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Product Description Magical history tours have been Al Stewart's trademark since the early 1970s, when he switched from writing about his own romantic turmoil to a wider view of the world and its rich cast of characters and events. While his 1976 international hit single, "Year of the Cat," was tied to no specific time, the albums surrounding it combined finely drawn character studies and detailed settings that ranged across continents and centuries, forming the template of history mixed with mystery for Al's subsequent recordings.Everything changes with time - except basic human motivations. Sparks of Ancient Light, Al's latest collection of songs (following 2005's A Beach Full Of Shells), spans at least 2500 years of history in its tales of exotic locations and situations, all tied to an underlying theme of "certainly and uncertainty." Something's happening in each of these songs, a sense of change and movement beneath the sometimes sedate, sometimes dramatic facades. The larger context isn't always obvious, but the emotions behind the action are always recognizable - love, greed, wanderlust, jealousy, complacency, curiosity, regret, hope.With winningly varied arrangements mixing folk, rock, classical and jazz, and immaculate production from multiple-Grammy-winning guitarist Laurence Juber (formerly of Paul McCartney's Wings), the CD both starts and ends with songs set in 1896. The opening "Lord Salisbury" examines Great Britain's prime minister flinching from the oncoming events threatening his policy of "splendid isolationism," while the protagonist of the "Like William McKinley" finale awaits the rush of progress with calm resignation. In between those bookends, we are shown "(A Child's View of) The Eisenhower Years," a bouncy evocation of post-World War II optimism; a freaked-out Elvis Presley undergoing a religious revelation as he witnesses Josef Stalin's face morphing into Jesus Christ in a desert cloud formation (true story!) in "Elvis at the Wheel"; an international con man hoodwinking the well-to-do who embrace him as their latest diversion ("Sleepwalking"); and Hanno the Navigator (in the same-named song), sailing from Carthage off the end of the world to indescribable adventures 500 years before the Christian calendar, among others. The song set closest to the present, "Shah of Shahs," finds the Shah of Iran caught in a decline of power in 1979 that eerily resembles today's scenario in the White House.With Juber and Stewart on guitars, accompanied by gliding, jazzy keyboards, a rhythm section and occasional horns and strings, the mood of each song is well-matched to its accompaniment. Al's erudite lyrics, instantly recognizable Scottish/British drawl, and seductive tunes present him at the top of his art, braiding historical fact and speculative imagination into yet another memorable collection of musical short stories that whisks us up, down and sideways in time and place. Review ". . . It's great to see him [Al Stewart] in such fine form, doing what he really does best on his new album . . . That something he does so well is weave these wonderful historical references into his songs. Literate as they are, Al Stewart's songs have this weird and wonderful way touching a personal nerve. Not only that, they can also be downright catchy. As a lyricist who has a unique way of wrapping an engaging narrative around an equally compelling melody, I'd actually put Al Stewart just a notch under people like Dylan and Neil Young. He also has that rare gift of being able to turn a phrase in the sort of cinematic, universal way that his songs become personalized in a manner that, subject matter aside, nearly anyone can relate to. On Sparks of Ancient Light, Al Stewart is back in peak historical, literate, and most importantly, lyrical form." -- Glen Boyd, BlogCritics.org"British talent Al Stewart has always been obsessed with romantic literature and history, marking him as the most incongruous of folk-flavored "pop" singers. `Year of the Cat' delivered Al a fluke hit - once. And the man is still going his own merry way on Sparks of Ancient Light (A-), citing the likes of Greek mythology, former president William McKinley, an Elvis sighting and `(A Child's View of) The Eisenhower Years.' But the guy sings and writes as well as he ever did, and in his quirky, bemused and literate way he's delivered one of the finest albums of his career." -- Jonathan Takiff, Philadelphia Daily News"The music heard on Sparks of Ancient Light is actually better than that heard on his top selling works like Year of the Cat, making this album a deeper, richer experience. . . . A masterpiece all its own . . . Classic Al Stewart in the best sense. Rich in stories and the inimitable Al Stewart style of song . . . A must have acquisition. (4½ stars)" -- Matt Rowe, MusicTap"Why bother with Cliff Notes when Stewart gives you a quick summation of the last 2,500 years in 12 songs? For those that like their pop way out in left field with something to say, clearly, this set isn't for everyone, but it's for anyone that ever got into collecting Classics Illustrated. It's a long way from `Year of the Cat' and Britney won't be using any of these songs for her comeback, but grown ups need something to listen to also. NPR to the max." -- Chris Spector, Midwest Record About the Artist Al Stewart was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1945 and moved with his family to Bournemouth, a seaside town in the south of England, at an early age. It was there that Al bought his first guitar - from future Police guitarist Andy Summers - and learned his first guitar licks from Robert Fripp, later the leader of King Crimson.Leaving school at 16, Al began his musical resume as a guitarist for various local bands - "I wanted to be Al Beatle . . . I wanted to be Keith Richards" - before exposure to Bob Dylan's songs shifted his focus from instrumentalist to vocalist and lyricist.In 1965, Al moved to London, where he shared a flat with Paul Simon, and served as emcee at the famed Les Cousins folk club, fraternizing with rising young talents like Simon, Ralph McTell, and Cat Stevens. He was soon writing and performing his own songs at Les Cousins and other folk clubs and colleges across England.Following a 1966 single, "The Elf," Al's first album, Bedsitter Images, was released in the UK in 1967 (and years later in the US). Al's follow-up, Love Chronicles, won him a measure of fame and infamy for its intimate tales of Al's romantic life, including a 19-minute title song that, um, climaxed with the use of a then-shocking vulgarism for "fornicating." The CD also featured exemplary musicianship by a pre-Led Zeppelin Jimmy Page and a pseudonymous Richard Thompson on lead guitars.After releasing several more albums written in autobiographical mode, Al shifted his lyrical gaze outward, into history, literature and current events. He debuted this approach on 1973's Past, Present & Future, highlighted by "Nostradamus," "Roads to Moscow" and one of Al's personal favorites, "Old Admirals." His next LP, Modern Times, cracked the US Top 40 charts in 1975 and led to a full-length US tour for Al and his band.With groundwork laid and touring dues paid, Al's next album exploded in American and elsewhere: Year of the Cat (1976) spun off two Top 20 hits (the indelible title song and "On the Border") en route to becoming a million-selling release itself. Al's next album, 1978's Time Passages, repeated the success of its predecessor, selling a million copies and yielding the Top 10 title track and Top 30 single, "Song on the Radio."The rise of late '70s punk rock, which was more about spitting on history than chronicling it, coincided with management and record label problems for Al, who had moved to California, and his recorded output slowed. In the early '90s, he returned to his folk roots with a solo tour of the UK and the release of Famous Last Words, utilizing acoustic instrument- ation and traditional folk and classical styles. Between the Wars (1995), which focused on the 1920s and '30s, marked Al's first collaboration with former Wings guitarist Laurence Juber; their next effort, Down in the Cellar (2000), was a concept album incorporating Al's knowledge of fine wines into his you-are-there historical and personal narratives; the CD was only released in Europe at the time and led to a drought of new Stewart material finally broken by 2005's A Beach Full of Shells on Appleseed, on which, noted the All Music Guide, "both his vocal style and craftsmanship remains intact," while the Miami Herald concluded that "this venerable singer/songwriter is still doing what he does best, and clearly his best is as good as ever." See more