Friday, September 2, 2011

Cat Stevens!!!

Still sticking to artists that have come out of Britain, this week I shall give you Cat Stevens. Possibly the pioneer of Folk Rock, Cat Stevens was brought up in London, his name isn't actually Cat, that's his stage name. However he is now called Yusuf Islam, after his change of name and his adoption of Islam in 1980. Yusuf Islam is now a super holy man, philanthropist and as some religious whacko would say, he's one of "God's own children". I could care less about his change in faith and his change to Yusuf Islam, I do however love Cat Stevens. Good singer, very folksy songs he had during his peak years, has probably come out with atleast 10 odd albums, I'm not too sure, but I've only heard his Greatest Hits album and I must say, I've become a fan of Folk Rock.

The first thing you should know his Cat Stevens' music is that it is purely FOLK, so except a lot of mellow beats, slow songs, ballads if I may say so. No loud bass guitar and drum solos here, its just pure vocal bliss from this brit. When I think Cat Stevens' straight away my mind goes to "Lady D'Arbanville", not one of his greatest songs, not my a long shot, but something about this song just makes it my favorite song. "Sad Lisa", "Peace Train", "Father & Son", "Mathew & Son", "Here Comes My Baby", "The First Cut Is The Deepest" are some of his cult hits. And how can I forget his masterpiece, "Moonshadow". Brilliant song this, like I said its that type of album you will listen to at 4 am in the morning, when theres a sense of serenity in your mind, if you are disturbed or restless unable to sleep, Cat Stevens would calm you down to no end. I wouldn't be that adventurous enough to recommend the entire discography because quite clearly there's only a finite amount Folk music that one can listen to. That being said, I think Cat Stevens is well worth the download, the Best of Cat Stevens that is. He did take a nice long break after his whole name/religion change and now he's back performing religious stuff as Yusuf Islam. Not my type!!! I've been told he nearly drowned to death off the coast of California, when he exclaimed to god "Oh God! If you save me I will work for you.” Well someone saved him and now he works for God. Fair play to the guy. Anyways enjoy Cat Stevens atleast, Yusuf Islam can chill with his wife and kids in Dubai!!!


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