1978's Time Passages concluded British singer-songwriter Al Stewart's trilogy of albums with producer-engineer Alan Parsons which began with 1975's Modern Times and continued with the following year's Year of the Cat.  During this purple patch, Stewart earned his first hit singles in the United States, transitioning from folk troubadour at home to bona fide pop star abroad.  And while Year of the Cat, the album, charted higher than Time Passages, the latter's title track was a bigger hit in the U.S. and Canada.  Now, Time Passages is receiving the same expanded and remastered treatment from Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings arm as Year of the Cat did earlier this year.  A 3-CD/DVD Super Deluxe edition is available now alongside a 2-CD Deluxe highlights version.

In Al Stewart's case, necessity was the mother of invention.  After parting ways with the U.S. Janus label following Year of the Cat, Stewart signed with Clive Davis' Arista Records - and the mogul had very concrete ideas about what he wanted to hear.  Mark Powell's liner notes quote Stewart: "He told me he definitely wanted a song with a saxophone on it, and in the end I would give him two, both of which would make the American top 30.  I think that's the only time in my life I've ever been offered any career advice by a record company executive...Clive Davis definitely knew what he wanted, and that was something that sounded like Year of the Cat, so we made the Time Passages album."

Many of the key players from Year of the Cat returned for the Time Passages sessions held at Los Angeles' Davlen Studios.  They included alto saxophonist Phil Kenzie, guitarist Tim Renwick, multi-instrumentalist Peter White, keyboardist Peter Wood, and drummer Stuart Elliott.  Even the recording approach was similar: the band would record tracks and basic guide vocals would be laid down before Stewart would rework the lyrics and cut his final vocal.  Adding to the soft rock sheen, David Pack and Joe Puerta of Ambrosia guested, along with Toto's Jeff Porcaro.

Stewart bristled at writing to order ("I think it's probably the only time in my career that I've been asked to write hit singles, and it goes against the grain"), but "Time Passages" repeated the "Year of the Cat" formula to tremendous success, right down to Andrew Powell's string arrangement and the prominent saxophone by Phil Kenzie.  Parsons' production positively shimmers on what, despite its author's misgivings, is an altogether lovely and affecting composition.  The lyric, crafted by Stewart to music penned by Peter White, is much less esoteric than "Year of the Cat" as the singer disappears into those "time passages" in which "years go falling in the fading light."  Who hasn't wished for "a ticket on the last train home tonight" to a past that now exists only in memory?

Reflecting on "Time Passages," Stewart joked to Mark Powell that "in a perfect world, I would have liked to have managed to get Stalin mentioned somewhere in the lyrics, and then it would have been a proper Al Stewart song!"  Ever interested in bringing history into his songs, Stewart didn't shy away from that aspect on numerous tracks.  While Parsons' production and the sleek arrangements updated the singer's folk sound, these songs would have fit comfortably on Stewart's earlier albums.

"Life in Dark Water" was inspired by the real-life story of the Marie Celeste, a ship which was found abandoned and floating in the Atlantic Ocean late in 1872.  The captain and his crew were never discovered.  In Stewart's version, it's a nuclear submarine, and one crew member awakens from his slumber: "No memory, tell me what's wrong with me/Why am I alone here with no rest/And now the name of the ship's not the same/How long has it been Marie Celeste?"

"A Man for All Seasons" ponders the life and death of Sir Thomas More, executed by King Henry VIII in 1535 ("So what if you reached the age of reason/Only to find there was no reprieve/Would you still be a man for all seasons/Or would you just disbelieve?") and the hypnotic "The Palace of Versailles" ruminates on the modern-day city of Paris, still haunted by the ghosts of its revolutionary past.

Elsewhere on Time Passages, Stewart continued to address and underscore the LP's central themes of time and reflection via bittersweet character studies ("Almost Lucy," "End of the Day") and more personal story-songs ("Timeless Skies").  The mood was considerably lighter on the rocking "Valentina Way," about a lady with "devious lies and chameleon eyes," and the irresistibly catchy "Song on the Radio."  Clive Davis is again to thank for the latter.  Stewart explains in the liner notes that the Arista honcho "actually said to me, 'I need you to write a song which can be played on the radio.'  So, I thought about this and with my tongue firmly in my cheek, I wrote 'Song on the Radio.'  I thought Clive would know I was joking, but he didn't have much of a sense of humor."  He continues, "We recorded it, adding some saxophone solos by Phil Kenzie, and Clive put it out as a single which got airplay on the radio and made the top 30, so I think the joke was on me."  The effortless melody and uninhibitedly honking sax make "Song on the Radio" a memorable track and one of Stewart's brightest.

Al Stewart would self-produce 1980's 24 Carrots utilizing his touring band (featuring stalwart Peter White as well as bassist Robin Lamble who plays on Time Passages); that album's "Midnight Rocks" would be his final single to dent the pop charts on either side of the Atlantic.  He returned to a less overtly commercial sound but continued to make vivid, haunting music all the way through his final studio album to date, 2008's Sparks of Ancient Light.  Time Passages occupies a unique place in his catalogue, and Esoteric's presentation sheds additional light with its array of additional material.

