Cat Stevens - Izitso
Our Price: $10.00
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.99 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Artist: Cat StevensEdition: Vinyl
Format: Original recording
Published: 1977
Music Label: A&M
Music reviews of Izitso
Music Review: A Sentimental Favorite
Rating: 5 Stars
This was the album, his next to last, that introduced me to Cat Stevens, and it remains one of my favorites, along with his early albums, TEA FOR THE TILLERMAN and TEASER AND THE FIRECAT. If not for my sentimental feelings toward the album, it might deserve only four stars, but Cat still shows in several spots that he can be a master at penning deep lyrics. My older brother had the album on 8-track (with two or three of the songs chopped in half - how annoying!), and I later owned the album on vinyl, cassette, and finally on CD. This album was quite a musical departure for Stevens, filled with synthesizers and often much more upbeat pop / rock with a bit harder edge than a lot of his work. Cat makes many love / romantic references along the way.
The tracks (in order)
1. (Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard - one of my favorite Cat Stevens songs. A catchy, upbeat pop song with Cat longing for his childhood and the simplicity that came with it, including first love. I love the occasional sounds of children playing in the background. This was the big "hit" of the album - I believe it made it to #11 on Billboard.
2. Life - effectively shifts back and forth between a quiet, slow ballad and a faster pop-ish tune, even incorporating some music with a real Greek feel to it. The song has as many shifts as Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. "Life - we make it what it is.
3. Killin' Time - Driving beat synthesizer with horn section and piano (or is it all synthesizer made to sound like horns and piano). The meaning of the lyrics is hard to understand, though the second verse seems to be about how people just kind of float through life, "thinking 'bout the things they might have done."
4. Kypros - a great upbeat, pop instrumental with a real Greek feel to it. The music has lots of layers that blend beautifully.
5. Bonfire - maybe my least favorite, this is a medium-tempo song about love and sex. "Your love is like a bonfire, burning deep within me... I just take off my clothes and jump into the fire again... heat me baby, heat me" A little bit strange.
6. (I Never Wanted) To Be a Star - Cat looks back at his career with several references to earlier songs. "I was seventeen. You were working for MATTHEW AND SON. The Beatles met the queen. And I wrote I'M GONNA GET ME A GUN. It was like a dream in the star machine. Oh no - is it so, IZITSO... Just another bean in the star machine." Looking at it in retrospect, you can see that Cat Stevens is well into his religious conversion at this point. A great song.
7. Crazy - kind of a bouncy Jamaican or Greek feel to this one. A love song - "I'm crazy you baby..."
8. Sweet Jamaica - another love song, this one to "...my Sweet Jamaica, country mama, brown country girl."
9. Was Dog a Doughnut? - a very bouncy synth pop instrumental. Many people would probably find the song a bit hokey, as there is a dog bark several times randomly throughout the song, but the whole thing is catchy, fun, and charming. I remember this got some local airplay after (Remember the Days of) The Old Schoolyard, but I don't think it did anything on Billboard.
10. Child for a Day - This one was co-written by Paul Travis and Cat's brother, David Gordon (interesting that both brothers changed their last names from Georgiou. Someone elsewhere said that Yusuf Islam was born "Cat Stevens." He was actually born Steven [or was it Stephen?} Georgiou, took the stage name of Cat Stevens, and changed to Yusuf Islam when he converted to Islam.). From the music and lyrics, it's very surprising that the song is written by someone other than Cat Stevens, as it seems like trademark Cat Stevens from much earlier albums. A beautiful song with great lyrics. I especially love the lush piano instrumentation that appears at times in this song (probably electric piano or synthesized piano - oh well). The different instruments are masterfully blended throughout.
While this album doesn't have the traditional Cat Stevens sound to it, I think he adapted well to the use of synthesizers. This is a great timepiece of the era. Cat Stevens was a true original, and his presence in the music world is certainly missed.
Other than the first couple (pre-Mona Bone Jakon) album, where he hadn't yet found his style, and his final album, which seems to have a bit of filler at times, I would have to rate the whole Cat Stevens catalog five stars.
Description of Izitso
Tracks: old schoolyard / life / killin' time / kypros / bonfire / to be a star / crazy / sweet jamaica / was dog a doughnut / child for a dayInternational CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in International CDs
Hopscotch - Wishful WayRelease date: 2003-11-03; Music CD
Price in other shops:
![Coral Sea Dreaming [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
David Hannan - Coral Sea Dreaming [VHS]Compass Records; Release date: 1998-11-17; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $6.25
Price in other shops:
![20th Anniversary Celebration [VHS] Image](/images/20th-Anniversary-Celebration-VHS-6302274060-X.jpg){kind=small}
Steeleye Span - 20th Anniversary Celebration [VHS]Shanachie; Release date: 1995-04-16; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $5.94
Price in other shops:
Chris Rea - Return of the Fabulous Hofner BluenotesRelease date: 2008-03-11; Music CD
Best price: $38.91
Price in other shops:
A Concert Of Angels mini: Music From J.S. Bach To Gustav Mahlerby edel Classics GmbH
Edel Classica Gmbh; Published: 2006-11-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.13
Price in other shops:
Tanzkurs Vol. 4 - Rumba & Cha Cha ChaRelease date: 2007-06-08; DVD
Best price: $10.91
Price in other shops:
Sascha Hehn & The New Symphonic Orchestra - Peter Und Der Wolf/ Karneval Der TiereRelease date: 2010-04-27; Music CD
Best price: $4.33
Price in other shops:
Jurgen Fritsche, Sven Gortz - Edgar Allan Poe: Das Grauen IIRelease date: 2009-12-08; Music CD
Best price: $6.30
Price in other shops:
Sorene. CD. Kinderlieder aus Äthiopien - Children's Songs from Ethiopiaby Peter Pannke
Sunnymoon Distribution; Published: 2000-03-01; Audio CD; Book
Tibetan Meditation Music: For Quiet Mind and Peaceful Heartby Nawang Khechog
Soundstrue; Sounds True 2007-04-01; Published: 2007; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $0.98
Similar CDs
Cat Stevens - Tea for the TillermanRelease date: 2000-05-23; Music CD
Best price: $6.33
Price in other shops:
Cat Stevens - New MastersRelease date: 1998-06-30; Music CD
Best price: $44.00
Cat Stevens - Mona Bone JakonRelease date: 2000-05-23; Music CD
Best price: $5.01
Price in other shops:
Cat Stevens - Buddha And The Chocolate BoxRelease date: 2000-07-25; Music CD
Best price: $5.06
Price in other shops:
Cat Stevens - Catch Bull at FourRelease date: 2000-07-25; Music CD
Best price: $4.58
Price in other shops:
Cat Stevens - Back to EarthRelease date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $29.00
Cat Stevens - NumbersRelease date: 2001-02-13; Music CD
Best price: $4.17
Price in other shops:
Cat Stevens - Matthew & Son (Exp)Release date: 2004-01-26; Music CD
Best price: $4.13
Price in other shops:
Cat Stevens - Teaser & The FirecatRelease date: 2000-05-23; Music CD
Best price: $6.33
Price in other shops:
Cat Stevens - ForeignerRelease date: 2000-07-25; Music CD
Best price: $5.17
Price in other shops: