Back to Earth (Cat Stevens album)

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Back to Earth
Studio album by Cat Stevens (now Yusuf)

Publication
(s)

1978

Label (s) Island Records / A&M Records

Format (s)

LP, CD

Genre (s)

pop

Title (number)

10

running time

32:51 (LP / CD)

occupation
  • Cat Stevens - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, bass, keyboards, synthesizer, vocals, backing vocals, string arrangements
  • Alun Davies - acoustic guitar
  • Jean Roussel - piano, keyboards, electric piano, Hammond organ, string arrangements
  • Dave Mattacks - drums
  • Steve Jordan - drums
  • Willi Lee - bass
  • Bruce Lynch - bass
  • Eric Johnson - electric guitar
  • Brian Cole - steel guitar
  • John Marson - harp
  • Graham Smith - Spinet
  • Paul Samwell-Smith - backing vocals
  • Del Newman / Richard Niles - string arrangements

production

Paul Samwell-Smith / Cat Stevens

Studio (s)

Sweet Silence Studios, Copenhagen, Denmark; Le Studio, Morin Heights, Canada

chronology
Izitso
(1977) 		Back to Earth Morning Has Broken
(1981)

Back to Earth is the eleventh and final studio album by singer and songwriter Cat Stevens .

history

The 13th album (including live and compilation albums) by Cat Stevens was released in December 1978. The album was deliberately recorded by Cat Stevens as his last. In December 1977 he converted to Islam and called himself Yusuf Islam; he also wanted to say goodbye to the music business and his stardom. For contractual reasons he had to record another album, so Yusuf Islam released Back to Earth under his old stage name Cat Stevens.

The sound of the previous album Izitso should not be continued, so Islam reactivated its producer Paul Samwell-Smith and the guitarist Alun Davies, with whom he also composed two tracks, as well as drummer Gerry Conway. The musical result can be compared with earlier recordings by Cat Stevens. As with Izitso , Back to Earth also includes two instrumentals, The Artist and Nascimento . In retrospect, Yusuf Islam referred to the title Last Love Song (according to the booklet to On the Road to Find Out (Box Set) ) as his epilogue.

Back to Earth was not a commercial success, the album was only placed in the Top 40 in the Federal Republic of Germany and the USA, which was also due to the fact that Yusuf Islam did not do any promotional work for this album. Bad Brakes , New York Times , Last Love Song and Randy appeared as singles in different countries.

The album was re-released in 2001 in a version remastered by Ted Jensen.

Track list

  1. Just Another Night - 3:49
  2. Daytime (Stevens, Alun Davies) - 3:55
  3. Bad Brakes (Stevens, Alun Davies) - 3:27
  4. Randy - 3:12
  5. The Artist - 2:32
  6. Last Love Song - 3:27
  7. Nascimento - 3:16
  8. Father - 4:08
  9. New York Times - 3:24
  10. Never - 3:01

All songs (except Daytime and Bad Brakes ) were written by Cat Stevens.

Web links