Search - Cat Stevens :: Footsteps in the Dark: Greatest Hits 2

Dark genius

Levi Stofer | 11/30/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Apparently the soundtrack for Harold and Maude is out of print, so this disc is your next best choice for Steven's dark gems. H&M's theme song, "IF you want to sing out, sing out" is as celebratory as it gets (check out a wonderfully hushed version on Death By Chocolate's titular CD), and "I want to live in a wigwam" perfectly articulates the hippie culture that created him and sadly foreshadows his current religious reductionism. Pick this CD up to see what a wonderfully dark genius he left behind....."

Songs from "Harold and Maude"

Mark Ebert | Lancaster OH | 09/07/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Sometimes it's fun just to listen to "happy" songs--Victoria Williams, Tom Jones, The Monkees, and others. Cat Stevens also ranks as an artist who makes happy music. One of the top tracks of this variety is "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out", certainly the highlight anthem of the dark comedy "Harold and Maude", but it also features another selection from the film, "Where Do the Children Play?". Fans of Cat Stevens, happy music, and "Harold and Maude" will enjoy this CD."

The better of the two volumes.

J. N. Marks | Near. . . Manicougan | 06/03/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Volume 1 definetly has its share of memorable tracks like "Moonshadow" and "Oh Very Young" to boast about, but this disc includes songs from the motion picture "Harold and Maude" as well as other tunes like "The Wind" that made its way onto the Rushmore soundtrack a number of years back.



The reason to make this album your preferred choice is that it does not shimmer with the same pop varnishings that Steven's better known hits are remembered for. Rather here you have a more idiosyncratic and personal set of songs that capture a mood that only Cat Steven's seemed to have written about. Lyrics such as "if you want to sing out/ sing out/ if you want to be free/ be free/ because there's a million things to be/ you know that there are" could be mistaken for a Peter, Paul and Mary song. . . but that voice! Who sings like Cat Stevens? Whose tunes have that same baroque/pop/revivalist amplifier reaching out to you and making even the most upbeat, danceable song remain private, even intensely personal?



These songs are for the more devoted fans, the listeners attracted to songs like "Morning Is Broken," (Steven's adaptation of a traditional Koranic tale), as opposed to a top-forty selection.



Five stars. Unique"