Product Description

Cat Stevens began to taper off the winning streak he'd scored with TEA FOR THE TILLERMAN and TEASER AND THE FIRECAT on this 1972 release. CATCH BULL AT FOUR still fared well commercially, yet it lacked the focus and immediate appeal of itspredecessors. Still, the album showed Stevens's remarkable talent for writing insightful, moving lyrics and memorable, infectious melodies. Aside from the exuberantly joyous "I Can't Keep It In", the mood of CATCH BULL AT FOUR is a bit darker and edgier.
In "Sitting", for example, the singer is dogged by thoughts of stagnation and mortality while a chiming, minstrel-esque keyboard riff plays in the background. The somber mood is heightened by some hushed acoustic guitar-driven numbers ("Boy with a Moon and Star on His Head") and some stark piano ballads ("Sweet Scarlet"). The fact that Stevens was experimenting more with styles, arrangements, and dynamics here may have given some fans pause, yet his trademark charm is still in evidence, as is the dependable strengthof his songwriting.

Track Listing

1. Sitting
2. The Boy With A Moon And Star On His Head
3. Angelsea
4. Silent Sunlight
5. Can't Keep It In
6. 18th Avenue (Kansas City Nightmare)
7. Freezing Steel
8. O' Caritas
9. Sweet Scarlet
10. Ruins

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1875 in Music
• Released on: 2000-08-14
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 40 minutes

Customer Reviews

Changes
From the sparse, intimate feel of his three previous albums, Cat Stevens opted to move toward a more conventional band-based style. 'Catch Bull At Four' marks the transition and has elements of the old as well as the new. 'The Boy With A Moon And Star On His Head' is the most obvious example of the former, featuring Stevens alone on guitar while telling a tale with a mystical and erotic edge. Lyrically, he is as sharp here as ever. The exotic O' Caritas also harks back and is one of the highlights, featuring a strong vocal chorus and some vital bouzouki and Spanish guitar.

The new is well represented by the catchy, fatalistic 'Sitting' and the hit, 'Can't Keep It In.' Noticeable across the album, as on these tracks is Stevens's move from guitar to keyboards to provide musical colour. Crafted throughout with care and a fine degree of precision, it is nevertheless occasionally weak. The gritty 'Freezing Steel' is unmemorable and 'Ruins' starts well, but sounds ham-fisted in places. Even so, 'Catch Bull At Four' is one of his better albums and well worth buying.

Just as good
I bought this album when it was first released but at that time didn't think it was quite as brilliant as Tea for the Tillerman and Teazer and the Firecat.
Listening to it now some 30 or so years later,I realise that I was wrong. It is every bit as good as his earlier work..
I keep wondering whether there is any other singer / songwriter around at the moment who is quite as good as Cat Stevens / Yusuf Islam. And I don't think there is.

The Cat Grows Up In Style
This was the first Cat Stevens album I acquired, and it remains my favourite. Having grown up hearing him on the radio in the late 60s and into the 70s, I was sufficiently accustomed to his songs not to feel the need to explore his music further. Until a friend played me side 2 of this album.
What I heard was quite different from the gentle troubadour of 'Peace Train', 'Oh Very Young' and his other well known songs. This was much darker, edgier and introspective, tinged with a sadness not found in his other material.
The likes of 18th Ave and Freezing Steel speak of alienation and bewilderment, expressed with confusion and a degree of wry humour; Sweet Scarlet was heart rending from the moment I heard it and remains so to this day; and O'Caritas and Ruins conjure visions of fire and death, melancholy and regret, none of which I had associated with Cat before.
By contrast, the 1st side is somewhat lighter, but no less satisfyngly different from his previous work. Sitting speaks of his fear of being left behind but confronts it with the boldness and courage to overcome the challenge. Gentler ballads remain in the forms of Boy... and Silent Sunlight, but Angelsea is a bright and restless song of celebration, with bursts of hitherto unheard synths and backing vocals (from the likes of Linda Lewis!). Likewise the sparkling Can't Keep It In, with its electric guitar and organ is a stronger and more forthright expression than most of his earlier work, and amidst the more sombre tone of the majority of the album, seems to stand as a powerful statement of his intent to move forward regardless.
For me, this is an album that shows a man growing beyond the style (and lifestyle?) which had nurtured his initial succes, in spite of criticism from others who wanted him to remain the perfect folk pop minstrel, preserved in 60s aspic. A beautiful and courageous record.