Al Stewart - Year of the Cat (remastered)

youtube ^ | 2001 | Al Stewart

[FLNittany]

Some people didn't/don't like this song for one reason or another. Not sure why. It's a damn near masterpiece imo.

[FLNittany]

I copy/pasted the title from youtube - as you should. It’s not my title and it’s not my claim that it’s remastered.

[Fiji Hill]

When I was in eighth grade, our student newspaper reported that one of my male classmates was rumored to like Baby Love by the Supremes. What a scandal!

[Captainpaintball]

I agree

[Ikeon]

Karen could sing!! you know what bose stands for ? Buy Other Stereo Equipment..

[rlmorel]

She sure can sing, no doubt. FReeper Lazamataz sent this link to me, and it is beautiful...you might like it: LINK: Karen Carpenter - The Carpenters - Superstar - Isolated Vocals - Acapella

As for Bose, in the late Seventies and early Eighties, my two best friends worked there (one just retired a month or two ago) and I did a lot of socializing with Bose people. I went to all their parties, played on their intramural softball teams...so, when I purchased speakers, I purchased Bose.

They were innovators, and other companies copied them, but out of loyalty and to this day, I still purchase their projects not just out of loyalty, but because I like them and it supports people I know.

Now, I understand, they are a completely woke company. But then, nearly every corporate entity of any size is these days.

I can live with that small loss of money...:)

[Veto!]

Terrific! Blackie, my feral cat, knows I love him and sometimes carries on conversations with me, but he’d never come in. Quality crunchies and kind words are enough for him.

[Rockingham]

Give Blackie some time. My late father took in quite a few cats over the years, with many of them beginning as skittish neighborhood strays or ferals before taking up residence inside his screened pool patio or in the house. Regular food, shelter against the elements, and friendly human contact are all attractive. An outdoor cat shelter can also be an inducement not to wander.

[Veto!]

We’re trying. He has two houses, one I bought and one purchased by a neighbor who also feeds him. With his long, dense coat, he’s surviving terrible winters very well. I keep talking to him, from a distance, he listens attentively and absolutely knows he is loved.

We had another cat who was left behind when her owner moved out. @%@#$#@
I named her Louise. She came over for dinner many nights for about a year and now rarely. A neighbor sees her frequently, thinks she’s now living with someone.

[Rockingham]

Your surmise about Louise seems correct. Until Buddy the cat took up residence with me, he often ate food that a kind neighbor provides for a small group of strays. Since Buddy easily intimidated them from their food dishes, they and the neighbor appreciate Buddy's turn to indoor living.

[Paul R.]

It’s a bit of a sleazy story though...

[Paul R.]

“On a morning from a Bogart movie
In a country where they turn back time
You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre
Contemplating a crime
She comes out of the sun in a silk dress running
Like a watercolor in the rain
Don’t bother asking for explanations
She’ll just tell you that she came
In the year of the cat

She doesn’t give you time for questions
As she locks up your arm in hers
And you follow ‘till your sense of which direction
Completely disappears
By the blue tiled walls near the market stalls
There’s a hidden door she leads you to
These days, she says, I feel my life
Just like a river running through
The year of the cat

While she looks at you so cooly
And her eyes shine like the moon in the sea
She comes in incense and patchouli
So you take her, to find what’s waiting inside
The year of the cat

Well morning comes and you’re still with her
And the bus and the tourists are gone
And you’ve thrown away your choice you’ve lost your ticket
So you have to stay on
But the drum-beat strains of the night remain
In the rhythm of the newborn day
You know sometime you’re bound to leave her
But for now you’re going to stay
In the year of the cat

Year of the cat”

(Al Stewart / Peter Wood)

[NFHale]

Yes… I know the background… But it is still a magnificent piece of music lol

It’s a matter fact, that entire album is amazing

[newfreep]

Christopher Cross’s amazing guitar solo outro on “Ride like the Wind” is mixed waaaay down. In an interview, he intimated that was a mistake and he would have preferred his solo to be more audible but was a bit intimidated by other guitarists on the album (Larry Carlton, Jay Graydon, Eric Johnson)

Mastering, as noted above, is completely different.

One version could have dynamics compressed, top-end rolled-off, bass loudly pumped up, vocals “squeezed” or lack of space/air on the mastering.

It really gets down to the ability & the “golden ears” of the mastering engineer and the demands of the label.

As someone who has provided technical assistance and received album credits on a handful of classic & iconic albums (Rod Stewart, Doobies, Peggy Lee, Eva Cassidy, Searchers, etc), mastering is more of an art than a science.

Of course, the quality of the mixing and mastering equipment makes a HUGE difference, too.

[old-ager]

Great writeup. Thank you!

And now remixing has gone to a level I imagined but could never have done, with the “de-mixing” ability to pick out and regenerate individual parts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolver:_Special_Edition

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Now_and_Then_(Beatles_song)