This album was also the first helmed by Alan Parsons, the brilliant and innovative musician (he plays flute), producer and engineer (he might say "recording director") who gained notice for his work on the Beatles' Abbey Road and for working with artists like Ambrosia, the Hollies, Pink Floyd and his own Alan Parsons Project. Parsons took Stewart's folk-rock and added jazz sensibilities to it, making it more commercially attractive to the mainstream US pop market.

Again, Stewart works with a loose theme - modern times, natch - and presents a collection of still-evocative tunes including "Carol," the story of a fast girl in trouble; the rollicking "Apple Cider Reconstitution;" the sweeping, regret-filled title track; Stewart's homage to Kurt Vonnegut's sci-fi novel The Sirens of Titan and "The Dark and the Rolling Sea," a moody piece that tells a tale of high-seas suspense. Guitarists Tim Renwick and Simon Nicol and pianist Peter Wood use their instruments in service to Stewart again, wonderfully, and there is lots of lovely color provided by gorgeous string arrangments by Parsons and gifted multiinstrumentalist Andrew Powell.

Tracks:

1. Carol
   
2. Soho (Needless to Say)
   
3. What's Going On?
   
4. Not the One
   
5. Next Time
   
6. Apple Cider Reconstitution
   
7. The Dark and the Rolling Sea
   
8. Modern Times (Dave Mudge co-wrote)

Year of the Cat - (RCA, 1976; released in the US on Janus) This, Stewart's first platinum album, was the one that cemented Stewart in the annals of pop-music history (the album hit Billboard's Top 5) and made him a huge international star. Producer Alan Parsons' formula from Modern Times, mixing Stewart's historically themed folk-rock pieces with jazz conventions (like the unforgettable Phil Kenzie saxophone break in the title song) and absolute gorgeousness (Peter Wood's heartstoppingly lovely "YOTC" piano intro), worked like the proverbial charm when it came to electrifying music listeners and encouraging them to part with their dollars and pounds.

Why? Yes, the combination of the sophisticated Parsons touch with Stewart's folk-rock foundation piqued interest, but in the end, Stewart won appreciators through his unforgettable stories and songs: the arousing title track, the sad "Broadway Hotel," and "Flying Sorcery," the first of Stewart's songs to focus on the exploits of pilots. [See my recent interview with the artist for some background on his flying songs.] At the time, Billboard hailed YOTC for its "exceptionally well-arranged songs that are progressive without being pretentious. ... This set was recorded at the Abbey Road Studios in London, and through heavy use of strings has a symphonic, almost classical beauty."

Extremely noteworthy is the first appearance of guitarist Peter White, then a sessionist hired to play Spanish style guitar for the swirling, intriguing Top 20 hit "On the Border"; his long, fruitful collaboration with Stewart began on Year of the Cat.