I am a recent fan of Al Stewart, which started because of the song Year of the Cat (which is also a great CD as well). When I decided to purchase Modern Times I wasn't sure what I was going to get because it was the album released the year before YOTC, and after reading the track list I wasn't familiar with any song on it. That was not a problem. The disc opens with the song Carol about a woman who is "everyone's and nobody's lover". It's a tempo is quick and bright and the lyrics as with all of Al's songs are rich. Song two is Sirens of Titan a song inspired by Kurt Vonnegut's book. Like all of the songs on this CD it is catchy and fun to listen to just like the next song What's Going On about someone that "walks like Greta Garbo, but talks like Yogi Bear". Song four "Not the One" sounds a little like Jimmy Buffet but with a little more keyboard and some great imagery about a woman in a rain coat that our writer pays much attention to while waiting at a station. Next Time is a bluesy acoustic guitar tinged song which moves well sets the listener up for the next track Apple Cider Re-Constitution. Another Al Stewart masterpiece which moves and with great imagery and wonderful instrumentation that gets ones foot tapping rather easily. The last two tracks flow into one another, and set you up for the end of the album, but leave you wishing that he had another song to add to it. The Dark And Rolling Sea needs no real explanation on subject matter. It has more wonderful lyrics and beautiful guitar playing which lead us into the most haunting song I've ever heard from Al (and that is a good thing), about a Jack Kerouac type character. I can't say enough about Al Stewart's lyrics from start to finish on this CD. One of the things that cause me to call an album a classic is that the songs flow and you don't ever feel like stopping or skipping a track because they are all good. That is the case with Modern Times. All of the songs are great. Every time I listen to it I hear things that I didn't before, and when it ends I feel compelled play it again!
For those who enjoy the musical stylings of Al Stewart, this cd is a classic. More upbeat and less ethereal than Past Present & Future, but slightly lacking, perhaps, in comparison to Year of the Cat and Time Passages which featured radio airplay "hits".