Search - Al Stewart :: Just Yesterday

Missing key singles

Kevin D. Rathert | Carbondale, IL | 06/17/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Overall this is a wonderful overview of one of the greatest singer/songwriters of our times. Unfortunately, neither "Song On The Radio" nor "Upon The Midnight Rocks" are to be found among the studio tracks found on discs 1-4. The playing time on the set is short enough that these two wonderful tracks could easily have been fit in. Other than that, the sound quality of the sound is immaculate, including the live 5th disc. The set is very pricey, but if you obtain it from one of the drop shippers you can get it for a reasonable price. I found it necessary to buy a copy of Al's "Greatest Hits" on Rhino just to have the above mentioned missing singles. Kind of a bummer, but the set is still very representative of Stewart's entire career and the 70 page booklet is chock full of info, photos, and quotes from the artist himself. I'd love to give this set 5 stars but the missing singles and necessity of purchasing another disc just to obtain them forces me to give the set only 4 stars. All considered the box is a great overview of Stewart's 40 year career and should find a home with anyone who is truly a fan of his work. For novices, the Rhino single disc "Greatest Hits" is probably a better and far cheaper choice."

Underrated singer-songwriter still doesn't get his just dess

Robert F. Gaydos | Nashua, NH United States | 11/27/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Al Stewart is the type of artist who gets overlooked quite often. Even at the peak of his popularity in the late '70s, he was anything but the typical rock/pop star. His voice is somewhat thin and nasal, his elocution just a bit too proper.... but when you look past these seeming flaws, you realize he's amazingly gifted as a guitarist, songwriter, and bandleader. In the '60s and '70s, it seemed as if everyone were trying to pawn themselves off as mini-opera auteurs in the prog-rock arena, especially after the success of the Who's "Tommy" and various other works by Yes, the Moody Blues, and Genesis, among others. Precious few produced epics as engaging and beautiful as those made by Stewart (the live medley of Nostradamus and The World Goes to Riyadh on Disc One attests to this). At the same time though, Stewart could dazzle with compact snapshots both poignant and catchy ("Brooklyn," "Almost Lucy," "Flying Sorcery"). He knew his way around a pop hook and he'd hit you with a killer cross when you least expected it.



That brings me to this import box set, which is virutally impossible to find anywhere outside Amazon and a few select retail outlets specializing in imports. As an intro sampler to Stewart's body of work, it's good... but at five discs it should be much more. I would be content to say that whomever compiled this set didn't know much about Stewart and his work, because efforts that are widely regarded as some of his best --- like 1984's "Russians and Americans," which is so highly sought after today that it fetchs almost $90 on the used market --- are woefully under-represented. So it would then be safe to assume the compiler merely took all Al's singles and key FM album tracks to press.....but that's not it either. Key singles like "Midnight Rocks," "Paint By Numbers," and "Lori, Don't Go Right Now" are omitted while his albums from the last decade fill one disc and another is wasted on tracks from a concert. AND, most of the discs are only over an hour...... This is just wrong!



This box set is obviously aimed at Al's fans, so why not give them what they want, or hand the reigns over to someone who at least understands what that entails? Five stars for the music...2 stars for the compilation. I'll settle on a four."

Flawed box set and inaccurate reviews

D. Merrill | 12/12/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The two other reviews here are generally accurate in that there are definitely some tracks that aren't here that should be. I won't bother mentioning them again. It seems a pricey collection to be missing so much, but then any box set of Al Stewart that doesn't include all his songs would be flawed. I say this because on so many of his albums, the deep cuts are as much gems as the hits. For someone who remembers some of the 70's hits I would suggest picking up Year of the Cat, Time Passages and 24 CParrots and make your own collection. There aren't any weak songs on these albums. If you want a compilation, I think Al Stewart Definitive Pop from Rhino Records is a much better overview of his body of work. Containing 22 songs on 2 discs, you can get it for about $7, an absolute bargain if you ask me. And a better choice than the 1 disk Greatest Hits album because it gives you some of the deeper cuts from the three albums I mentioned above.



One review mentioned the disk Russians and Americans selling for $90, yet I see it on Ebay for $12 not selling. Perhaps there's a limited pressing cd or a few different versions?



In any case Stewart deserves your attention. I find I go back to his work more than most from the 70's."