Ok, so I may not like his new website, but I sure am enjoying his return to music.

Dashing.com user "Beeswing" posted links to Yusuf's recent appearance on "Later With Jools Holland." There are three performances and an interview, all of which are wonderful. He has a full band with him, including long-time partner Alun Davies. It sure is great to see them together again. I can't embed the video here (it won't let me) so you'll have to click the links. It's worth it though, great stuff.

Midday

I Think I See The Light

Interview

Peace Train

It's so nice to just be a fan during this time and not have to worry about running the website. I'm really grateful for the timing of it all.

It's no secret to anyone that I was not particularly impressed with the new catstevens.com. To paraphrase myself I said it was nothing more than an online brochure to promote the new album, and that the navigation was so annoying that after a couple visits everyone would hate it. What's more I felt that the content offering was so insignificant (when you could even find it) that there would be no reason to ever really go back to the site once you'd seen it once. In the interest of full disclosure, I said some other things too, which I now regret and later retracted. But having said all of that, now that the new site has been up for over a month, how do I feel about it?

I was right.

If I could have made a list of everything not to do when designing the new catstevens.com it would be a perfect description of what they actually did. I'm not joking. It's a slick online-brochure to promote album sales that is quickly annoying, hard to use, impossibly non-accessible, incredibly slow and devoid of any soul or community. What's more, it's not even a "web site." The entire thing is a single Flash .swf file, which appears to do some call-outs to display the news and other "dynamic" content. It's also 1.5 megabytes, which is unbelievably large. I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like accessing the site for a dial-up modem user. Ouch!

So when I say it's "not even a web site" what do I mean? I think it's easiest to explain by giving an example. You see, contrary to what some "Mes Amis" would like to believe, I happen to like Yusuf and am a fan of his work. I would like to keep up-to-date on the latest news and am really curious about his touring plans, and how well the album sells. The obvious way to do that is to visit the site every so often and read the news. This is where the problem comes in.

I decided to time how long it took to load catstevens.com and click on the news link before I actually was able to see the latest stories. Admittedly this is totally unscientific, I just started and stopped a stop-watch, but I think it's fairly accurate.

It took over 17 seconds.

It's important to note that I already had the 1.5 megabyte Flash .swf file cached in my browser, so the 17 seconds doesn't include download time. It is only the amount of time it took for the "Loading" screen to finish, for me to click on News, for the animation to do it's thing and the stories to finally appear. Heaven forbid I clicked on "Sing" and read the news there. I didn't bother to time how long that would take.

So in fairness I decided to time how long it took to load the home page of dashing.com and begin reading the latest stories. I could have just as easily picked any "real" web site for this, but it just seemed to make sense to use dashing. So the results?

0.335 seconds.

Ok, so I rest my case.

This could all be mitigated somewhat of course if I simply bookmarked the "News" section on catstevens.com and went straight there. But you see there's that pesky problem of it not being a web site. You can't bookmark any pages, because it doesn't have any (save the home page itself). Web sites that employ Flash in that manner effectively break the very things that make the web the web. You can't bookmark them, you can't search them and they are unaccessible to blind or similarly disabled people. It gets worse when you factor in that there's no way to skip the annoying animations, and don't get me started on the sound effects.

Now, I really don't want to not like catstevens.com, honest. I wanted to love it. I had so hoped that it would be great. But unfortunately it just isn't.

I do want everyone to know, whether you love the new site or hate it, that I tried my very best to push them in the right direction. I was very clear about what I thought they should do and told them so. Obviously they didn't agree with me. I just wish that not agreeing with me didn't translate to waiting nearly half a minute to read the news.

P.S. Would you like your very own copy of the new catstevens.com? Since it's just a Flash file you can download and save it to your computer. Right (or control-click) here and choose save. Then take the saved Flash file and drop it in your browser window. Fun for the whole family!

P.P.S. I never tried this on Windows, but I assume it should work the same as on my Mac.

P.P.P.S. That link is to their site, not dashing.com. I'm not hosting that file, just pointing you to it.

P.P.P.P.S. This could go on forever.

P.P.P.P.P.S. Alright, that's enough! Stop it!

Ok, so I was browsing on YouTube tonight after Gutmann Bernd alerted me to a very cool clip of Cat Stevens and Alun Davies performing Katmandu from 1970, when I discovered something amazing. Our very own Alex Stassi, who submitted many cover songs to cs.com over the years has apparently continued his work. But he was taken it to a whole new dimension by performing his covers live and video taping them. I know that doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but he's colored his performance by wearing dark shades and faux islamic garb, all the while caressing a dust mop. That, my friends, is a big deal in my book.

