In 2006, Cat Stevens, now known as Yusuf, returned with his first contemporary album in nearly three decades with `An Other Cup`.
The older was a welcome return for fans who had not heard anything that resembled the classic hits of the 70s superstar in years.
For those of you not familiar with the story, at the height of his fame in 1978, Cat Stevens converted to the Islamic religion and changed his name to Yusuf. He also turned his back on his remarkable career.
For years, he did not record but in the 90s started to record traditional Muslim albums. Then suddenly in 2005, he released a press release stating, “I guess it is only now, after all these years, that I've come to fully understand and appreciate what everyone has been asking of me. It's as if I've come full circle.”
Then he went back into the studio and recorded ‘Indian Ocean’ about the Tsunami disaster with producer A.R. Rahman. That lead to new activity. He played guitar on Dolly Parton’s version of his song ‘Where Do The Children Play’ and took part in a BBC documentary about his former career.
His son Muhammad persuaded him to pick up a guitar again. The result was ‘An Other Cup’.
Fans welcomed the return of the Cat Stevens sound but Yusuf wasn’t happy with the album. “The new album is a response to the way An Other Cup was received,” he said in a statement. ‘Fans said they wanted to hear more of me with a guitar. So this album is much more folk-tale oriented”.
‘Roadsinger’ is the Cat Stevens album you have been waiting 30 years for.
He is right when he says he has come full circle. There is a picture of him on the inner sleeve driving a VM Combo with Cat Stevens artwork and the words ‘Moonshadow’ and ‘Peace Train’ on the back, references to two old his biggest hits of the 70s.
There are also two musical references to the past of ‘Roadsinger’. The intro to ‘Be What You Must’ is borrowed from ‘Sitting’, the opening track on his 70s ‘Catch Bull At Four’ album. The final track ‘Shamsia’ is an orchestrated instrumental of the same piece.
“This part of my career feels similar in one sense to when I began,” he said. “I had to get past the songs on Mona Bona Jakon before I could make Tea For The Tillerman. This time around it was the same story. I had to lay the groundwork with my debut album An Other Cup before a bunch of new songs arrived’.
“Time rolls on, and so we carry on,” he sings in the opening song ‘Welcome Home’.
The acoustic beauty of ‘Thinking About You’ is classic Cat Stevens. In fact, you can tell that as these songs were created, they were all sourced from the same space. ‘Everytime I Dream’ adds a brass section but to supplement Yusuf’s guitar and vocals.
The autobiographical ‘Roadsinger’ again would fit nicely onto ‘Teaser and the Firecat’. ‘This Glass World’ and ‘All Kinds Of Roses’ conjures up those classic sounds of ‘Tea For The Tillerman’. I thought of ‘Wild World’ when I heard opening notes of ‘Dream On (Until)’ but that track takes on a soulful/jazz flavor, something new for Yusuf.
If you ever owned and loved a Cat Stevens album, this is a necessity to buy.
Tracklisting:
1. Welcome Home
2. Thinking 'Bout You
3. Everytime I Dream
4. The Rain
5. World O' Darkness
6. To Be What You Must
7. This Glass World
8. Roadsinger
9. All Kinds Of Roses
10. Dream On (Until...)
11. Shamsia
