| Product Summary | | Label: Universal Music Group | | UPC: 00602527015774 | | Release Date: 5/5/2009 | | Buy.com Sku: 210894922 | | Item#: M4LXWP | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 191 | Format:  CD |
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| Song Listing |  |
Disc 1
| | Song Title | Sample | | 1. Welcome Home ~ Yusuf |  | | 2. Thinking 'Bout You ~ Yusuf | | | 3. Everytime I Dream ~ Yusuf | | | 4. Rain, The ~ Yusuf | | | 5. World O' Darkness ~ Yusuf | | | 6. Be What You Must ~ Yusuf | | | 7. This Glass World ~ Yusuf | | | 8. Roadsinger ~ Yusuf | | | 9. All Kinds of Roses ~ Yusuf | | | 10. Dream On (Until) ~ Yusuf | | | 11. Shamsia ~ Yusuf | |
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| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel: Yusuf (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, 12-string guitar, piano, organ, bass synthesizer, percussion); Morisa Angell (viola). | | Additional personnel: David Davidson, David Angell (violin); Chris Wilkinson (viola); John Catchings, Anthony LaMarchina (cello); Jimmy Bowland (tenor saxophone); Jennifer Kummer (French horn); Chris McDonald (trombone); Gill Long (tuba); Will Simmons (wind chime). | | Audio Mixer: Michael Brauer. | | Arranger: David Davidson. | | ROADSINGER is the second album the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens (and before that, Steven Georgiou) has released in a secular, Western pop style since 1978, well before he embraced Islam, changed his name to Yusuf, and began releasing Islamic-oriented spoken-word and musical material. Like its 2006 predecessor, AN OTHER CUP, ROADSINGER harks back to the Cat Stevens who dominated the charts in the '70s with a warm, accessible folk-pop sound. And while the lyrics here are not without their spiritual content, there's nothing overt or denominational about it. Probably even less so than what you'd find on any given U2 album, for instance. The pace is mostly slow to moderate here, with a reflective tone prevailing, but then, his classic albums like TEA FOR THE TILLERMAN were never exactly about raving rockers either. Ultimately, ROADSINGER is all about Yusuf/Cat/Steven getting back to what he does best--agreeably earnest, unfailingly melodic, amiably easygoing, acoustic-based tunes whose weight can easily be obscured by their abundance of ear-catching hooks. |
Producer: Yusuf |
Engineer: Will Hensley; Doug Tyo; Iain Hill; Heather Sturm; Dyre Gormsen; Bobby Shin; Thomas Juth; Taemin Choi; Ramzi Ammouri; Bob Engel; John Hanlon |
| | Compilation Appearances |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 05/05/2009 | | Original Release Date : 2009 | | Catalog ID : 0157 | | Label : Eder Music | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00602527015774 |
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| | Professional Reviews | | Billboard (p.63)
- "The 11-tune collection marks Yusuf's harking back to his TEA FOR THE TILLERMAN/TEASER vein of reflective spiritual quest in a musical setting that is largely acoustic and intimate, recorded live with minimal overdubs."Q (Magazine)
(p.135)
- 3 stars out of 5 -- "[A] set of finely crafted folk songs in the style of his 1970 breakthrough TEA FOR THE TILLEMAN....60-year-old Yusuf still has a message worth hearing." Record Collector (magazine)
(p.98)
- 3 stars out of 5 -- "Recorded almost entirely live with a small group of players, most of these songs could have sprung from early 70s sessions, such is their alluringly familiar intimacy..." |
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| | Bio | | | Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens) Born Steven Demetre Georgiou, the son of a Greek Cypriot restaurant owner and Swedish mother, he grew up in a flat above the family shop in London's theatre district, situated at the northernmost junction of Shaftesbury Avenue and New Oxford Street, near the heart of the West End. The back streets and alleyways of this cosmopolitan district became Steven's concrete playground and a place of learning. Full of bright lights, famous theatres and cinemas, strip clubs and musical instrument stores, this busy part of the city throbbed with excitement and entertainment. At night, musicals would echo from Drury Lane just across the road and drift up through his window; he would oftentimes be found hanging around in coffee bars, where the latest hit singles were continuously playing. Early on, Steven developed a natural love for art and music. At 15, he managed to get his father to buy him a guitar for 8 pounds. He began penning his own songs almost immediately, and it soon became clear to his family and friends that he had a unique talent to paint as well as sing. That talent separated him from the rest. He didn't have many friends, so he became something of a loner. On most evenings, he would climb high up to the rooftops and gaze at the noisy city below; allowing for moments of peaceful and elevated detachment under the capital's night sky. As a child, he was naturally inquisitive ("I used to look up into the heavens and wonder: where does the night end?"). While studying at Hammersmith Art College, he was auditioned by Mike Hurst, a record producer formerly of the pop-folk trio the Springfields. Hurst was about to emigrate to America when he decided to record this handsome young discovery. The results, "I Love My Dog" and "Portobello Road," impressed Decca Records so much that the young artist--now to be known as Cat Stevens--was selected to launch the new Deram label, which also signed new British talent such as David Bowie and the Moody Blues. Power-played by pirate radio stations, in November 1966 "I Love My Dog" reached No. 28 on the U.K. charts. His next hit, "Matthew and Son," went to No. 2, stopping behind the Monkees' "I'm a Believer." Stevens' earnings jumped from 2 pounds a week to 300 pounds per night. At nineteen, he was getting a reputation for Top Ten hits. His song "I'm Gonna Get Me a Gun" reached number six. He was also a popular songwriter: the Tremeloes covered "Here Comes My Baby" which went to No. 4, and P.P. Arnold, a former Ikette from the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, cut a version of "The First Cut Is The Deepest" which reached No. 18. Many years later Rod Stewart made the song a worldwide smash hit.
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