Al Stewart - 24 Carrots
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CD Details
Artist: Al StewartEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2007-08-28
Music Label: Collector's Choice
Soundtracks:
- Running Man
- Midnight Rocks
- Constantinople
- Merlin's Time
- Mondo Sinistro
- Medley: Murmansk Run/Ellis Island
- Rocks In the Ocean
- Paint By Numbers
- Optical Illusion
- Candy Came Back
- The Ringing Of Bells
- Tonton Macoute
Music reviews of 24 Carrots
Music Review: Beginning to Slide, but Still a Worthwhile Listen
Rating: 3 Stars
24 Carrots really marks a point where the listening public was beginning to tune out from Al Stewart. The album is a step down from the last four Al Stewart studio releases - Past, Present & Future, Modern Times, Year of the Cat, and Time Passages - all of which are excellent. It also reveals a different sound, as whereas all of those previous releases were steeped in folk rock, 24 Carrots showcases Al collaborating with a louder backing band - Shot in the Dark. There is a much heavier electric guitar sound to this album. For the first time since Modern Times as well, Al would be without Alan Parsons behind the soundboard, replaced by a relative rookie, Chris Desmond - and it shows.
That said, 24 Carrots is not a terrible album. There are more than a few good songs here which would have benefitted from better production. The highlight is Murmansk Run / Ellis Island which shows Al true to form - intelligent historically inspired lyrics backed by a great musical riff. This is really the standout of the album and it's worth a purchase for this alone. There are also some fine moments with Merlin's time, a beautiful medieval acoustic piece that showcases Peter White on guitar and that wouldn't sound out of place on a John Renbourn recording. The closing track, Optical Illusion, also has some great metaphorical poetry and ends the album on a nice note.
None of the rest are terrible.
Running Man seems to be loosely based on the manhunt for Josef Mengele, consequently, a timely subject for 1980 when this album was released, a time when many thought he might still be found alive somewhere in a South American jungle, and whose myth had fueled a cottage industry of films and TV specials. Midnight Rocks and Rocks in the Ocean are pleasant, but lyrically, below what we've come to expect from Al. Constantinople suffers from the opposite - great lyrics, this time about the Crusades, but the musical direction on this one doesn't do it justice. Mondo Sinistro is a comical throwaway which I had hated at one time, but have actually come to like since seeing Al do a very tongue-in-cheek version of it at a concert in Bellevue, Washington in 2006. Even Al has conceded in concert that Paint by Numbers sounds like a Blue Oyster Cult tune - and it does. But with better lyrics. This song works much better when performed acoustically in concert than it does here where its plugged in and amped up.
As for the three bonus tracks, they are all lousy. Yank this one from your CD player after Optical Illusion - where the original album ended - and you'll be much happier. I've come to realize that the vast majority of the time, there are very good reasons why these "bonus tracks" never made it to the original recordings.
In sum, 24 Carrots is not Al Stewart's finest moment, but neither is it his worst. One can only wonder what it could have been had Al been receiving better musical advice at the time and had a more experienced producer.
Description of 24 Carrots
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