A
Cat Returns
Review of An Other Cup
Atlantic/WEA
Release date 11/14/06
By Harry Katopodis
What
an awesome album! Cat Stevens (under his new
name of Yusuf Islam) released his first mainstream
pop album in 28 years called An Other Cup
and the magic is still there. It is a mellow
album with clever, insightful lyrics and beautiful
music. His voice sounds as good as ever and
his former guitarist Alun Davies and former
keyboardist Jean Roussel have reunited with
Yusuf on this album. His track Heaven (Where
True Love Goes) is a catchy, upbeat tune that
can compete with the best of today's music.
The album features 12 brand new songs. It
was co-produced by Rick Nowels who has also
worked with Madonna, Dido and K.D. Lang. The
release also marks the 40th anniversary of
the first Cat Stevens record.
Throughout
the seventies Cat Stevens, son of a Greek
Cypriot father and Swedish mother, struck
an emotional chord with millions of his fans
and now he will strike another emotional chord
with a new generation of fans. This album
contains some of his finest work. An Other
Cup will reestablish the link between Yusuf
and his fans that was cut 28 years ago. "I
feel right about making music and singing
about life in this fragile world again."
said Yusuf as he talked about his new album
in a recent interview (atlanticrecords.com).
Cat
converted to Islam, changed his name to Yusuf
Islam and took a long hiatus from the music
world immersing himself in the Islamic faith
and raising a family. Throughout those years
he helped many people with humanitarian work
and he has returned to the music scene offering
pleasure, hope and solice to his fans through
his music once again.
The
songs in An Other Cup are as good or better
than the songs in his first cup (his albums
as Cat Stevens). Every Cat Stevens fan should
have this album. You can get more information
and hear a clip at www.catstevens.com.
Harry
Katopodis is an award-winning journalist who
interviewed Yusuf Islam for Greek Accent magazine
in 1987.
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