Amazon.com
If veteran Cat Stevens fans were nervous in the wake of the previous album's (
Foreigner) sometimes sketchy experimentalism, they must surely have been gratified by the singer-songwriter's return to form here. Reuniting with producer Paul Samwell-Smith, this 1974 collection kicks off with the bracing "Music" and never looks back, managing to be both more adventurous and focused than its predecessor. Though perhaps belied by the preciousness of the hit "Oh, Very Young," there's a muscular determination to songs like "Sun/C79" and "Ready" that serves Stevens well. Lyrically, tracks like "Jesus," "King of Trees," and "Home in the Sky" give early hints of Stevens's spiritual quest, though delivered through Samwell-Smith's eclectic, if still pop-focused production. Even to jaded ears, the album still sounds fresh in 2000 and may well sound like Cat Stevens's best work.
--Jerry McCulley
Buddha and the Chocolate Box,Cat Stevens,A&M,Album Rock,England,Folk-Rock,Pop,Pop/Rock,Popular Music,Rock,Rock/Pop,Singer/Songwriter,Soft Rock,Songwriter
Buddha and the Chocolate Box [Original recording remastered]
Average customer rating:
- Easy Listening to Cat Stevens
- Buddha and the Chocolate Box
- If you know Cat Stevens....
- Good Album
- Yum Chocolate Box !!
|
Buddha and the Chocolate Box
Cat Stevens
Manufacturer: A&M
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
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Similar Items:
- Catch Bull at Four
- Teaser and the Firecat
- Tea for the Tillerman
- Mona Bone Jakon
- Foreigner
ASIN: B00004VW0I
Release Date: 2000-07-25 |
Tracks:
- Music
- Oh Very Young
- Sun/C79
- Ghost Town
- Jesus
- Ready
- King of Trees
- A Bad Penny
- Home in the Sky
Amazon.com
If veteran Cat Stevens fans were nervous in the wake of the previous album's (Foreigner) sometimes sketchy experimentalism, they must surely have been gratified by the singer-songwriter's return to form here. Reuniting with producer Paul Samwell-Smith, this 1974 collection kicks off with the bracing "Music" and never looks back, managing to be both more adventurous and focused than its predecessor. Though perhaps belied by the preciousness of the hit "Oh, Very Young," there's a muscular determination to songs like "Sun/C79" and "Ready" that serves Stevens well. Lyrically, tracks like "Jesus," "King of Trees," and "Home in the Sky" give early hints of Stevens's spiritual quest, though delivered through Samwell-Smith's eclectic, if still pop-focused production. Even to jaded ears, the album still sounds fresh in 2000 and may well sound like Cat Stevens's best work. --Jerry McCulley
Customer Reviews:
Easy Listening to Cat Stevens.......2007-07-08
The CD was very good from a 70's song writer that has been away too long. It brought back good memories of the time. This icon in the music industry had such an impression on the years prior to now.
Buddha and the Chocolate Box.......2007-02-14
Buddha and the Chocolate Box has always been my favorite Cat Stevens album. I was delighted to find it on CD. The delivery date was faster than promised.
If you know Cat Stevens...........2007-01-10
His search has ended. If you have listened to Cat Stevens and realized his quest, this cd is the holy grail. He is so peaceful and energized. He emminates it thru his voice....
Good Album.......2003-12-03
Sorry to keep up the Argy Bargy, but now we aren't allowed to dislike a song for it's lyrics. I find the lyrics of "Home in the sky" suicidal-inducing. "Come the morning I'll be far from here, Happy, rising in another sphere, old world goodbye 'cause I'll be Home in the sky in the morning, Bye Bye" I guess it could be seen as not fearing death but the lines "all the bad times have passed" indicate the person in the song wasn't joyful about Earthlife. Then again, maybe soemone he knew took their life and this is his recounting of it. That said, "Home in the Sky" is one of Cat's Greatest musical accomplishments, with a breathtaking vocal intro, an amazing organ sound signifying death, and the music is really beyond description except I could say it really sound like it's "Happy rising, in another sphere" And Buddha is one of Cat's most beautiful albums, go and get it if you don't have it.
Yum Chocolate Box !!.......2003-09-29
This is a great album. I think it's a transition between Foreigner and the upcoming albums. Awesome songs such as "A Bad Penny", "Home in the sky" & "King of trees", which are the best tracks in the album. Then the well-known "Oh Very Young", beautiful. "Sun/C79" & "Jesus", great tracks. The songs here are more elaborated and more produced. It's Cat with a band. He keeps moving forward experimenting since Catch Bull at Four.
