Cat Stevens - Back to Earth

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Music reviews of Back to Earth

Music Review: A fitting farewell
Rating: 4 Stars

But none of them are of the stratospheric quality of his finest three albums. He had two absolutely great albums -- _Tea for the Tillerman_ and _Teaser and the Firecat_ -- and _Mona Bone Jakon_ was mighty close. If you have those three, you have most of the "very best of" Cat Stevens already, never mind those other "best of" collections. (The rest of the best is on _Buddha and the Chocolate Box_ -- "Oh, Very Young" and "Sun/C79.")

Nevertheless, _Back to Earth_ is a _good_ album -- both on its own terms and as Cat's farewell to the life of the "pop star." Most of his familiar themes are here -- children, father-son relationships, the beginnings and endings of romance -- and the music has, at times, something of the gentle touch we knew from his earlier work.

I don't personally think there are any real standout tunes here; I like "Just Another Night," I enjoy the hit "Bad Brakes" about as much as I enjoy "Can't Keep It In" (from _Catch Bull at Four_), and so forth, but there's no single tune that really grabs me. And I do think there are a couple of false steps (I can safely predict that I'm probably never going to care much for "New York Times"). But the album is much better crafted than you might think from what people sometimes say about it.

All in all, it's a fitting final collection from a fine singer/songwriter. Speaking of which, here's a little history for the uninitiated:

"Cat Stevens" was the stage name of Steven Georgiou, who was born in the U.K. in 1949 of a Cypriot father and a Swedish mother. Something of a musical prodigy, he released his first two albums well before he was twenty years old and was on his way to becoming a "pop star." He then fell victim to a terrible case of tuberculosis. When he returned to singing and songwriting, he had taken a decidedly more reflective turn and found himself delivering absolutely beautiful stuff with no apparent commercial potential. That was fine with him; he was no longer particularly interested in commercial success. But, perhaps ironically, his delicate confessional songs and his deliberate avoidance of "commercial-ness" turned him into a huge international star.

Well, he eventually (1977) became a Muslim and adopted the name "Yusuf Islam" (after the biblical dream-interpreter Joseph). At about that time he also left the music industry. He has since recorded a couple of albums about Islam, but his last collection of commercial music was _Footsteps In The Dark_ (ostensibly a second volume of his "greatest hits," but in fact a set of lesser-known favorites and a handful of tunes not available elsewhere).

You can feel safe in ignoring the comments from people who think he has become "rigid" and/or "intolerant." The simple fact is that nearly every Cat Stevens album (the exceptions being his first two) is filled with "spiritual seeking," and he eventually found what he was looking for in Islam. His "recent" (actually, 1989-90) remarks on Salman Rushdie were not what you probably think they were (and in particular he didn't call for Rushdie's death). He's no more "rigid" or "intolerant" than the rest of us; he's simply a religiously observant Muslim, that's all. There's a problem here only for people who think seekers should never get around to finding, or that traditional religion is more "dogmatic" than irreligion.

His songs don't need to "transcend" their creator in order to be great; there's no need to run down Yusuf in order to elevate Cat. And since they _were_ written during his "seeker" stage, they're suitable for everybody -- future Muslims or not.

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