"A Man for All Seasons" ponders the life and death of Sir Thomas More, executed by King Henry VIII in 1535 ("So what if you reached the age of reason/Only to find there was no reprieve/Would you still be a man for all seasons/Or would you just disbelieve?") and the hypnotic "The Palace of Versailles" ruminates on the modern-day city of Paris, still haunted by the ghosts of its revolutionary past.Įlsewhere on Time Passages, Stewart continued to address and underscore the LP's central themes of time and reflection via bittersweet character studies ("Almost Lucy," "End of the Day") and more personal story-songs ("Timeless Skies"). In Stewart's version, it's a nuclear submarine, and one crew member awakens from his slumber: "No memory, tell me what's wrong with me/Why am I alone here with no rest/And now the name of the ship's not the same/How long has it been Marie Celeste?" The captain and his crew were never discovered. "Life in Dark Water" was inspired by the real-life story of the Marie Celeste, a ship which was found abandoned and floating in the Atlantic Ocean late in 1872. While Parsons' production and the sleek arrangements updated the singer's folk sound, these songs would have fit comfortably on Stewart's earlier albums. Reflecting on "Time Passages," Stewart joked to Mark Powell that "in a perfect world, I would have liked to have managed to get Stalin mentioned somewhere in the lyrics, and then it would have been a proper Al Stewart song!" Ever interested in bringing history into his songs, Stewart didn't shy away from that aspect on numerous tracks. The lyric, crafted by Stewart to music penned by Peter White, is much less esoteric than "Year of the Cat" as the singer disappears into those "time passages" in which "years go falling in the fading light." Who hasn't wished for "a ticket on the last train home tonight" to a past that now exists only in memory? Parsons' production positively shimmers on what, despite its author's misgivings, is an altogether lovely and affecting composition. Stewart bristled at writing to order ("I think it's probably the only time in my career that I've been asked to write hit singles, and it goes against the grain"), but "Time Passages" repeated the "Year of the Cat" formula to tremendous success, right down to Andrew Powell's string arrangement and the prominent saxophone by Phil Kenzie. Adding to the soft rock sheen, David Pack and Joe Puerta of Ambrosia guested, along with Toto's Jeff Porcaro. Even the recording approach was similar: the band would record tracks and basic guide vocals would be laid down before Stewart would rework the lyrics and cut his final vocal.
They included alto saxophonist Phil Kenzie, guitarist Tim Renwick, multi-instrumentalist Peter White, keyboardist Peter Wood, and drummer Stuart Elliott. Many of the key players from Year of the Cat returned for the Time Passages sessions held at Los Angeles' Davlen Studios. I think that's the only time in my life I've ever been offered any career advice by a record company executive.Clive Davis definitely knew what he wanted, and that was something that sounded like Year of the Cat, so we made the Time Passages album." Mark Powell's liner notes quote Stewart: "He told me he definitely wanted a song with a saxophone on it, and in the end I would give him two, both of which would make the American top 30. Janus label following Year of the Cat, Stewart signed with Clive Davis' Arista Records - and the mogul had very concrete ideas about what he wanted to hear. In Al Stewart's case, necessity was the mother of invention. A 3-CD/DVD Super Deluxe edition is available now alongside a 2-CD Deluxe highlights version. Now, Time Passages is receiving the same expanded and remastered treatment from Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings arm as Year of the Cat did earlier this year. And while Year of the Cat, the album, charted higher than Time Passages, the latter's title track was a bigger hit in the U.S. During this purple patch, Stewart earned his first hit singles in the United States, transitioning from folk troubadour at home to bona fide pop star abroad. 1978's Time Passages concluded British singer-songwriter Al Stewart's trilogy of albums with producer-engineer Alan Parsons which began with 1975's Modern Times and continued with the following year's Year of the Cat.
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