Spins • Yusuf/Cat Stevens On the Road to Findout: Greatest Hits
Yusuf/Cat Stevens
On the Road to Findout: Greatest Hits
(Island/Cat-O-Log)
This 24-song 2xLP set introduces newcomers to the songcraft of Yusuf/Cat Stevens through an arc of recorded work spanning 56 years. The collection serves as musical accompaniment to the recent memoir Cat: On the Road to Findout, which serves as a firsthand account of the artist’s musical and spiritual journey. “Believe me, folks, it’s out there,” he says in his book notes to people who seek happiness in a conflicted world.
Presented chronologically, the double-vinyl album begins with the title track and “Here Comes My Baby” from the 1967 debut album Matthew & Son, which arrived when Stevens was an 18-year-old troubadour. Three LP sides are dominated by material from an influential run of folk-pop hits from the ’70s, culminating in “Just Another Night” from 1978’s Down to Earth. Side four leaps forward to the 21st century, with one track each from Stevens’ most recent six albums. The portrait of generational division “Father and Son” is the reimagined arrangement with piano, strings, and tumbling acoustic guitar arpeggios taken from the 2020 album Tea for the Tillerman2 rather than the 1970 original.
On the Road to Findout effectively supersedes Stevens’ multi-platinum Greatest Hits release from 1975 and provides an alternate perspective from the 1984 release Footsteps in the Dark: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2. A few of the tracks on the original Greatest Hits are omitted. Still, the only truly conspicuous omission here is the cover of Sam Cooke’s “Another Saturday Night.” Stevens’ version reached #6 on the Hot 100 in 1974. Helping to compensate are numerous other well-remembered tracks from the period, including “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out,” composed for the Harold & Maude soundtrack. Although arguments can be made for the varying song selections of other collections including 2000’s The Very Best of Cat Stevens (containing the grateful “Hard Headed Woman,” which remains among Stevens’ most memorable album tracks) or 2005’s Gold (the inclusion of “Bitterblue” was a good move), the broader span of On the Road to Findout and its connection to Stevens’ memoir are compelling reasons to choose this set.
Essential tracks from Stevens’ heyday include “Where Do the Children Play?” and the melancholy farewell “Wild World,” drawn from 1970’s Tea for the Tillerman. The hymnal “Morning Has Broken,” whimsical “Moonshadow,” and hopeful “Peace Train” represent 1971’s Teaser and the Firecat. Homage to Buddy Holly “Oh Very Young” was the Top 10 single from 1974’s Buddha and the Chocolate Box.
The most recent track is “Take the World Apart” from 2023’s King of a Land. “I’ll take the world apart to find a place for a peaceful heart,” sings Stevens. The gentle song takes a trip through world sites, including the Great Wall of China, Mount Fuji, and the Colosseum, in search of a “mellow home.” It’s as if Stevens is still on the “Peace Train” he sang about in 1971, “dreaming about the world as one.” Although Stevens has sparked controversy in the past with public statements about his religious views, he has more recently been deliberate in reinforcing his legacy as a promoter of peace and seeker of contentment. “Heaven/Where True Love Goes” from the 2006 album An Other Cup reflects this effort. Today’s public mood, both in the U.S. and around the world, is more divisive than ever. Stevens’ musical nudges past and present to think “about the good things to come” could help turn the tide gradually. That’s a sentiment worth recapturing, and there’s still a place for this music.
9 of 10
– Jeff Elbel
