Cat Stevens

When Cat Stevens sings, a case can be made that he was the major influence on grunge vocal styles, most notably the "Hey-ay-ay-ay"-ing Eddie Vedder. Just listen to "Where Do the Children Play," if you don't believe it. Aside from that, this album has "Wild World," one of Stevens' signature tunes and great non-hit songs like "Hard-Headed Woman" and "Father and Son."

Is it on the roads of Provence or the tube to Portobello Road that I visualize Cat? He is both
the next in a long line of troubadours and very much the London neighborhood musician,
encompassing at once the allure of the exotic and the ability to domesticate it. He
wanders, but he returns home. "Miles From Nowhere," "Wild World," "On the Road to Find
Out," "Father and Son" are songs of leaving -- travel through time and space. Ever... More >

My big problems with this record are no doubt why it's a hit: the artificially ripened singing, which goes down like a store-bought banana daiquiri, and the insufferable sexist condescension of "Wild World." (Grade - B-)