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. And that's why Time Passages is the equal of Year of the Cat -- it may be more streamlined, but the adjustments to his sound and the concessions to the mainstream just increase the soft grace of his eloquent historical pop epics. It's possible to view this as too precious, because it is pitched at an audience who believes the common-day concerns of pop are piffle, but this is exceptionally well-crafted, from Stewart's songs, where even three-minute songs seem like epics, to Alan Parsons' cinematic arrangements and productions. This added concentration on the texture of the recording, ensuring that it was clean, spacious, and gentle, with a welcoming surface. Of course, this means that Time Passages can work very well as background music, but it also reveals much upon concentrated listening -- enough to make it stand proudly next to Modern Times and Year of the Cat as one of Al Stewart's very best albums.

Roxy Edition Four is a dazzler, with more writing contributions from Mackay and Manzanera, more Eddie Jobson, and a rather saucy cover (meant to be a send-up of dull, rural living magazines). Like every other early album of the band, you just simply can't go wrong with this one. Another surefire winner, a big fave, and one of the great rock albums.

Flesh + Blood is possibly one of the most overlooked albums in the band's repertoire, and quite unfortunately so. This seventh outing was released in May of 1980 and enjoyed chart success in the UK (reaching #1 status in staggered increments throughout its release year), and hit #35 on American shores. Not too shabby, considering that it is not often mentioned in reference to being among the band's best. The album which was the follow-up to Flesh + Blood, Avalon, would sadly be the band's last studio work.

Recorded and released in 1969, this Moody Blues album captures the band in all of their glorious excess. With intellectualized lyrics, overblown arrangements, and rampant experimentation, the Moody Blues manage to create an evocative, psychedelic musical experience.

Bill Nelson is both an enigma and a highly public person whose motivations sometimes seem shrouded in complex mysteries, yet whose sometimes prodigious output amounts to public development of song ideas and musical experiments. He has been both a guitar hero and the background figure in any number of art installations, exhibitions and theatrical presentations. While difficult for record company executives to grasp and often obscure to the general public, Nelson has nonetheless built up a strong and loyal fan base around the world.

This is an album for people that like Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk or Can, but find them too repetitive. Oxygene is constantly evolving, and changing mood and tone like the sun setting over the water. The music is sectioned into tracks named Oxygene parts 1-6, but the tracks merge seamlessly into each other for one long playing symphony in lush analogue synthesizers. In the old days, I remember having to flip the record over. One of the great advantages of now having it on CD is to hear the full album in one go.