Other Cup, An - Yusuf Islam > Reviews > An other cup.

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Good
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	An insight into a poets mind .  .  .
Disadvantages:	None .  .  .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Yusaf Islam was born on July 21, 1948 and was named Steven Demetre by his Greek father and Swedish mother…life went on and after returning to England to study art he became interested in Folk music and then Cat Stevens was born… Cat Stevens became a sensation in the 1970s with his suave voice and acoustic reflections…

My earliest memories of introduction to this man's music were gems like "Morning has broken", "Moonshadow", "Father and son" and "Trouble" which are still firm favourites 36 years later…and more albums were released and emotions and positive messages spilled into the songs, there was always a delicate interplay of instruments which turned songs into pretty statements with a touch of melancholy…I also found there were positive messages that could provide answers to life's problems then and now…

Life went on and Cat Stevens converted to Islam in 1977 and bowed out of the music scene…much of his time was dedicated to charitable causes and education in the new community he found himself in and this was approved by many fans, however, in the 80's he lost a lot of fans when he was quoted as calling for the death of writer Salman Rushdie, after Rushdie's Satanic Verses became a hugely popular and controversial novel about the Islam religion. The quotation was exaggerated, however, and Stevens was unfairly branded as a fanatic...in 2004, he returned to the public eye when he was denied entry into the United States after his name appeared on a no-fly list. He successfully sued British newspapers for libel because of their reports on this incident…

Life still goes on and Yusaf has released an album called "An other cup" after some 28 years of soul searching…its not folk music, it's not pop music, it's just a beautiful noise…for want of a better explanation...

I was listening to my local radio station in middle November and heard a song "Heaven (Where true love goes)" and my soul stirred…was that Cat Stevens? Yes it was, so off I went to my favourite record shop and bought the CD…put it in my linear phase sound system and had 44 minutes of absolute bliss…

The production of this music is first class but I got a sense that collaboration with other artists and his trying to justify the rewards and benefits of his conversion and imposing it on my good self is a bit over the top…in other words, the soul searching songs regarding spiritual growth and common sense questions have given way to recommendations and what has benefited him in the Islamic way of life…perhaps this is new music theme…don't get me wrong now, I don't evaluate this compilation in terms of its wisdom, I certainly can appreciate what this artist did previously and can entertain the one-sided devotion related in this music…His voice is affectionate, passionate, and fascinating as always, his songs are as powerful as ever, and his way of relating his experience is unequivocal…

There are 12 pieces of music on this CD and all are captivating and memorable but most I would think would be "Midday, Heaven and Greenfield's". My favourite of the lot is "One day at a time"…there is also a very interesting version of "Don't let me be misunderstood" made famous by the Animals and subsequent other bands…it cant be compared to others because Yusaf in his own style has made the song his own…

This CD didn't have a fanfare release and is an unexpected surprise…if you never heard of Cat Stevens then it's a pity but now you have a chance to meet Yusaf Islam…