Year Of The Cat
by Al Stewart

Year Of The Cat by Al Stewart
Year: 1976
Release date: 1976-10-22
Overall rank: 2,260th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 223 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1976 (36th)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (409th)
Award Best albums of all time (2,260th)

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Product Details
Availability

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Al Stewart: Year of the Cat 1976 Vinyl LP Gatefold Janus Records JXS-7022 VG+
Condition: Used


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1976 AL STEWART YEAR OF THE CAT" 1st US Press Complete W/Sleeve! VG+ W/Sticker
Condition: Used


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Al Stewart Year Of The Cat Original Masters Recording 1976 Complete EX/EX
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Al Stewart bestography

Year Of The Cat is ranked as the best album by Al Stewart.

Al Stewart album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (2,260th)
Year Of The Cat
Lower ranked (7,667th) »
Time Passages

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Year Of The Cat track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Year Of The Cat rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 2,260th | 1970s rank: 409th | 1976 rank: 36th

Year Of The Cat collection

Year Of The Cat ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 223 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 223 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 
04/23/2026 15:24 classicjoe  Ratings distribution  44278/100
 
85/100
 
04/14/2026 09:09 Liks_on_music  Ratings distribution  64081/100
 
75/100
 
12/27/2025 00:27 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  10,92770/100
 
85/100
 
12/23/2025 09:52 platus  Ratings distribution  5,85074/100
 
80/100
 
10/29/2025 16:24 spinout  Ratings distribution  3,42181/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.0/100, a mean average of 77.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.7.

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Year Of The Cat comments

Showing all 9 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
95/100
From 08/12/2025 04:39 | #310514
The best album by a great songwriter.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 07/31/2022 13:11 | #287991
Album Rating: 73.00
(657/9)

1.Lord Grenville. 68
2.On The Border. 74
3.Midas Shadow. 67
4.Sand In Your Shoes. 70
5.If It Doesn't Come Naturally, Leave It. 72
6.Flying Sorcery. 73
7.Broadway Hotel. 77
8.One Stage Before. 73
9.Year Of The Cat. 83
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 01/05/2022 15:54 | #278623
Mi álbum favorito de Stewart y mis canciones favoritas de él (Year Of The Cat y On The Border).
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 01/01/2021 22:58 | #263605
One of my all time favourite albums. Such an impressive collection of songs. Seriously underrated album and artist.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 12/16/2020 11:00 | #262761
This is probably my all-time Number 1 album. Of course, our choices are always mixed up with the time in our lives that they so reflect. But every single track brings up deep-seated memories and feelings. Just a beautiful album, even having listened to it for the last 45 years.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 04/14/2017 17:56 | #189291
This is a high quality album produced and engineered by Alan Parsons. The song "Year of The Cat" is a masterpiece.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 11/23/2015 20:41 | #153363
This album is one of my top 100 albums (check out the rest of my eclectic choice if you like) just because it is plainly a classic: the voice and the song writing of Al Stewart on this album is just fabulous. Since then he he wasn't able to follow up on this one but that doesn't matter. This album has it all.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 10/09/2013 11:43 | #88036
Where do you start on this one... It is great all over. From "Year Of The Cat" to "Broadway Hotel", "Lord GrenVille" to "One Stage Before", "On The Border" to ...
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 05/04/2010 07:12 | #11384
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.

Is there a more visual set of lyrics? This, the Title Song alone is worth the price of admission for this Album. The above lyric is an example of Al Stewarts song writing skills, an underrated artist... "A year of the Cat" is his finest hour, I highly recommend .
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +15 votes (15 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1976
1. Songs In The Key Of Life by Stevie Wonder
2. Station To Station by David Bowie
3. Ramones by Ramones
4. Hotel California by Eagles
5. Boston by Boston
6. Desire by Bob Dylan
7. Hejira by Joni Mitchell
8. 2112 by Rush
9. The Modern Lovers by The Modern Lovers
10. A New World Record by Electric Light Orchestra