The Cat is back (and I am so glad)

There was a moment in the early 1980's when I realized something. After John Lennon's death, The Beatles were never going to get together again. Sean Connery was never going to play 007 again. And Cat Stevens was never going to record another album. These three pop culture favorites of mine were gone for good.
Then suddenly, 25 years later, a small miracle happens. Cat Stevens, now Yusuf Islam, was recording a pop album.
And here it is. And I am so happy about it.

Getting a new Cat Stevens album was always a cool experience. Because it was not only about the music, but about the album art. About the illustrations. About the small quotes he would write in the liner notes.There was something special about it. Something I had not experienced in 30 years.

So I am happy to report, the music by Yusuf is pure Cat Stevens circa 1972, which is perfect. In this age where whole albums are simply about sex, it is so wonderfully refeshing to listen to simple, melodic songs about life, happiness, longing.

It is amazing to listen to Yusuf's soothing voice, sounding the same as it did so many years ago. There's a song in the CD called "Maybe There's a World" which seems to be straight of out of Cat's masterpiece "Tea for The Tillerman". It talks about a perfect world, a place where people take no sides. And living in this cynical world of war, lies, torture, prejudice..it is interesting to feel for a moment that there could be a world like that. A world of peace. I don't know, maybe I just get corny listening to a song like that. But I can tell you one thing, I have been humming that song all day.