Teaser The Firecat

CD =Remastered=

The third album Cat Stevens put out in a 15-month burst that began in the summer of 1970 with iMona Bone Jakon/i, iTeaser and the Firecat/i is where the enigmatic folk-pop idol crested commercially, if not artistically. Its immediate predecessor, iTea for the Tillerman/i, possesses an air of mystery and unforced whimsy that proved impossible for Stevens to replicate. That said, the singer-songwriter had it in him to pull together a captivating collection that boasted two of the biggest hits of his meteoric, if self-inhibited, career--"Peace Train" and the sublime hymn "Morning Has Broken." "The Wind," "If I Laugh," and "Moonshadow" are every bit as tuneful and appealing as the hits, while "Rubylove," "How Can I Tell You," and "Bitterblue" would be standouts on Stevens's less accomplished later albums. In fact, only the bellicose social statements "Changes IV" and "Tuesday's Dead" ring hollow. I--Steven Stolder/I