Al+stewart

For Al Stewart fans who can't afford the five-CD set Just Yesterday, this 30-song double-disc collection is a fair – but only a fair – alternative. It is lacking a few items, however, that would make it more satisfying. For starters, the studio renditions of "Roads to Moscow" and "Nostradamus" are nowhere to be found, and then there's the absence of Stewart's debut single, "The Elf."…

Eleven songs from Al Stewart's albums Past, Present and Future (1974) through Live Indian Summer (1981), remastered in 1992, which gives it more than decent sound. "Roads to Moscow" is drawn from Past, Present and Future (the inlay card erroneously lists Live Indian Summer), and "Year of the Cat" is the hit studio version, but the producers have chosen live versions of "Nostradamus" (which emphasizes its Tommy-like central riff) and "On the Border," rather than their superior originals, probably to retain the value of the original albums…

This live recording is something of a surprise – make that a shock, in the most positive way – appearing 45 years into Al Stewart's professional career. From the opening notes of a medley of "Last Days of the Century" and "Constantinople," Stewart – in partnership with guitarist/singer Dave Nachmanoff (who also produced this record) – launches into a set with the kind of energy and enthusiasm one would more easily expect from a twenty-something neophyte than a sixty-something veteran…

Year of the Cat brought Al Stewart a genuine worldwide smash with its title track, and for its successor, he did make a few concessions. These, however, were slight – just a slight increase of soft rock productions, an enhancement of the lushness that marked not only Year of the Cat but also Modern Times. These happened to be welcome adjustments to Stewart's sound, since they increased the dreamy continental elegance at the core of his work…

EMI's 1993 double-disc collection To Whom It May Concern: 1966-1970 contains the entirety of Al Stewart's early recordings for Epic Records, including all of his first three albums, Bedsitter Images, Love Chronicles, and Zero She Flies…

UK two CD set containing the British singer/songwriter's first three albums. Includes: Bedsitter Images, his debut album, released in 1967; Love Chronicles, his second album, released in 1969 (musical support from legendary musicians including Jimmy Page, Ashley Hutchings, Simon Nicol and Richard Thompson); and Zero She Flies, his third album released in 1970…

Featuring iconic songs from some of the meanest axemen to ever strap on a guitar, Pure… Guitar Heroes takes listeners on a journey through some of classic rock's greatest guitar moments…

Almost anything could be called "driving music" if one drives to it, so this four-disc set of songs to drive to takes that theme pretty loosely for the most part, but it does include some classic odes to the joys and hazards of motion and movement like Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone," Ram Jam's "Black Betty," Soul Asylum's "Runaway Train," Blue Öyster Cult's "(Don't Fear) The Reaper," the Edgar Winter Group's "Free Ride," and, of course, Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again," among dozens of other would-be road anthems.

Alan Parsons studied a number of musical instruments in childhood but, like many of his peers, settled on the guitar in his early teens. His job in the late 1960s at the EMI tape duplication facility allowed him access to many classics of the day, including the tape master of The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), which fired him up to become a recording engineer. He subsequently managed to get work at the Abbey Road Studios and participated in the creation of The Beatles albums Let It Be (1970) and Abbey Road (1969) and the infamous Apple rooftop session. He also went on to work as mix engineer with Paul McCartney and George Harrison after The Beatles split…