Teaser and the Firecat | ||||
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Studio album by Cat Stevens | ||||
Released | 1 October 1971 | |||
Recorded | July 1970 – March 1971, Paramount Studios, Los Angeles; Morgan Studios, Willesden, London, England |
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Genre | Folk rock | |||
Length | 32:39 | |||
Label |
Island (UK/Europe) A&M (US/Canada) |
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Producer | Paul Samwell-Smith | |||
Cat Stevens chronology | ||||
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Singles from Teaser and the Firecat | ||||
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Teaser and the Firecat is the fifth studio album released by Cat Stevens in 1971. The album contains 10 songs including the hits "Morning Has Broken", "Moonshadow" and "Peace Train". It is also the title of a children's book written and illustrated by Stevens. The story features the title characters from the album cover, top-hatted young Teaser and his pet, Firecat, who attempt to put the moon back in its place after it falls from the sky. Published in 1972, the book has been out of print since the mid-1970s.
The album was a commercial success, surpassing the heights achieved by Stevens' previous album, Tea for the Tillerman, reaching both the UK and US Top 3 and also spending fifteen weeks at the top of the Australian charts, becoming the biggest-selling album of the country in 1972.
In 1977 an animated version, narrated by Spike Milligan, using the song "Moonshadow", was a segment in Fantastic Animation Festival. In November 2008, a "deluxe edition" was released featuring a second disc of demos and live recordings.
In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone magazine, music critic Timothy Crouse praised Stevens' distinctive musical style and introspective songs such as "Tuesday's Dead" and "The Wind", but felt that he lacks Van Morrison's evocative quality and James Taylor's refined lyrics: "Cat has become a dependable artist, a good artist, but he appears to be one of those composers who does not develop, who holds no surprises."
In a retrospective five-star review, AllMusic's William Ruhlmann found the album more simplistic lyrically and musically entertaining than Tea for the Tillerman (1970): "Teaser and the Firecat was the Cat Stevens album that gave more surface pleasures to more people, which in pop music is the name of the game."
All tracks written by Cat Stevens except where noted.
All tracks written by Cat Stevens except where noted.