All Roads Lead Here
In 1973, Al Stewart was a man at a creative crossroads. His fourth album, Orange, had described the end of a relationship whose happier days he had earlier documented, and he couldn’t face the idea of writing love songs anymore. A bold and fresh direction was required.
That commitment led him to one of his most enduring albums, Past, Present &, and a place as perhaps the foremost writer of historically based material in acoustic music. Now the record sits at the centre of Stewart’s gargantuan, 50-disc box set, , as one of 21 remastered studio albums in a collection also featuring 18 discs of live recordings, three of BBC sessions, a collector’s book, posters… the proverbial nine yards. It’s surely the definitive word on a distinctive, enduring career that began as a solo artist on record in 1967 but stretches back as a performer to the beat era. It continues to the present day with resumed touring and, just recently, an honorary berth on Cruise To The Edge (“Basically 20 prog bands and me,” he says with his sharp wit).
