Re: bought the Yusuf album

Mary,
Thanks!  That has to be one of the most unbiased sounding reviews I've
ever heard.  You rock, that's it.  Just that.  You, indeed, rock.  I
have a 'peacenik' friend at the university that I work at that also
purchased the cd, and thinks it wondrous.  He's much (make that MUCH)
younger than I, so much so that he was pretty much unaware of the
Rushdie thing, so his review was rather refreshing as well.  Between the
two of you, I'm convinced that I need to put the crap away and just
listen to the cd myself.  
Thanks again, and I love your verbage!  

"I think if he is a fundamentalist, it's good to at least have one
that's a 
peacenik in a time where most fundamentalists of different faiths
including Chrstianity seem to all be hawks."  

Too True!
Benthomas


>>> <[email protected]> 12/7/2006 11:10 AM >>>
Since we talked about it a little, I thought I'd mention I bought the
Yusuf 
album and listened to it. I can see why some Jane fans would also have
liked 
Cat Stevens' work. 

Anyway, I don't see anything perturbing about the Yusuf album and
thought it 
was kind of pretty. It would seem to me that all the announcements the
past 
month saying "Cat Stevens, now known as Yusuf, has a new album out and
it's not 
getting nice reviews" comments in the media lately are rather petty, 
especially one of them I think said his voice had gotten "gruffer" or
some comment 
untrue - his voice actually is not much different than it was. I think
he is 
getting bashed as an artist by people biased against his personal
beliefs. 

Even though I thought his "THINK" section of his website is a bit 
fundamentalist, his album itself is something I think can appeal to a
broad cross-section 
of people and he clearly seems to be a proponent of peace, though the
album 
has songs about love too. Maybe he did make a few foolish statements in
the 
time period of Salman Rushdie's book's release but nobody's perfect.
(His cover 
of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" makes me laugh in that context.
That's one 
song though that could have been skipped since it's already been done
enough by 
The Animals, Elvis Costello, Nina Simone, The Spiders, etc.)

I think if he is a fundamentalist, it's good to at least have one
that's a 
peacenik in a time where most fundamentalists of different faiths
including 
Chrstianity seem to all be hawks.

Nothing else to say on this. I enjoyed giving it a spin in my cd
player.