The second and third CDs of the Super Deluxe box set are chockablock with rare and previously unreleased bonus material.  The single versions of "Time Passages" and "Song on the Radio" are welcome additions considering that the otherwise-exemplary Year of the Cat super deluxe box didn't include the familiar radio edits of its title track.  A previously unreleased Hollywood demo session features early versions of "Palace of Versailles" and "Timeless Skies" along with two songs that didn't make the cut for the LP, "Tonton Macoute" and "Life in a Bottle."  "Tonton Macoute" was completed for the album, however, and that outtake version is also appended to the CD 1 as a bonus track.

Eight songs from a 1978 concert recorded for Chicago's WKDX-FM were released by Arista on the Live Radio Concert Album promotional LP; now, that show has been presented in its 16-song entirety.  Among its highlights are smooth, energetic renditions of "Time Passages," "Life in Dark Water," "Palace of Versailles," "Valentina Way," and "Song on the Radio" plus a number of tunes from Year of the Cat ("On the Border," "Broadway Hotel," "If It Doesn't Come Naturally, Leave It," "One Stage Before," and the title track).  One unexpected delight is the Phil Kenzie-led run through Henry Mancini's famed "Pink Panther Theme" on which the band cuts loose with the familiar melody.  The full concert, like the Time Passages album, has been remastered from the original tapes by Dave Donnelly at Alan Parsons' Parsonics Studio.  The 2CD highlights edition has the remastered album on CD 1 and the single edits and demo session on CD 2 plus six cuts from the Chicago concert ("Time Passages," "Life in Dark Water," "The Palace of Versailles," "Valentina Way," "The Pink Panther Theme," "Song on the Radio").

As with Year of the Cat, the main attraction of the box set is Parsons' new and very discrete 5.1 surround mix from the original multitrack tapes. It brings greater depth to the music as Parsons eschews a conservative approach in favor a tasteful but wholly immersive mix.  Parsons is unafraid to use the rear channels for key instruments (such as guitars, keyboards, and the plush bed of strings on "Time Passages"), creating a swirling soundscape on nearly every track that draws the listener close.  The surround mix is presented in DTS on the NTSC region-free DVD, while the remastered stereo mix can be played in 96/24 high resolution sound.

Phil Smee has once again designed a beautiful package.  The 2CD iteration is housed in an eight-panel digipak with a 28-page booklet and a replica poster of a U.K. tour advertisement. The booklet is loaded with Mark Powell's essay, credits, handwritten lyrics, and tape box scans, but there's even more of that in the squarebound 64-page booklet accompanying the lavish, slipcased edition. It also reprints Stewart's U.K. Time Passages Tour program, adds tracking sheets for the tapes, and much more.  The replica poster is presented in larger size, and four postcards round out the set.  The discs are housed in their own folder replicating the original LP insert with printed lyrics.

"Buy me a ticket on the last train home tonight," Stewart yearningly sings on "Time Passages."  Whether one is discovering this album for the first time or revisiting an old friend, Esoteric's presentation is a well-curated, sonically superior journey with a master storyteller.  It's a ticket well worth buying.

Al Stewart, Time Passages: Deluxe Edition (Arista AB 4190, 1978 - reissued Cherry Red/Esoteric QECLEC42732, 2021)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
3CD/DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

CD 1 (Original Album and Bonus Track)

1. Time Passages
2. Valentina Way
3. Life in Dark Water
4. A Man for All Seasons
5. Almost Lucy
6. The Palace of Versailles
7. Timeless Skies
8. Song on the Radio
9. End of the Day
10. Tonton Macoute (*)

CD 2

1. Time Passages (Single Version) (Arista AS 0362, 1978)
2. Song on the Radio (Single Version) (Arista AS 0389, 1979)

August 1977 Demo Session

3. Tonton Macoute (Demo) (*)
4. Life in a Bottle (Demo) (*)
5. Palace of Versailles (Demo) (*)
6. The Hollywood Sign (On St. Stephen's Day) (Demo) (*)

Live at WKDX Chicago

7. On the Border
8. Soho, Needless to Say (*)
9. Midas Shadow (*)
10. Broadway Hotel (*)
11. If It Doesn't Come Naturally, Leave It (*)
12. Time Passages

CD 3

Live at WKDX Chicago (continued)

1. One Stage Before (*)
2. Life in Dark Water
3. Roads to Moscow
4. Sirens of Titan (*)
5. The Palace of Versailles (*)
6. Valentina Way
7. Year of the Cat
8. The Pink Panther Theme
9. Song on the Radio
10. Carol (*)

DVD (5.1 Surround and High-Resolution Stereo)

1. Time Passages
2. Valentina Way
3. Life in Dark Water
4. A Man for All Seasons
5. Almost Lucy
6. The Palace of Versailles
7. Timeless Skies
8. Song on the Radio
9. End of the Day