The Very Best of Cat Stevens | ||||
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Greatest hits album by | ||||
Released | 22 January 1990 | |||
Genre | Folk rock | |||
Length | 57:32 (1990) | |||
Label | PolyGram | |||
Cat Stevens chronology | ||||
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The Very Best of Cat Stevens | ||||
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Greatest hits album by | ||||
Released | 2000 2003 | |||
Genre | Folk rock | |||
Length | 1:08:52 (2000) 1:17:45 (2003) | |||
Label | A&M (2000) Universal (2003) | |||
Cat Stevens chronology | ||||
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The Very Best of Cat Stevens is the title of a compilation album by Cat Stevens. There are multiple albums released with this title. The first was released by Polygram on its recently acquired Island Records label in January 1990. Its cover picture appears to be a reference to the Teaser and the Firecat album cover; both feature a boy in a top hat, "Teaser", accompanied by an orange cat, "Firecat", beside a fence with a full moon overhead.
A compilation album with the same title was released in 2000 on the A&M and UTV Records labels. In many respects, it is a substantially different album. The track list is substantially different (though most of the same tracks are present). The cover art for these releases features a simple portrait of the artist. This album was released in the UK and Europe in 2003, using the same cover art but with a different track list. The UTV Records release was also available with a DVD bonus disk containing some early footage. [1]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic (2000) | [2] |
All songs written by Cat Stevens, except where noted.
Chart (2024) | Peak position |
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Greek Albums (IFPI) [3] | 10 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Australia (ARIA) [4] | 3× Platinum | 210,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada) [5] | Gold | 50,000^ |
France (SNEP) [6] | Platinum | 300,000* |
Germany (BVMI) [7] | Gold | 250,000^ |
Mexico (AMPROFON) [8] | Gold | 100,000^ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [9] | 2× Platinum | 30,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [10] | 3× Platinum | 900,000‡ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Yusuf Islam, commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion streams. His musical style consists of folk, rock, pop, and, later in his career, Islamic music. Following two decades in which he performed only music which met strict religious standards, he returned to making secular music in 2006. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. He has received two honorary doctorates and awards for promoting peace as well as other humanitarian awards.
Tea for the Tillerman is the fourth studio album by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, released in November 1970.
Mona Bone Jakon is the third studio album by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, released in April 1970 on the Island Records label in the United Kingdom and on A&M in the United States and Canada.
"Peace Train" is a 1971 song by Cat Stevens, taken from his album Teaser and the Firecat. The song climbed to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the week of November 6, 1971, becoming Stevens' first US Top 10 hit. The song also spent three weeks at No. 1 on the adult contemporary chart. It is also featured on The Very Best of Cat Stevens compilation album. He re-recorded the song for the charity War Child in 2003.
Teaser and the Firecat is the fifth studio album by Cat Stevens, released in October 1971.
Gerald Conway was an English folk and rock drummer and percussionist. He performed with the backing band for Cat Stevens in the 1970s, with Jethro Tull during the 1980s, and was a member of Fairport Convention from 1998 to 2022. Conway also worked as a session musician. He was married to vocalist Jacqui McShee, the singer of the band Pentangle, of which he was also a member.
"Morning Has Broken" is a Christian hymn first published in 1931. It has words by English author Eleanor Farjeon and was inspired by the village of Alfriston in East Sussex, then set to a traditional Scottish Gaelic tune, "Bunessan".
Deepest Purple: The Very Best of Deep Purple is a compilation album by the English hard rock band Deep Purple, released in 1980 on LP. It features the original hits of Deep Purple before their 1984 reunion. Aided by a TV advertising campaign it would become Purple's third UK No. 1 album. In 1984 this compilation additionally was published on CD.
Catch Bull at Four is the sixth studio album by Cat Stevens. The title is taken from one of the Ten Bulls of Zen.
Izitso is the tenth studio album by the British singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, released in April 1977. After the lacklustre Numbers, the album proved to be his comeback. The album updated the rhythmic folk rock and pop rock style of his earlier albums with the extensive use of synthesizers and other electronic music instruments, giving the album a more electronic rock and synthpop style, and anticipating elements of electro.
"Wild World" is a song written and recorded by English singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. It first appeared on his fourth album, Tea for the Tillerman (1970). Released as a single in September 1970 by Island Records and A&M Records, "Wild World" saw significant commercial success, garnering attention for its themes of love and heartbreak, and has been covered numerous times since its release. Maxi Priest and Mr. Big had successful cover versions of the song.
Saturnight is the first live album by Cat Stevens. Proceeds from the album went to support UNICEF. Originally released in Japan, it was later released worldwide on Black Friday 2024.
Majikat is a CD and DVD live album by British singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. It was recorded during the US leg of Stevens' Earth Tour 1976, but was not released until 2004, by which time the artist was known as Yusuf Islam.
"Moonshadow" is a song written and performed by Cat Stevens, first released as a single in the UK in 1970 on the Island label and in the US in 1971 on the A&M label. It also appears on Stevens' 1971 album Teaser and the Firecat.
Greatest Hits is a 1975 compilation album by British singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. It reached No. 2 in the UK Albums Chart and peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200. Though made up mostly of tracks from his five previous studio albums, Cat Stevens' Greatest Hits did contain one new song, "Two Fine People", which was also released as a single in 1975, and the previous non-album single, "Another Saturday Night". Those singles charted at No. 33 and No. 6, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Alun Davies is a Welsh guitarist, studio musician, recording artist, and composer who rose to fame primarily with his supporting guitar work and backing vocals as accompanist for English musician Cat Stevens from early 1970 to 1977.
"Lady D'Arbanville" is a song written and recorded by Cat Stevens and released in April 1970. It subsequently appeared on his third album, Mona Bone Jakon, released later that year. It was his first single released after signing a contract with Island Records, with the encouragement of his new producer, Paul Samwell-Smith, fostering a folk rock direction. "Lady D'Arbanville" has a madrigal sound, and was written about Stevens' former girlfriend, Patti D'Arbanville, metaphorically laying her to rest.
Fantastic Animation Festival is a package film of animation segments, set mostly to music and released in theaters in 1977. It was one of the earliest of the sort of collections typified by Computer Animation Festival and Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation.
Rick Wakeman is an English keyboardist, composer and songwriter, most known as the keyboard player for progressive rock group Yes. His solo albums have sold over 50 million copies.
Cat Stevens is a four-disc box set by British singer-songwriter Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam. Released on October 30th, 2001, it features 79 tracks—hits, B-sides, live tracks and previously unreleased material from his tenures on Deram and Island/A&M Records—spanning his career from 1965 to 1978, plus one track from 1997 recorded as 'Yusuf'.