... tnahpelle from Australia likes this album which is great, but mentions that doesn't like "Home in the sky" 'cos of being a depressing tune :-S well, depressing or not, MUSIC transmites feelings, which are not always HAPPY ones. So learn to accept a person's feelings, good or bad, happy or sad. If you are only looking for fun, go to the circus instead of listen to music. So I guess you are the kind of person that walks away from people when having a hard time ;-)
Average customer rating:
- Tasty New Flavors
- The last realy worthwhile Steven's set.
- pretty good
- The Golden Age Ends
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Buddha & The Chocolate Box (Ltd. Edition Digi-Pak)
Cat Stevens
Manufacturer: Umvd Labels
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
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- Catch Bull At Four (Ltd. Edition Digi-Pak)
- Tea for the Tillerman
- Mona Bone Jakon
- An Other Cup
ASIN: B00004VW0R
Release Date: 2000-07-25 |
Tracks:
- Music
- Oh Very Young
- Sun/C79
- Ghost Town
- Jesus
- Ready
- King of Trees
- A Bad Penny
- Home in the Sky
Amazon.com
If veteran Cat Stevens fans were nervous in the wake of the previous album's (Foreigner) sometimes sketchy experimentalism, they must surely have been gratified by the singer-songwriter's return to form here. Reuniting with producer Paul Samwell-Smith, this 1974 collection kicks off with the bracing "Music" and never looks back, managing to be both more adventurous and focused than its predecessor. Though perhaps belied by the preciousness of the hit "Oh, Very Young," there's a muscular determination to songs like "Sun/C79" and "Ready" that serves Stevens well. Lyrically, tracks like "Jesus," "King of Trees," and "Home in the Sky" give early hints of Stevens's spiritual quest, though delivered through Samwell-Smith's eclectic, if still pop-focused production. Even to jaded ears, the album still sounds fresh in 2000 and may well sound like Cat Stevens's best work. --Jerry McCulley
Customer Reviews:
Tasty New Flavors.......2001-01-08
Going from Foreigner to this record is much like Jethro Tull going from Passion Play to Warchild. In fact both Ian Anderson (singer/songwriter of Jethro Tull) and Cat Stevens seemed to have tread similar ground musically on those same records as well. While Warchild was a return to the shorter song format of Ian Anderson's earlier classics, the music still reverberated with the more esoteric sounds of Passion Play. The same could be said of Buddha and the Chocolate Box. I'm one of the few Tull fans I know that really enjoys Warchild and likewise I really like this recording as well. I find this change in style from his earlier work to be an exciting one. It's not just the different approach musically but also the more complex song structures, showing that he wasn't going to stop being creative just to please fans who wanted more of the same from the past. In fact the only real throwback here to the hits of yesterday's sound is in the song Oh Very Young. Beyond that you'll find the lively celebration of the joy of Music in the opening track, echoed again in Ghost Town and Ready. Thoughtful mediations also abound in Sun/C79, Jesus, Bad Penny and my personal favorite, King of Trees. The final track, Home in the Sky, wraps up the celebration of music with it's spiritual overtones in a very short and chocolate sweet way, without being superficially sweet. Clearly this record isn't for everyone, not even Cat Stevens fans. But if you like to be challenged musically rather than have it all spoon fed to you, then you might really like this one. It's certainly one of my favorites, but then I'm hardly a typical Cat Stevens fan: my favorite has always been Numbers, but that remaster won't be issued until next month.
The last realy worthwhile Steven's set........2000-10-07
After the uninspiring Foreigner, this album proved to be a partial return to form and contains two excellent songs and two or three good ones. Track by track: 1 Music- Of little interest, a strange choice to start the album with, as it is at best filler material. Lyrically vapid. 2 Oh Very Young- A smallish hit. Quite a nice, gentle melody, somewhat let down by sappy lyrics. 3 C79.-One of the few songs of his later years that stand comparison to his earlier output; when he dealt mainly in songs of sublime power and beauty. An acoustic rocker that motors along. 4 Ghost Town- Mentions a lot of famous people but is'nt memorable or impressive otherwise. 5 Jesus- A nice , gentle song that compliments it's spiritual theme. 6 Ready- A good tune but the words are his worst lyric ever-" I love, I love, I'm ready to love, Yeah". 7 King of Trees- This is better, a song complete with a thematic content and a sweet, piano melody. 8 Bad Penny- Another minor gem. This and C79 make the album worth buying. It has a samba tune and uses harpsichord and trumpet.I wish he would write songs like this again. 9 Home in the Sky- A gentle,short song to finish the collection.
