Izitso - CAT STEVENS***

(Remember The Days Of The) Old Schoolyard/Life/Killin’ Time/Kypros/Bonfire/(I Never Wanted)To Be A Star/ Crazy/Sweet Jamaica/Was Dog A Doughnut/Child For A Day

Singer songwriter Cat Stevens released some of the best pop-rock albums during the 1970s, but alas Izitso is not one of them. This is an uneven release which unusually for this artist features synthesisers. (US:7 UK:18)

“Perhaps it's his worst work, but it includes two of my favourite tracks: Old Schoolyard and the instrumental Kypros, which refers of course to his country Cyprus.”

“One excellent pop track Old Schoolyard, which keeps better company on any number of compilations, and lots of horrible, unlistenable junk. The Worst of Cat Stevens would have been a better title.”

“The only remarkable song here is the beautiful (I Never Wanted) To Be a Star with a fine tune and great lyrics. Absolutely unacceptable: the instrumental Was Dog A Doughnut.”

“Mediocrity abounds on this album. For the most part, the songs manage to sound both flimsy and over-baked. Izitso may be Stevens' most keyboard oriented album. There are lots of synthesizers here and even a drum machine on the instrumental Kypros.”

“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. While this album doesn't have his traditional sound to it, I think he adapted well to the use of synthesizers. This is a great timepiece of the era. He was a true original, and his presence in the music world is certainly missed.”

“This album gets a lot of flack for embracing Cat's soulful side as opposed to mellow folk, and thereby going against his musical grain to some ears. But there's a lot of quality music on here that could all too easily be overlooked.”

“I'm a big Cat Stevens fan, but this was a big disappointment to me. Except for three really great songs (Old School Yard, To Be A Star and Child For A Day) the material is lousy.”