AL STEWART
Year of the Cat (Rhino)
Reviewed by Holly Day

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I'm confused. I have all these memories of my father being kind of a serious music aficionado when I was little, with the humor in his music being more of the Steely Dan-type of wry, dry, more sophisticated humor, and yet I remember all of the songs on this album nearly by heart, which means that I must have heard them a lot during my youth. My father must have listened to this music for the inherent goofiness of it, because that's just about all there is to it. I mean, what the hell is "Lord Grenville" about, anyway? Is it really about a ship, or is there some deep allusion in there to the fact that the title "Lord" doesn't really mean anything in this workaday world of today? And then "Flying Sorcery" is so innocent in its storytelling about a man's first flight in an airplane - so innocent it can't be just about that, right? Oh, I love this album. It's just so silly and smart-alecky with its references to Bogart and Greek mythology and Italian classical painters, all set to such uplifting, Renaissance-Faire-inspired music and Al Stewart's lilting vocals, that I can't get the songs out my head for a week after listening to it, no matter how hard I try.

© 2005 - Holly Day