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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A lost folk/acoustic gem, 8 Sep 2007
I first discovered this great little album on vinyl amongst my parents' occasionally dubious record collection, and didn't expect much of it. I knew nothing of Al Stewart, and had never seen this album available on cd.
However, it quickly revealed itself to me to be one of the very best albums of 1969, and a great addition to any record collection. Its availability as a stand alone album for the first time on cd must be a cause for celebration.
It opens with the fantastic 'In Brooklyn', which bursts into your ears with the phrase 'I came from Pittsburgh to study astrology'. The guitar playing particularly is fantastic, but Al's real gift lies in his skillfull manipulation which, to a modern ear, is strongly reminiscent of the style of Alex Turner from The Arctic Monkeys.
Old Compton Street Blues is another really lovely track, melancholy and beautiful. 'And the circle turns and turns and turns and turns...' sings Al, somehow capturing a real sense of late adolescence.
Ballad of Mary Foster is another great domestic portrait, Stewart weaving words around his finger a little like a muscial D H Lawrence.
Life and Life Only has something of the grandeur of Led Zeppelin, but soften by Al's style into another fantastic celebration of the ordinary. There is real poetry that floats upon a grinding, moody guitar track that somehow manages to be dark, but not overbearingly so.
We then get You Should Have Listened to Al, a fantastically urbane picture of a relationship crisis.
The final track, Love Chronicles, is legendary because of its length, and its use of an expletive. However, beyond this is the fantasically real sense of truth behind the love-dramas that unfold. There is something vitally English and honest about it, so much so that when the expletive does come, it floats past without notice. There is an emotional honesty and ambition which is really inspiring.
If your ears are fond of Rubber Soul era Beatles, early Led Zeppelin, Fairport Convention and Paul Simon - or even, as I mentioned, the down-to-earth style of bands like the Arctic Monkeys or the strange wistfulness of many bands in the new-folk movement, then this should be an essential album.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Melody Maker's folk album of the year - 1969!, 17 Jul 2007
There is no doubt that this is far better album than Bed-sitter Images. Re-mastered at long last, with far better sound quality than the earlier version, this is an essential album for any Al Stewart fan. It's good to hear that no 'sound enhancements' have been attempted - there's master tape noise and Al's voice is quite nasal and sibilant - just as the original LP was - an excellent job. There are two overlooked classics - Post Compton Street Blues and The Ballad of Mary Foster - along with In Brooklyn, Life and Life Only and You Should have Listened to Al. I am not a fan of the notorious 18 minute title track however - musically it's fine but the subject matter is dubious! The production is wonderfully sixties, the musianship first-class (members of Fairport Convention and Jimmy Page). Bonus tracks that don't fit in with the period are included (they're OK but not essential). It's good to see this finally available on its own at last and sounding as it should.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Love Chronicles, 11 Mar 2009
...wish I did I have a video review...
I covered the title track in a South London Folk Club back in the 70? Got a listening audience and a reaction from one punter who asked " Did you write that?" Wish I had answered in the affirmative , could have pulled!
I love the way the tracks relate to a personal experience, well told. The whole experience is bolstered by the inclusion of J Page on guitar in various places. Been looking for this for donkeys... Nice coat Al... You don't mind if I call you Al (do you)
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