All in all a good album. Not a great set, but a worthy compliment to the stunning albums- Tillerman, Teaser and Catch Bull.
pretty good.......2000-07-29
This is a good album, but not great. There are a few songs that get on my nerves and are hard to listen to after a while, but there are plenty of good ones to make up for it. "Oh Very Young," "Jesus," and "Sun/C79" are among the better songs. Overall it is a good cd; not my favorite by Cat Stevens, but it is still good.
The Golden Age Ends.......2000-07-27
On this last record of his own "golden age" [which began with "Tea for the Tillerman"], Stevens returned to a much more consumer-friendly style than the more challenging "Catch Bull at Four" and "Foreigner". Other than the rather weird "Ghost Town," these tracks display the folkish roots of "Tea for the Tillerman" and "Teaser and the Firecat", adapted to Stevens' increased interest in more baroque and synthesized instrumentation. "Home in the Sky" and "Jesus" continue his gentle investigations into spiritual beliefs and practices, while "Sun/C79" takes the cliched rock star and groupie theme and transforms it into the source of a lasting love. None of these tracks has the "classic" heft of "Father & Son" [from "Tea for the Tillerman"] or "Moonshadow" [from "Teaser and the Firecat"], but this is still first-rate singer-songwriter pop, lovingly restored to LP-style graphics, if-- that is-- you buy the limited edition digipak reissue.
Average customer rating:
- Sweet
- Stevens' best and most timeless album
- Classic Cat
- A FINE, BUT UNDER-APPRECIATED WORK
- Cat Stevens brings back a lot of good Memories.
|
Buddha and the Chocolate Box
Cat Stevens
Manufacturer: A&M
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
Britain
| British Isles
| Europe
| International
| Styles
| Music
General
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Singer-Songwriters
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Soft Rock
| Pop
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Pop Rock
| Pop
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Folk Rock
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General
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Album-Oriented Rock (AOR)
| Classic Rock
| Styles
| Music
Similar Items:
- Foreigner
- Catch Bull at Four
- Back to Earth
- Mona Bone Jakon
ASIN: B000002GEQ
Release Date: 1993-05-04 |
Tracks:
- Music
- Oh Very Young
- Sun/C79
- Ghost Town
- Jesus
- Ready
- King Of Trees
- A Bad Penny
- Home In The Sky
Customer Reviews:
Sweet.......2000-01-20
I bought this album when it came out oh so many years ago, and it has always been my favorite Cat album. BatCB was the culmination of everything he had been working up to to that point, and it has a sonic richness and lyrical maturity that he never equaled. I particularly like Music, which the idea behind the lyrics caused Robert Christgau to incorrectly label as a "tautology" (always wanted to write him a letter about this...go look it up in a dictionary), featuring quasi-oriental keyboard and string textures (a recurring theme throughout, unsurprisingly), Oh Very Young, with its Nashville-ey backing vocals (BV's were always a Stevens strong point), Jesus, which name checks several deities with wit and grace, and Home In The Sky, a perfect send-off song. Of course, the casual fan curious about Cat will gravitate to Greatest Hits of Tea For The Tillerman, but I would also reccomend this one to see what he was striving for.
Stevens' best and most timeless album.......1999-11-02
After finding a phonograph at a garage sale, I thumbed through my old records and found this Buddha & the Chocolate Box. It was always one of my favorites, and hearing those marvelous songs -- "Sun/C79" is an absolute gem -- I was delighted to discover it has been released as a CD. Buy it and see what Cat Stevens was capable of at his prime.
Classic Cat.......1999-07-24
For Cat Stevens fans, this one is beautiful. He was an underappreciated artist, in my opinion. His 1975 concert tour is still memorable as he brought much of this music to life. One never tires of hearing these unique compositions. "Sun/C79" should be a standard on album radio stations everywhere. Also, the vinyl album packaging was clever as you got to actually open the chocolate box. (Go try to find one in a used record store.)
A FINE, BUT UNDER-APPRECIATED WORK.......1999-06-14
It is unfortunate that most people, if they have heard of Cat Stevens, only know of "Tea For the Tillerman" and the major hits. "Buddha..." is a fine collection of diverse Stevens compositions ranging from folk-acoustic (Oh Very Young) to rousing rock (Music). "Sun/C79" must be one of his very best compositions; "King of Trees", with its ecological theme, was ahead of its time.
Cat Stevens brings back a lot of good Memories........1999-01-09
I just received a gift certificate and was browsing through Amazon.com. I came across Cat Stevens' CD's and it brought back a lot of great memories from the 80's when I had him on record albums. This is a great time to start replacing those albums with more of my favorite oldies that are now on CD's.
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