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Between 1970 and 1972, Cat Stevens recorded four albums in the same manner, using the same producer and many of the same musicians, painting the album covers, and assigning the records ponderous titles. Things changed with his next album, Foreigner. The recording itself had been produced by Stevens, and while a couple of Stevens' usual backup musicians had been retained, New York session musicians appeared, and second guitarist Alun Davies was gone. With him went the acoustic guitar interplay that had been the core of Stevens' sound, replaced by more elaborate keyboard-based arrangements complete with strings, brass, and a female vocal trio featuring Patti Austin. It's easy to look at the 18-plus minute "Foreigner Suite" that took up the first side and accuse Stevens of excess and indulgence. What should be kept in mind, however, is that his peers in 1973 were acts like Jethro Tull and Yes, who in turn were taking their cue from the Beatles' Abbey Road and the Who's Tommy. Call Foreigner ambitious, then, rather than indulgent. Actually, the suite is full of compelling melodic sections and typically emotive singing that could have made for an album side's worth of terrific four-minute Cat Stevens songs, if only he had composed them that way. As it is, the suite is a collection of tantalizing fragments. But the album's second side, featuring the Top 40 hit "The Hurt," demonstrates that, even in the four-minute range, his songwriting and arranging were becoming overly busy. On the whole, Foreigner marked a slight fall-off in quality from Catch Bull at Four, which itself had marked a slight fall-off from Teaser and the Firecat. The decline seemed more extreme, though, because Foreigner clearly was intended to be better than its predecessors. That's the risk of ambition.
© William Ruhlmann /TiVo
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Patti Austin, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Tasha Thomas, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Phil Upchurch, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Cat Stevens, Producer, Acoustic Guitar, Bass Guitar, Organ, Piano, Vocals, Synthesizer, Recording Arranger, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Paul Martinez, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Gerry Conway, Drums, Percussion, AssociatedPerformer - Jean Roussel, String Arranger, Bass Guitar, Piano, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Mazen Murad, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Mike Bobak, Additional Mixer, StudioPersonnel - John Middleton, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Barbara Massey, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2024 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Bernard Purdie, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Phil Upchurch, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Cat Stevens, Producer, Organ, Piano, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Paul Martinez, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Jean Roussel, String Arranger, Horn Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Mike Bobak, Additional Mixer, StudioPersonnel - John Middleton, Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2024 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Herbie Flowers, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Bernard Purdie, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Phil Upchurch, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Cat Stevens, Producer, Organ, Piano, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Jean Roussel, String Arranger, Horn Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Mike Bobak, Additional Mixer, StudioPersonnel - John Middleton, Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2024 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Bernard Purdie, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Patti Austin, Voices, AssociatedPerformer - Tasha Thomas, Voices, AssociatedPerformer - Phil Upchurch, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Cat Stevens, Producer, String Arranger, Piano, Vocals, Rhythm Arranger, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Paul Martinez, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Jean Roussel, String Arranger, Rhythm Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Mike Bobak, Additional Mixer, StudioPersonnel - John Middleton, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Barbara Massey, Voices, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2024 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Bernard Purdie, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Phil Upchurch, Electric Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Cat Stevens, Producer, Clarinet, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals, Synthesizer, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Paul Martinez, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Mike Bobak, Additional Mixer, StudioPersonnel - John Middleton, Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2024 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
Album review
Between 1970 and 1972, Cat Stevens recorded four albums in the same manner, using the same producer and many of the same musicians, painting the album covers, and assigning the records ponderous titles. Things changed with his next album, Foreigner. The recording itself had been produced by Stevens, and while a couple of Stevens' usual backup musicians had been retained, New York session musicians appeared, and second guitarist Alun Davies was gone. With him went the acoustic guitar interplay that had been the core of Stevens' sound, replaced by more elaborate keyboard-based arrangements complete with strings, brass, and a female vocal trio featuring Patti Austin. It's easy to look at the 18-plus minute "Foreigner Suite" that took up the first side and accuse Stevens of excess and indulgence. What should be kept in mind, however, is that his peers in 1973 were acts like Jethro Tull and Yes, who in turn were taking their cue from the Beatles' Abbey Road and the Who's Tommy. Call Foreigner ambitious, then, rather than indulgent. Actually, the suite is full of compelling melodic sections and typically emotive singing that could have made for an album side's worth of terrific four-minute Cat Stevens songs, if only he had composed them that way. As it is, the suite is a collection of tantalizing fragments. But the album's second side, featuring the Top 40 hit "The Hurt," demonstrates that, even in the four-minute range, his songwriting and arranging were becoming overly busy. On the whole, Foreigner marked a slight fall-off in quality from Catch Bull at Four, which itself had marked a slight fall-off from Teaser and the Firecat. The decline seemed more extreme, though, because Foreigner clearly was intended to be better than its predecessors. That's the risk of ambition.
© William Ruhlmann /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 5 track(s)
- Total length: 00:35:29
- Main artists: Cat Stevens
- Composer: Cat Stevens
- Label: UMC (Universal Music Catalogue)
- Genre: Pop/Rock Pop
© 2024 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited ℗ 2024 Island Records, a division of Universal Music Operations Limited
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