Release date: Nov. 14, 2006
11 tracks; 41:20
While the name Yusuf Islam may not be familiar to you, perhaps you're more familiar with the name Cat Stevens.
In 1978, Stevens walked away from music on a personal spiritual quest.
Having changed his name to Yusuf Islam, it took 28 years for the popular folk singer to return with a CD.
"When I picked up the guitar again it was like a floodgate," he says in a press release.
From the opening track, "Midday (Avoid City After Dark)," it sound like he never lost a step over the years.
His vocals are as smooth as ever, his acoustic played simply and as melodic as always.
The album features mostly newly-written songs, with one never recorded from 1968 - "Green Fields, Golden Sands" - and one cover, Nina Simone's "Don't Let me Be Misunderstood."
He still has a jovial demeanor while singing and his lyrics focus on a better time yet to come.
"Maybe there's a world that I'm still to find/ Open up o world and let me in, then there'll be a new life to begin" are words to the chorus of "Maybe There's a World."
Two tracks, "When Butterflies Leave" and "Whispers from a Spiritual Garden" are simple songs with Islam speaking over them.
While listening to the album, it's difficult to believe that it is his first album in nearly 30 years. Hopefully, it's the beginning of many more to come.
Posted by jeffhahnedisabled at November 19, 2006 4:20 PM
