''Past, Present and Future'' is

Al Stewart Alastair Ian Stewart (born 5 September 1945) is a British singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician who rose to prominence as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s. He developed a unique style of combining folk-rock songs wi ...

's fifth studio album, released in October 1973 in the UK and in May 1974 in the US. This album is considered Stewart's first "major album" and it reached #133 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Rock Album chart in 1974. He had taken on a different approach from his previous, folkier work, an approach that would stay with him for most of his career. All songs on this record have historical themes, each song representing a decade of the 20th century. The final song, "Nostradamus," is about the famous supposed prophet and his prophecies. In the programme for the UK concert tour that promoted the album, Stewart is quoted as saying "My first four albums have been, for me, an apprenticeship. The new album.....is my thesis". It states that the album "is set for release on CBS in early October. ''Terminal Eyes'' is released as a single on September 28th." The album was performed in its entirety live at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, on 16 May 2015 as part of Al Stewart's UK tour; the performance at the Royal Albert Hall also featured the live performance of the album '' Year of the Cat'' in its entirety.

Track listing

All tracks composed by

Side one

#"Old Admirals" – 5:54 #"Warren Harding" – 2:39 #"Soho (Needless to Say)" – 3:55 #"The Last Day of June 1934" – 4:45 #"Post World War Two Blues" – 4:17

Side two

#" Roads to Moscow" – 8:00 #"Terminal Eyes" – 3:22 #"Nostradamus" – 9:43

Charts

Personnel

* Al Stewart –

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

Tim Renwick Timothy John Pearson Renwick (born 7 August 1949) is an English guitarist. He is best known for his association with Al Stewart in his early career and for his long-standing role as lead guitarist for the Sutherland Brothers & Quiver. His single ...

– electric guitar * Peter Berryman – acoustic guitar * Isaac Guillory – acoustic guitar, classical guitar * B.J. Cole –

steel guitar A steel guitar () is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar i ...

* Bruce Thomas –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Brian Odgers – bass * John Wilson –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* Peter Wood – keyboards,

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist and composer best known as a member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his prolific solo career. AllMusic describes Wakema ...

– piano, keyboards *

Tim Hinkley Timothy Alan Hinkley (25 May 1946 – 21 August 2024) was an English singer-songwriter, keyboardist and record producer. Born in London, Hinkley started playing in youth club bands in the early 1960s, with bands including the Copains, Boys and ...

– keyboards * Bob Andrews – keyboards *

Bob Sargeant Robert Sargeant (20 November 1947 – 13 July 2021) was a British musician and record producer. Life and career Born in North Shields, Sargeant played keyboards in various local bands before joining regional R&B band the Junco Partners in 1966 ...

– keyboards *

Francis Monkman Anthony Francis Keigwin Monkman (9 June 1949 – 12 May 2023) was an English rock, classical and film score composer, and a founding member of both the progressive rock band Curved Air and the classical/rock fusion band Sky. Life and career ...

–

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer ...

Alistair Anderson The High Level Ranters are a Northumbrian traditional musical group founded in 1964, best known for being one of the first bands in the revival of the Northumbrian smallpipes. Name and history The name was chosen as a combination of the locat ...

– English concertina * Richard Hewson –

string String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

s * Haim Romano –

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

Dave Swarbrick David Cyril Eric Swarbrick (5 April 1941 – 3 June 2016) was an English traditional folk musician and songwriter and one of the greatest fiddlers in the world. He was one of the most highly regarded musicians produced by the second Bri ...

– mandolin * Luciano Bravo – steel band * Lennox James – steel band * Michael Oliver – steel band * Frank Ricotti –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

* Roger Taylor – percussion * Krysia Kocjan –

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

* John Donelly – backing vocals * Mick Welton – backing vocals * Kevin Powers – backing vocals ;Technical * Mike Stone –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

* Mario Grattarola - photography

Cover art

The UK cover (CBS) is of gatefold design, with a photo of Al Stewart, unusually wearing a three-piece suit, leaning on a mantelpiece in a drawing room. The picture was taken by photographer and film director Mario Grattarola at the Geffrye Museum in

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. It was Historic counties of England, historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. Hoxton lies north-east of the City of London, is considered to be a part of London's East End ...

, London. The album's inner section and back cover include all song lyrics, brief notes by the artist about each song and also a contribution by author Erika Cheetham about Nostradamus. The US album cover (Janus Records), by

Hipgnosis Hipgnosis were an English art design group, based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, Def Leppard, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black S ...

and George Hardie, is a photography-like rendition of the

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

character

Doctor Strange Dr. Stephen Vincent Strange is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as ...

using his Cloak of Levitation to travel through a hole created in the air into an alternative universe.

References

{{Authority control Al Stewart albums 1973 albums Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis Albums produced by John Anthony (record producer) Albums recorded at Trident Studios CBS Records albums Janus Records albums Arista Records albums