Simultaneous with the release of Cat Stevens' new album on A&M, Columbia has released a pleasing first solo effort by Alun Davies, second guitarist on Cat's records from Mona Bone Jakon on.
that, for me, was just one step away from monotony, especially since it underscored the shallowness of Cat's appealing but essentially frivolous, unfocused lyrics. Happily, the greatest difference between
Teaser and
Catch Bull lies in the lyric themes of the songs. Though some of the lyrics retain Cat's fanciful imagery—word poems so dreamily obscure as to defy interpretation—he shows a new emotional directness, especially on side two, the album's "down" side. This is reflected in Cat's singing, which becomes more assured and more emotive with each album. Alas, what is missing throughout
Catch Bull is any single tune with the distinction and sweeping grace of "Morning Has Broken," the most memorable cut on
Teaser.The tone of side one is tentatively happy. It begins with "Sitting," which has Cat on piano and electric mandolin, and Davies on guitar. The song's circular melodic patterns aptly express a resigned but not hopeless personal philosophy: "Just keep on pushing hard, boy, try as you may/You're going to wind up where you started from." "The Boy with the Moon and Star on His Head" is a silly narrative "legend," styled after a typical "olde" English country ballad, about a luminescent illegitimate "love child." "Angelsea," "Silent Sunlight," and "Can't Keep It In" are celebratory meditations, the first two carrying Cat's elusive, sometimes shimmering visual imagery. Sound effects—muted synthesizer on "Angelsea" and penny whistle on "Silent Sunlight"—are used with delicacy and taste. "Can't Keep It In," the most openly joyous cut, fittingly closes the side. The propulsive energy generated by Stevens' and Davies' dual acoustic guitars is considerable, as Cat sings his outbursting message with infectious gusto.
Side two contains the meat of the album. The mood here is of pessimism, terror, apocalyptic foreboding, a region of Cat's personality that we have not been shown so directly before, and his success in revealing it describes a very promising avenue for future artistic exploration. "18th Avenue (Kansas City Nightmare)," the opener, is the album's most ambitious cut and in every way its best. A vision of insanity and physical and mental deterioration, it accumulates the specific b
