Cat Stevens
Foreigner

THE REVIEW

Incredible, but true, there is no review of this cult by Cat Stevens!

To fill the gap, I have to go back a full 45 (forty-five) years to resurrect what I believe is the masterpiece of the English author, son of a Greek Cypriot father, a judgment at the time of release widely shared by peers, despite the illustrious predecessors: "Catch a Bull at Four", "Teaser and the Firecat", and "Tea for the Tillerman", albums that are highly respected, with memorable tracks that have entered the history of Music, more or less light. With "Foreigner", Cat makes a step forward through the complex "Suite" that occupies the entire first side, helped or pushed by a certain trend in vogue at that time, just think of "Close to the Edge" released the previous year and the album by Mike Olfield his contemporary.

Listened to today, the suite, the longest piece written and composed by Stevens, still sounds very fresh and flows by without you even noticing, despite its high longevity. Its worthy corollary is the 4 tracks on side B, among which perhaps the most famous is "The Hurt" where our hero's grit is at its peak, which is toned down by transitioning to the slow ballad "How Many Times", quite suitable for the classic slow dance of the time. "Later" follows, much more rhythmic and complex, characterized by changes in rhythm and reprised melody lines that lead to the logical and congruent conclusion in "100 I Dream", another highly rhythmic piece and permeated by Cat's unmistakable and contrasting voice.

Returning to the album, many may not know what it owes its title to, and I am certainly not here to reveal what is known, notably that Stevens, having enriched himself greatly thanks to the success of the previous three albums and pursued by the British tax authorities, certainly more "precise", at least in the 70s compared to ours, decided to escape at least 6 months a year from perfidious Albion to take refuge in what was then Brazil, not only a tax paradise, where he felt like an "exiled" foreigner (poor thing!). Consequently, the album was recorded and produced in Jamaica, an island at the time very well equipped for these kinds of ventures thanks to the passage of the Marley tornado and reggae music in general; additionally, despite the gratifying reception from his audience, it was not equally well received by critics who belittled its value and also for the reasons mentioned above, did not enable a promotional tour, something absolutely necessary in those times poor in relaunches on various media like today. This practically decreed its relative failure, the first of his long career, except in Australia where conversely, it reached peaks of sales perhaps due to the numerous Greek-origin colony stationed there.

It is difficult to predict the reception of such an album by the modern audience, I do not care much and my judgment remains firm, certainly "Foreigner" represented the peak of Cat Stevens' musical career which already from the subsequent "Buddha and the Chocolate Box" begins the inexorable musical and not crisis. Poor or if you prefer essential graphics, in black and white; the technical quality of the vinyl could have been improved and instead worsened in the digitization on CD.