As good as portions of it were, Orange was essentially a transitional effort, the necessary bridge to Past, Present & Future, the record where Al Stewart truly begins to discover his voice.
This is largely through his decision to indulge his fascination with history and construct a concept album that begins with "Old Admirals" and ends with "Nostradamus" and his predictions for the future.
A concept like this undoubtedly will strike prog warning bells in the minds of most listeners but, ironically, he has stripped back most of the prog trappings from Orange, settling into a haunting folk bed for these long, winding tales.
If anything, this results in an album that is a bit too subdued, but even so, it's apparent that Stewart has finally found his muse, focusing his songwriting and intent to a greater extent than ever before.
Now, the key was to find the same sense of purpose in record-making -- he didn't quite get it here, but he would the next time around.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old AdmiralsAl Stewart | Al Stewart | Play | 05:54 | 13 MB | 38 MB |
| 2 | Warren HardingAl Stewart | Al Stewart | Play | 02:38 | 6 MB | 17 MB |
| 3 | Soho (Needless to Say)Al Stewart | Al Stewart | Play | 03:53 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 4 | The Last Day of June 1934Al Stewart | Al Stewart | Play | 04:44 | 10 MB | 28 MB |
| 5 | Post World War Two BluesAl Stewart | Al Stewart | Play | 04:16 | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| 6 | Roads to MoscowAl Stewart | Al Stewart | Play | 07:59 | 18 MB | 53 MB |
| 7 | Terminal EyesAl Stewart | Al Stewart | Play | 03:21 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 8 | NostradamusAl Stewart | Al Stewart | Play | 09:43 | 22 MB | 62 MB |
| 42 mins | 97 MB | |||||
| 42 mins | 280 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alistair Anderson | Concertina, Conductor |
| 2 | Bob Andrews | Keyboards |
| 3 | John Anthony | Producer |
| 4 | Peter Berryman | Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic) |
| 5 | Luciano Bravo | Percussion |
| 6 | B.J. Cole | Guitar (Steel) |
| 7 | John Donnelly | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 8 | Isaac Guillory | Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic) |
| 9 | Richard Hewson | Arranger, Strings |
| 10 | Tim Hinkley | Keyboards |
| 11 | Hipgnosis | Cover Design |
| 12 | Lennox James | Percussion |
| 13 | Krysia Kocjan | Vocals (Background) |
| 14 | Francis Monkman | Moog Synthesizer, Synthesizer |
| 15 | Brian Odgers | Bass |
| 16 | Michael Oliver | Percussion |
| 17 | Kevin Powers | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 18 | Tim Renwick | Guitar, Guitar (Electric) |
| 19 | Frank Ricotti | Percussion |
| 20 | Haim Romano | Mandolin |
| 21 | Bob Sargeant | Keyboards |
| 22 | Al Stewart | Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Keyboards, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 23 | Mike "Clay" Stone | Engineer |
| 24 | Dave Swarbrick | Mandolin |
| 25 | Roger Taylor | Percussion |
| 26 | Bruce Thomas | Bass |
| 27 | Rick Wakeman | Keyboards |
| 28 | Mick Welton | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 29 | John Wilson | Drums |
| 30 | Peter Wood | Keyboards |
| 31 | Peter Woods | Accordion, Keyboards |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |