Past, Present & Future

by Al Stewart

Overview

As good as portions of it were, Orange was essentially a transitional effort, the necessary bridge to Past, Present & Future, the record where Al Stewart truly begins to discover his voice. This is largely through his decision to indulge his fascination with history and construct a concept album that begins with "Old Admirals" and ends with "Nostradamus" and his predictions for the future. A concept like this undoubtedly will strike prog warning bells in the minds of most listeners but, ironically, he has stripped back most of the prog trappings from Orange, settling into a haunting folk bed for these long, winding tales. If anything, this results in an album that is a bit too subdued, but even so, it's apparent that Stewart has finally found his muse, focusing his songwriting and intent to a greater extent than ever before. Now, the key was to find the same sense of purpose in record-making -- he didn't quite get it here, but he would the next time around. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	06/28/2024
Label:	Esoteric
UPC:	5013929487543
Rank:	8355

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Al Stewart   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Keyboards,Guitar (Acoustic)
Alistair Anderson   Conductor,Concertina
Bob Andrews   Keyboards
Bob Sargeant   Keyboards
B.J. Cole   Guitar (Steel)
Isaac Guillory   Guitar,Guitar (Acoustic)
Tim Renwick   Guitar,Guitar (Electric)
John Wilson   Drums
Roger Taylor   Percussion
Peter Berryman   Guitar,Guitar (Acoustic)
Rick Wakeman   Keyboards
Peter Wood   Keyboards
Tim Hinkley   Keyboards
Dave Swarbrick   Mandolin
Krysia Kocjan   Vocals (Background)
Brian Odgers   Bass
Frank Ricotti   Percussion
Francis Monkman   Synthesizer,Moog Synthesizer
Mick Welton   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Bruce Thomas   Bass
Richard Hewson   Strings
Luciano Bravo   Percussion
Haim Romano   Mandolin
Lennox James   Percussion
Peter Woods   Accordion,Keyboards
Michael Oliver   Percussion
Kevin Powers   Vocals,Vocals (Background)
John Donnelly   Vocals,Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

John Anthony   Producer
Al Stewart   Composer,Lyricist
Richard Hewson   Arranger
Hipgnosis   Cover Design
Mike "Clay" Stone   Engineer