Cat Stevens - Buddha And The Chocolate Box
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CD Details
Artist: Cat StevensEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2000-07-25
Music Label: A&M Records
Soundtracks:
- Music
- Oh Very Young
- Sun/C79
- Ghost Town
- Jesus
- Ready
- King of Trees
- A Bad Penny
- Home in the Sky
Music reviews of Buddha And The Chocolate Box
Music Review: His last really good album
Rating: 4 Stars
Cat Stevens 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.
_Buddha and the Chocolate Box_, which was something of a return to his earlier style after the ill-advised _Foreigner_, is notable primarily for "Sun/C79" and "Oh, Very Young." There are other good songs on here too ("A Bad Penny," "Music") but nothing that approaches the stratospheric quality of _Tea_ and _Teaser_.
And (in my own opinion, anyway) he never reached even this level again. Not that his later stuff isn't good at all, mind you, but it's just not the same. If you're not a Cat Stevens completist but you want more than just his "very best," I recommend that you get _Mona_, _Tea_, and _Teaser_, and then get this one and _Catch Bull At Four_. And buy _Footsteps in the Dark_ if it's ever re-released. (For some reason _nothing_ from this album showed up on _Footsteps_.)
Now 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.
Description of Buddha And The Chocolate Box
All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.If veteran Cat Stevens fans were nervous in the wake of the previous album's (Foreigner) sometimes sketchy experimentalism, they must surely have been gratified by the singer-songwriter's return to form here. Reuniting with producer Paul Samwell-Smith, this 1974 collection kicks off with the bracing "Music" and never looks back, managing to be both more adventurous and focused than its predecessor. Though perhaps belied by the preciousness of the hit "Oh, Very Young," there's a muscular determination to songs like "Sun/C79" and "Ready" that serves Stevens well. Lyrically, tracks like "Jesus," "King of Trees," and "Home in the Sky" give early hints of Stevens's spiritual quest, though delivered through Samwell-Smith's eclectic, if still pop-focused production. Even to jaded ears, the album still sounds fresh in 2000 and may well sound like Cat Stevens's best work. --Jerry McCulley
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