Sadly he marked this video so it can't be embedded on a website. I can only imagine that he wants cold hard cash for that privilege. Perhaps I should collect donations? Until then, you'll have to go youtube to watch it.

This thing really kicks in around 2:10, so feel free to fast forward to the good part. Not that it isn't all good, mind you, but I know a lot of you are impatient and would rather be swearing at each other in the forums instead.

Oh, and make sure to check out the Katmandu clip. It's a great performance, and it's pretty funny watching Alun. He doesn't play on the song so he just nods his head a lot while smoking a cigarette. Also not to be missed are Cat's falsetto bits near the end.

I first heard the music of Cat Stevens when I was five years old. My second oldest brother, Paul had an 8-track cassette of Cat Stevens Greatest Hits, which along with a similar collection of Harry Chapin could always be heard playing in his car. It was at that time that I fell in love with the music of Cat Stevens, in particular the song Moonshadow. It wasn't until my teens that I rediscovered his music and systematically bought all of his albums, one by one. I was such a fan of his music that many years later I created a web site about him, which ultimately became CatStevens.Com. After converting to Islam in the late 1970's, Yusuf Islam has only made a few cautious steps toward the music world. His early recordings were Islamic-themed songs without any instruments save voice and drums. So when it was finally announced that Yusuf would be releasing a secular pop album, his first in nearly 30 years I was incredibly excited, and cautiously optimistic.

Yusuf said of the new album, "I feel right about making music and singing about life in this fragile world again. It's important for me to be able to help bridge the cultural gaps others are sometimes frightened to cross." With that, I give you my review of "An Other Cup."

"An Other Cup" in many ways cannot be compared directly to any of Cat Stevens' earlier albums. Yet at the same time it has elements of each facet of his career. There are orchestral arrangements that harken back to Matthew & Son, simple and folky acoustic guitar driven tracks like those of Tea for the Tillerman, a melody and lyric from Foreigner, arrangements that would fit nicely on Numbers and all with a message that is completely compatible with the nasheeds of Yusuf Islam. While its parts may be compared to the work of Cat Stevens, as an album there is a confidence that is unique to "An Other Cup." Yusuf sounds self assured, and often seems to be having a lot of fun. It's obvious he very much believes in the words he is singing, and the music that accompanies them.

Midday
Midday is one of the albums best songs. It is a wonderful, upbeat and catchy track with a terrific arrangement. The piano, acoustic guitars and horns come together to create a song that's not really like anything he's done before, but still feels right at home with his earlier work. Yusuf's voice sounds fantastic and compliments the melody perfectly.

Heaven/Where True Love Goes
This is the first single from the album, and many of you have probably heard it by now. I find it strangely ironic that the first new "Cat Stevens" song most people will hear is actually a re-working one of his classics, a section of "The Foreigner Suite." By the careful replacement of the word "girls" with "souls" and the addition of a chorus Yusuf has changed the meaning of the song. It alludes to his fateful swim all those years ago in Malibu, when supposedly God saved him from drowning. I do like this song, it's grown on me. But I'm not entirely sure I care for the liberty he's taken in re-writing his old music.

Maybe There's A World
If you were hoping for a return of the Cat Stevens of 1970-1972 then "Maybe There's A World" is the song for you. Sadly, it's the only one like it on the album. This is far and away the best song on the record. It has a beautiful melody and soft acoustic guitar arrangement that once again Yusuf sounds great on. The lyrics touch on the same themes that defined his career. It is a fantastic, first rate "Cat Stevens" song.

I have dreamt of an open world, borderless and wide
Where the people move from place to place and nobody's taking sides

Maybe there's a world that I'm still to find
Maybe there's a world that I'm still to find
Open up a world and let me in
Then there'll be a new life to begin

One Day At A Time
This cut is also acoustic guitar driven but is a much slower and darker sounding. While not one of my favorites on the album, it's well done and works nicely here.

When Butterflies Leave
It's here at track 5 that the album changes. This is the first of the surprises I alluded to in a previous post. Butterflies is an instrumental which includes a brief spoken poem by Yusuf. Clocking in at 41 seconds, if it's not your cup of tea at least it doesn't last long. But I found it a bit jarring when I was first listening to the album.

In The End
What "In The End" lacks in subtlety it makes up for with a pretty piano and guitar arrangement with yet another excellent melody. I wouldn't have thought it would be possible to write a catchy song about how good people are going to heaven and bad people won't, but he did it. It's overly preachy, way too direct and will rub some people the wrong way. Having said that, I really like it and find myself humming it often.

