Catch Bull At Four - CAT STEVENS*****

Sitting/Boy With A Moon & Star On His Head/Angelsea/Silent Sunlight/Can't Keep It In/18th Avenue (Kansas City Nightmare)/Freezing Steel/O'Caritas/Sweet Scarlet/Ruins

Overall Catch Bull At Four is another very strong and diverse album from Cat Stevens at the height of his creative powers. However, it does contain a rare dud track, the tedious Boy With A Moon & Star. On a more positive note it features the top 20 hits Sitting and Can’t Keep It In. (US:1 UK:2)

“This music remains a monument to late sixties-early seventies consciousness, a pillar to the edifice of the whole notion that we could change the world and make it a better, more tolerant, and more humane place to live in. All the music here is wonderful, and I can listen to the album without missing a single lovely beat.”

“The early seventies Cat Stevens albums are pretty amazing including this one. He's trying to change his style here a bit from his last three albums, but his talents were still firmly in place. This is more of a rock album, but there’s still some of the old style left, but its the new directions this album takes that makes it a great listen. Stevens wrote great melodies, and there are some great tunes here.”

“Another great album in which Cat has mostly avoided rehashing his softer melody style, and has introduced a more brash and energized style.”

“Cat Stevens understandably wanted to experiment with more unusual song structures and ambitious arrangements, and the result is a somewhat more stylistically diverse album than its predecessors. As a result it is, if anything, a stronger, more musically satisfying album, and includes new elements such as electric guitar, synthesizer, female backing vocalists and the accomplished keyboard work of Jean Roussel. At the same time, the album retains much of what made Cat's earlier work appealing. The mood is at times sombre, reflecting Stevens' continuing spiritual pilgrimage at this time, and his deep feelings perhaps show through most in the opening track Sitting and the bleak closing song Ruins.”

“It is a little darker than some of his other albums, and more personal. His voice is raw and emotional on most of these songs which is not something that you hear from most pop stars today. If you're a Cat Stevens fan, you should definitely add this one to your collection.”