I’ve been a casual fan of Cat/Yusuf since I was little in the 70s. I bought the Greatest Hits CD at some point. I found a USB with all his albums. I’m listening to Tea and Teaser but where should I go from there?
'Catch Bull At Four' would be a safe bet. Good songs coupled with good sound. Maybe his best album. 'Foreigner' is interesting. It includes the side-,long ' Foreigner Suite' which I initially thought was meandering and somewhat dull until I came to my senses and saw it for the brilliant composition it clearly is.
My first album was Tea for the Tillerman, that I had already as a child and I still love it. I know that I am in the minority but I also absolutely adore the run Numbers to Back to earth...
Tea is a great start, Teaser and the Firecat is also at this level, the rest??? not as good as those two, in my most humble opinion.... two killer albums is a heck of an accomplishment
I recently added (again) Mona Bone Jakon to the collection…it is better than I remembered and, to me, better than any recent releases from the artist.
and always open to a recommendation to give another listen to something i already own thanks be to this board and those that dwell therein...
That's actually a great album. I have a pet theory that it would have been a much bigger hit if it had: 1) a better album title 2) a better album cover
I think there are two perfectly correct answers to this: Original “Greatest Hits” and “Footsteps In The Dark: Greatest Hits Vol. 2” or Mona Bone Jakon -> Tea For The Tillerman -> Teaser And The Firecat
I can recommend The Laughing Apple, released in 2017. It has a mixture of new songs and reworkings of some songs from very early in his career when signed to the Decca label.
Cat Stevens is possibly my favorite folk artist based on what he did from 1970 to 1971, especially the 3 albums. His addition of the Gold 2 CD series places all those songs on Disc 1 and then later stuff on Disk 2. There isn't a single song I would switch out from Disk 1 that is on Disk 2. I have to say though that my gateway was Footsteps in the Dark and I still feel it is the superior and more affecting collection than the first greatest hits, although I still find it odd they repeated Father and Son on both but nowhere is Lady D'Arbanville.
Since the OP has said he’s already got GH, Tea and Tiller, I’d say that while it’s a bit more of a departure from his famous style, I’d actually go backwards and check out his early stuff from his first 2 album and thereabouts (pre-Mona Bone Jakon which I’ve already mentioned and is great but which I group with his classic period) before going farther to later material (excepting “Footsteps in the Dark” which is essential).
The main sequence is Mona - Buddha. Then you listen to the old Decca material. Then you proceed to the 3 boring albums from the late 70s. And then move on the modern albums. No way in hell they're as good as his best, but they're ok. Some very good tracks scattered along.
Although I'm biased (my avatar is a giveaway ) I wouldn't describe Numbers, Izitso? and Back To Earth as boring. After the rather sombre sound of side one, side two of Numbers runs very well thematically. Izitso? is a very keyboard driven album and has two uncharacteristic instrumentals in Kypros and Was Dog A Doughnut? The album closes with Child For A Day, which I find increasingly poignant as I enter my 60s. Although Back To Earth was a contractual obligation album written after Cat had decided to leave the music business and embrace Islam, it still has some fine songs on it.
