect for they can do. Thanks
I love seeing people's reaction to hearing this wonderful song for the first time. One of the best productions of all time!
You mentioned everyone but the bass player and I think the bass line is outstanding.
Great mixture of strings, violin, piano, acoustic guitar and sax.
Every song either a love story or a history lesson,one of the greatest singer songwriters ever.
You nailed it when you said Musical Masterpiece. One of the best songs to come out of the 70's.
This is one of my all time favourites. Al Stewart sang many songs but this was the only one I really connected with.
Easily my all time favorite song
You can always tell when a song is great, goosebumps appear on your skin
The guitar solo followed by the sax solo, MAGIC!!!!!!! Whole song is magnificent!
The combination of the acoustic guitar leading into the electric guitar and the sax solo is perfection.
Those lyrics are next tier brilliant. And all those little tinkling piano flourishes are just superb. And can we talk about the strings? And the sax?!?!? Meticulously crafted song. Everything done with purpose. Artists nowadays don't approach this level of musicianship. Nice one Harri!
I loved this song as a kid and still love it!
A great song. I can also recommend. A Small Fruit Song. Short, but fantastic guitar music. 🎸🎸🎸🎶🎶💕💕
What a great early morning tune.
I heard Al on the radio. After the song came out, he’d come to the US, California I think, and it never hit in the UK, but went nuts here in America. He stayed.
Fantastic adv timeless masterpiece When I first heard this track for the first time I was absolutely amazed and I knew it it was ant still is an instant classic
Great story line, too. I agree.
I so miss the music I grew up with!!! Also I love smooth jazz 😍 thank you for being you
Love your interpretation. I think his price was the disappointment to wake up and know it was an experience only to be savored as memory. I liked your statement to the effect of, "If you've never met a woman like that - I'm sorry.
It sounds the same to me. To tell the truth, I rarely hear the sound we used to listen to on vinyl with the stereo phonics we had. Of course our stereo systems would take up a whole side of the room.
YES AL STEWART AND GILBERT OSULLIVAN WERE UNDERATED GREAT MUSICIANS WITH TALENT!
That sax solo is what has stuck with me since this first time I heard this so many years ago.
Can't beat the 70's
i just love the way you feel it!! one of my favorite reactions from you..this is how people are supposed to hear a song, every instrument , every lyric just everything about it..i get lost in this song everytime i hear it now and way back when..you are the best
There is an absolutely stellar live performance of this song that they do on the Old Grey Whistle Test - check it out if you want to see Al Stewart and his band.
She came out of the sun in a silk dress running like a waterfall in the rain. GENIUS
i was listening to these al stewart hits in the 70's when they came out and was bitten hard, there is just so much to appreciate here and it sticks in my mind forever
it's too bad you haven't been enjoying this magic all along. The original recordings where quite good and I never felt they needed cleaning up since the sound engeneer
was on his game to begin with and the old analog gear was fairly limited in the day. A treasure that will allways be at the top of my favorite list, glad to see you liked it.
One of my absolute favorites from the 70s. It really holds up.
I've never listened all the way through!!!! I used to not like it, mostly because of the way he sang the part, The Year of the Cat... his voice drops down, and I couldn't get into it. This is awesome. When the sax came in, my mouth dropped open. It stayed open... oh my gosh!!!!🥰
Second time hearing the sax... the guitar was awesome already... second time hearing the sax... my mouth dropped open, again!!!! like oh my gosh!!!! This is amazing!
Masterpiece. But as I recall so many of my friends back then just didn't see it that way.
I had the good sense to have married an angel like that ... 53 years ago.
This is a classic! And the original sounded pretty darn good too.
Great time ⌚ and thanks for Aviemore song. He was a project of the director. Alan parson project
this song is uber cool and smooth as glass!
I remember taping this off the radio as a kid & my older brother hearing me play it back & saying “someone in this family has good taste.”
One song I listen to often and have since high school
"Incense and pitouli" that'a how I remember those days too.
Harri, you can't imagine how much effect this had at the time. No one had ever heard a song quite like this. Two years later Al introduced Time Passages with almost as much popularity. Some songs are truly timeless and this song is one of them. By the way when the song came out in 1976, it was the year of Cat.