Stevens was still writing lovely melodies, but unlike the preceeding albums his vocals would at times take on a rougher edge, especially on "Can't Keep It In." He was also broadening his musical palette by playing mandolin and keyboards as well as guitar. In addition, he recorded the album with the help of Alun Davies (guitar), Jean Roussel (piano, organ), Alan James (bass) and Gerry Conway (drums). Other standout tracks include "18th Avenue" and the mystical "Boy with a Moon and Star on His Head."

This album contains all the elements that made his previous two albums so successful--good songwriting and the ability to connect personally with his fans through his music. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED


Cat Stevens shifts toward prog-rock   June 7, 2001
John S. Ryan (Silver Lake, OH)
18 out of 21 found this review helpful

I don't think _Catch Bull At Four_ quite measures up to _Tea for the Tillerman_ and _Teaser and the Firecat_, nor even to the slightly less stellar _Mona Bone Jakon_. But it's still a good album.

The usual remarks about the change in Cat Stevens's vocal style strike me as overstated. Yes, he gets pretty growly on much of this album, but he got pretty growly on some of his earlier songs too (like "Changes IV"); we just didn't notice because the songs were played on acoustic guitar rather than electric keyboards.

The latter point _is_ a key difference between his earlier work and this. Both the heavier reliance on keyboards and the shift toward somewhat "darker" themes are part of Cat's attempt to move away from the acoustic-troubador stereotype and show a bit more of his range.

I think he mostly succeeds, although I'm never going to like this stuff as well as I like, say, "Into White." On some of his later albums there are lots of false steps -- but this album is a pretty even collection of his harder-edged material.

Personal favorites (as usual, not the hits): the nightmarish "Eighteenth Avenue" and the haunting "Sweet Scarlet." (Yes, I like "The Boy with the Moon and Star on His Head," but his older acoustic stuff was better.) Also of interest: "Freezing Steel" marks his first (and last? I think so) recorded performance on electric guitar. (It's also, for whatever it's worth, his second song about UFOs, "Longer Boats" being the first.)

And here's a little history for the uninitiated:

"Cat Stevens" was the stage name of Steven Georgiou, who was born in the U.K. in 1949 of a Cypriot father and a Swedish mother. Something of a musical prodigy, he released his first two albums well before he was twenty years old as was on his way to becoming a "pop star." He then fell victim to a terrible case of tuberculosis. When he returned to singing and songwriting, he had taken a decidedly more reflective turn and found himself delivering absolutely beautiful stuff with no apparent commercial potential. That was fine with him; he was no longer particularly interested in commercial success. But, perhaps ironically, his delicate confessional songs and his deliberate avoidance of "commercial-ness" turned him into a huge international star.

Well, he eventually (1977) became a Muslim and adopted the name "Yusuf Islam" (after the biblical dream-interpreter Joseph). At about that time he also left the music industry. He has since recorded a couple of albums about Islam, but his last collection of commercial music was _Footsteps In The Dark_ (ostensibly a second volume of his "greatest hits," but in fact a set of lesser-known favorites and a handful of tunes not available elsewhere).

You can feel safe in ignoring the comments from people who think he has become "rigid" and/or "intolerant." The simple fact is that nearly every Cat Stevens album (the exceptions being his first two) is filled with "spiritual seeking," and he eventually found what he was looking for in Islam. His "recent" (actually, 1989-90) remarks on Salman Rushdie were not what you probably think they were (and in particular he didn't call for Rushdie's death). He's no more "rigid" or "intolerant" than the rest of us; he's simply a religiously observant Muslim, that's all. There's a problem here only for people who think seekers should never get around to finding, or that traditional religion is more "dogmatic" than irreligion.

His songs don't need to "transcend" their creator in order to be great; there's no need to run down Yusuf in order to elevate Cat. And since they _were_ written during his "seeker" stage, they're suitable for everybody -- future Muslims or not.





Undoubtedly one of the Cat's classic albums   October 23, 2004
Pete Walker (Church Stretton, Shropshire, England)
16 out of 17 found this review helpful


It is unfortunate that many reviewers of `Catch bull at four' have tended to regard it as a poorer quality album than its two predecessors `Tea for the tillerman' and `Teaser and the Firecat'. I feel that this does the album a great injustice; no artist should be expected to remain unchanging in style, and if he had simply stayed with a winning formula after the success of `Teaser' Cat Stevens could rightly have been criticized. However, Stevens demonstrated integrity and vision throughout the early years of the 1970s, with each of his first five Island Records albums showing a clear progression and artistic development, even if on occasions (perhaps most notably `Foreigner') this was not always commercially successful.

After achieving a very focused and concise style on `Teaser', 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, and also includes the welcome re-appearance of the bouzouki to add its distinctive sound to `O Caritas'.

The mood of the album is at times somber, 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'. Though there are a couple of weaker tracks (such as `Boy...' which has a pleasant arrangements but a rather tedious, over-long lyric, and `Angelsea' which is perhaps too dominated by synthesizer sounds), these can be appreciated as valid musical experiments, and are more than compensated for by other very appealing up-tempo tracks (such as `Sitting', `Can't keep it in' and `O Caritas'). The album contains several lovely ballads, such as `Sweet scarlet' and the madrigal-like `Silent sunlight', whilst the more complex song structure of `18th avenue', with its orchestral interlude and changing rhythms, hints at the direction Cat would take with his next album `Foreigner'. The whole package is enhanced by the crystal clear remastering, and restoration of the stylish original album artwork. Altogether, `Catch bull at four' can be regarded as a very satisfying album which, along with `Tillerman' and `Teaser' ranks among Cat Stevens' best work.



One of Cat Stevens' finest albums   January 13, 2002
John P O'Connor (Germany)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

Originally released in 1972, this was Cat Stevens' sixth album and it was his most commercially successful. It's a very good CD and it certainly deserved its success. That success came in part from the merits of this album but also because it followed on from Tea For the Tiller Man and Teaser and the Firecat which had both been very well received.

Fans can argue long and hard over the merits of the three albums but the truth is that, whichever is the best, they are all very fine indeed and together they represent the peak of the artist's output. Catch Bull at Four has a harder edge than the other two. It is most noticable in the vocals and lyrics but the music too is a little heavier.

The best known song on the album is "Can't Keep It In" but that is mostly because it is the easiest one to play on the radio as it is catchy and sticks in the mind. For me, the highlight of the CD is "The Boy With The Moon And Star On His Head" a lyrical and romantic fantasy that is as good as anything else that Cat Stevens has ever recorded. It deserves a place alongside the finest English folk ballads from the days of "Greensleeves" and John Dowland.

Highlighting any of the songs on this CD means not mentioning others and that is sure to do an injustice to many songs. Everything here is memorable and distinctive and the only answer is to buy the CD, concentrate on the songs and appreciate one of the true highlights of seventies music.