You can't bargain with the truth
'Cause one day you're gonna die
And good's going high
And evil's going down
In the end

Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
It's no secret that Yusuf Islam has been at the center of controversy many times over the last 28 years. He has many talents but public relations isn't one of them. Therefore it's fitting that he decided to cover the perfectly titled "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood." It's soaked in an orchestral arrangement and slowed down significantly from the original. I would have preferred a more upbeat approach to the song, which if done well may have been an excellent single. But Yusuf had something to say here, and must have felt this was the best way to get his feelings across to the listener.

I Think I See The Light
Another surprise is the re-recording of the Cat Stevens classic "I Think I See The Light." As I said earlier I'm not really a big fan of Yusuf re-writing his old songs to fit his new message. The original was a love song, but once again with the careful removal of the word "girl" it's a religious statement. The song is saved however with a bluesy acoustic guitar arrangement. Curiously Yusuf doesn't sing the "coming through me, coming to me, giving me a second sight" part of the chorus. To my ears it leaves a hole, but it might just be my familiarity with the original. Interestingly he does sing those lines near the end, which means they weren't removed because of their meaning. Speaking of the end, that's where the song really shines. Yusuf is clearly having a lot of fun on this track and it shows. While I'd rather him not re-record his older work, and though I do prefer the original, this is a unique and interesting take on the song.

Whispers From A Spiritual Garden
Whispers is an almost middle eastern sounding, hypnotic instrumental that includes a spoken poem inspired by the 13th century Sufi mystic, Jalaluddin Rumi. I thought it was really beautiful. I'm not sure if he wrote it, as it says it was "inspired by." But in any case it's nice.

The eternal source of love is implanted in every part of existence
The desire for another
Though night and day outwardly appear as enemies
Yet both serve one purpose
Each seeking the other

The Beloved
The Beloved is an upbeat rhythmic track that musically is reminiscent of something from Numbers. This is another religious song, this time about Islamic prophet Muhammad. It features a second vocalist, who is not credited on my promo CD.

He was born to be the beloved
A will of the divine
He was born to be the beloved
He was born to guide

Green Fields, Golden Sands
The press kit that accompanied the album describes Green Fields as, "a never-released song he wrote in 1968 and which might have found its way on to Mona Bone Jakon." "Good songs never die," Yusuf says. It later compares it to John Lennon's Imagine. I'm not sure it's quite in the same league as that, but it is a lovely string drenched lullaby that is a perfect closer for the album.

A small house and an olive tree
To keep and feed my family
Let the wind blow hard I don't mind

One day we'll all realize I'm not the only one
Just raise your eyes up and you'll be gone
To those green fields and golden sands
That's all I need that's all I want

Sadly that's where the album ends for me. My copy is missing track 12, which is titled "Badmind."

"An Other Cup" is not the best album he has ever recorded. It is however filled with many wonderful songs, and as a whole really speaks to where Yusuf is in his life. Midday and Maybe There's A World are so good that they alone make the album worth owning. I've written many reviews of Yusuf's work over the years, and this is by far the best thing he has done since leaving the music business. It's better than some of his albums as Cat Stevens, not as good as others. But this is Yusuf today, and at moments he's as good as he's ever been. Overall it's an album that Cat Stevens fans will enjoy and want to own. It should also appeal to his new Muslim fans due to the religious themes of the songs. So maybe in a small way "An Other Cup" does "bridge the cultural gaps others are sometimes frightened to cross."

I nearly missed it. I arrived home from work and several packages were waiting for me. A DVD I had ordered, an Apple logo polo shirt and my Roland 1680 multi-track recorder (that I had loaned to a friend who shipped it back to me). So many things, but not what I was hoping for. You see Atlantic records was supposed to send me a promo copy of Yusuf's new album, "An Other Cup."

Shortly after I arrived I had to leave to pick up my car which was in for service. Stepping outside my door I noticed a bulge underneath the mat. "Could this be it," I hoped! I slowly lifted it to reveal a large envelope from Atlantic records! I was so excited!

I'm not going to say too much yet. I really need to listen to the album a few times before I'll be prepared to write a review. But rest assured, a review is coming, and soon. :-)

What I will say is that there are surprises on the record, and that the songs we've already heard sounded much better to me than they did over the Internet. That might be due to the superior sound quality of the CD player in my car, or simply hearing them in context as an album. But if you didn't like some of the things you've heard so far, you may change your mind when you get the CD.

With that, I'll leave you with the track listing. I'll be back soon with a full review!

Yusuf
"An Other Cup"

1) Midday
2) Heaven / Where True Love Goes
3) Maybe There's A World
4) One Day At A Time
5) When Butterflies Leave
6) In The End
7) Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
8) I Think I See The Light
9) Whispers From A Spiritual Garden
10) The Beloved
11) Green Fields, Golden Sands
12) Badmind