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Product Description
CD
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By R. Torode
Format:Audio CD
I give this album four stars because of the title track - "Foreigner Suite". This track is worth the price of the album alone and in my opinion is amongst the finest work that Cat Stevens has done. This track is pure feel good, warm, sunshine music - some 20 minutes or more!. This is the type of music you want to listen to on a winter's night, lock the door, turn up the heating and relax this track will soon transport you to the Carribean - and that's from a guy whose never been there!
The Hurt and How Many Times aren't too bad but the album slips away after that. But as I said before it is worth it for the title track alone. I played it to death when it first came out on Vinyl and still love it all this years later.
The Hurt and How Many Times aren't too bad but the album slips away after that. But as I said before it is worth it for the title track alone. I played it to death when it first came out on Vinyl and still love it all this years later.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
Dare To change a successful formula...
...Well Cat Stevens did just that. He'd lived with his acoustic style of music for three years, and through four albums, Mona Bone, Teaser, Tillerman and Catchbull. So, Can you blame him for wanting a complete change. The last thing a (creative) musician wants to do is tie themselves down to a particular style of music, which is where 'Foreigner' comes in.
'Foreigner' to me is Cat Stevens best album, for three reasons, firstly it was he most personal, he said this himself, and you can hear it in his wails and cries in the epic 18 minutes opening track. Secondly he dared to go against the grain, do something completely new to him, with new musicians and an a new frame of mind, an open mind. And last but not least, it was musically challenging, to him at least. This was Cat Stevens turning point. Foreigner told the world 'You don't know me'. And at the same time it exposed him more than ever.
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
For his fifth Island Records album after reinventing himself as a more poetic and philosophical singer-songwriter, Cat Stevens made some significant changes in his recording methods. Dispensing with Paul Samwell-Smith, who had produced his highly successful albums of recent years, he took on production duties himself, and went to Jamaica to record with a new group of seasoned session musicians (several from the USA) replacing most of the players from his previous albums. Perhaps Stevens considered that this new direction would give him a more 'serious', less overtly commercial identity than his preceding albums, and if so the experiment probably achieved its objectives. However, it is notable that for his next album after 'Foreigner', Samwell-Smith was back on board and the recording again largely returned to the more concise and accessible style of albums such as 'Tea for the tillerman' and 'Teaser and the firecat'. And although the new remastering compensates to some extent, the overall production sound of 'Foreigner' lacks something of the polish and cohesiveness of the Samwell-Smith productions.
The first half of the album (the original LP side 1) is occupied by the 18 minute 'Foreigner suite', which is one continuous musical piece essentially comprising variations on three undistinguished songs, with short musical interludes. The title 'Foreigner' seems to have no relevance to the lyrical content of the suite, and the whole concept is in reality much more lightweight than its title and length suggest.
... Read more ›1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't be afraid - it's as good as "Tea" or "Teaser," and even goes beyond
7 Aug 2010
By Jiri Schwarz
Format:Audio CD
This gem, issued 1973, well belongs to Cat's most fruitful period - the early 70's - his creativity then culminated. The music, the lyrics, the rhythms (speaking of the Cyprian roots) were extremely straightforward, spontaneous, without any shadow of intelectualism. Many reviewers here put this album quite inappropriately as a then trendy prog rock attempt. In my opinion, this is a sad misunderstanding of what Cat actually did. It may be that only because the word "suite" appears in the title of the first track ("Foreigner Suite" - 18 min, i.e. half of the LP/reissued CD), some listeners may deem this to be something very experimental or overcomplicated. However, by no means can this record be compared to what the prog rock groups, such as Yes, Jethro Tull or ELP (as stated in the editorial Amazon.com review), produced by that time. Musically, this has nothing to do with the somewhat experimental music of that kind. The Foreigner Suite is, in fact, just a medley of altogether some 6 tunes, which are now and then connected by several tacts of full-blood music with typical Cat Stevens rhythms, usually produced by Cat's syncopating piano or by woodwinds. These tiny interludes naturally fit to the songs themselvelves; occasionally, one song simply turns to the other one even without this connecting material. Nevertheless, this is still the genuine, typical music of Cat Stevens of that time, full of positive energy and emotion. Only big masters with huge creativity can afford to only gently indicate a catchy motif, and without numerous repetitions and refrains, simply go further (after all, this applies to classical music as well). A lot of pop stars would make a 2-LP of these songs. Cat has made sketches of great melodies, and skilfully connected them into one functional composition.... Read more ›
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4.4 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
best singer/songwriter ever
brilliant cd,get it in your collection.Foreigner suite is superb, brings back happy memories from the seventies will stand the test of time.
Published 2 months ago by Malcolm smith
3.0 out of 5 stars
Ambitious and experimental
The first track here is wonderful, especially the last 5 minutes, with delightful music backing cat's emotional singing. Classic cat no doubt about that. Read more
Published on 7 Dec 2010 by D. J. Mortimer
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great condition, fast delivery
I was very impressed with the condition of the item and the little time I had to wait to recieve it.
Thank you!
Thank you!
Published on 6 Oct 2009 by Lucy Dale
2.0 out of 5 stars
below par cat
cat stevens has always been a very frustrating artist for me. at his best, he is for sure one of the best, and he has turned out some truly beautiful songs over the years. Read more
Published on 2 July 2008 by the lone voice of reason
4.0 out of 5 stars
Alien
With 1973's 'Foreigner,' Cat Stevens probed the opposite extreme of his most popular work, the short, sparsely-arranged, guitar-dominated songs of three years before. Read more
Published on 8 Feb 2008 by D. J. H. Thorn
5.0 out of 5 stars
There Are No Words
As a Cat Stevens fan I was drawn into the Foriegner and the pain and the suffering and anguish. 'I couldn't stand to face a day without you' pouring from every one of Cat Steven's... Read more
Published on 29 Jan 2004 by "thegameman"
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