Al Stewart - Year of the Cat (remastered)

youtube ^ | 2001 | Al Stewart

[FLNittany]

Some people didn't/don't like this song for one reason or another. Not sure why. It's a damn near masterpiece imo.

[phil00071]

I was born in the year of the rat, but in traditional Chinese culture, rats were apparently regarded as intelligent and resourceful creatures.

[Paul R.]

Quite nice vid.

However... That last image should have been Stalin, with a backdrop of “steely Russian sky”. ;-)

[Paul R.]

Very good musician with a lot of excellently original material, usually quite well recorded. The album Year of the Cat was selected by “Mobile Fidelity” as one of their “super-fi” remastered releases. Year of the Cat is a good tune, tho’ I like several of his others better.

I’ve read Stewart says he comes up with the music first, then works on coming up with lyrics to fit.

[rlmorel]

I have always liked this song. It brings back memories of a specific time in my life.

But this song reminds me of certain songs, as a teenage guy, you had to deny liking. At that age, if I had admitted I liked the Carpenters, I would have been forced to surrender my "man-card" and would have been excommunicated!

This GIF I created from the movie "Tommy Boy" illustrates the reality perfectly:

By the way, for what it is worth, I was told by someone who worked at Bose, that they often used Karen Carpenter's Superstar" as a test of their systems. It was said that she had the perfect voice to test vocals in a sound system with.

[NFHale]

Karen Carpenter was also one hell of a drummer

[Fiji Hill]

I was born in the year of the rat, but in traditional Chinese culture, rats were apparently regarded as intelligent and resourceful creatures.

My mother, who was also born in the Year of the Rat, was intelligent and resourceful.

[Fiji Hill]

But this song reminds me of certain songs, as a teenage guy, you had to deny liking. At that age, if I had admitted I liked the Carpenters, I would have been forced to surrender my "man-card" and would have been excommunicated!

Same here. I liked the Shangri-Las and still do. But I didn't dare tell anyone, not even my brother, who was a Beatlemaniac.

[rlmorel]

I did not know that!

[rlmorel]

One of the nicer things about getting older...you reach a point where you aren’t worried about what other people think of your likes or dislikes...:)

As a 14 year old boy, it did make a difference to me because I still wanted to be accepted!

[liberalh8ter]

Love this song and yes, it is a masterpiece. Listening to it through earbuds/headphones is a treat!

[WeaslesRippedMyFlesh]

remastered not remixed

sales gimmic

maybe someone touched a multi-channel EQ, a limiter or compressor setting or reverb otherwise it is the same as it ever was - you wouldn’t be able to tell unless you have amazing ears and a $15,000 top end system in an acoustically engineered listening environment

just play the original off a music streaming service and be enjoy it

[dfwgator]

Wonderful production from Alan Parsons.

[Gay State Conservative]

I've always loved music...ever since I was a kid in the 1950s. I love rock (Stones,Yardbirds,Hendrix,etc),I love folk (early Dylan,Joan Baez,etc) girl groups (50s/60s/80s) and my parents' music (Percy Faith and others).

I loved some of the stuff that the Carpenters did...along with other female singers/groups.

I also like films like Private Ryan/Bridge On The River Kwai/Silence of the Lambs...as well as a few chick flicks

And I'm thoroughly male!

[nfldgirl]

Nice! True story...my first concert ever (tender age of 16) — The Carpenters at the Budokan, Tokyo, Japan-summer 1972. Seats about as high up as you could get, couldn’t see good (used binoculars), but could hear great. Richard in a white suite, Karen a long flowing white gown. Precious time in my life.

[NFHale]

There’s a few videos of her playing drums out on YouTube… I think she was on the Dick Cavett show, one or two other shows, and she was showing her drumming skills

[BlueLancer]

And then you have the song "Trains", which spans the time from World War I, the coming of World War II, and the Holocaust on the fields of Poland ..

Trains

And then there's my favorite .. "Gina in the Kings Row" .. only because my wife's name is "Tina" and I make the substitution while I sing along and tease her ...

Gina in the Kings Row

[BlueLancer]

Oh, and I should mention that my wife is English as well ...

[basalt]

oh..i had my secret “guilty pleasures” too..lol. ABBA, Air Supply (cant believe i just typed that)....ok,thats it.. not revealing anymore!!

[yesthatjallen]

"Seems to me it’s about a tourist/traveler who meets up w/ a really hot woman who’s a little sketchy but he doesn’t really care."

OK, thanks.

[fidelis]

By the way, for what it is worth, I was told by someone who worked at Bose, that they often used Karen Carpenter's Superstar" as a test of their systems. It was said that she had the perfect voice to test vocals in a sound system with.

I'm not surprised. She had such a magnificent voice.