Customer Rating: 
Summary: Great Purchase for Collectors
Comment: If you are a collector, this is a great buy...especially to hear "Tuesday's Dead" and "Bitterblue" done live - Mike Rivas
Customer Rating:
Summary: Original album definitive, bonus material a judgement call.
Comment: To me, TEASER AND THE FIRECAT is Cat Stevens' best album, hands down. One thing people don't take into account as much in this age of the iPod is how a group of songs by a performer or band can firm up into a solid unit of work---an album---when the care is given to doing so. TEASER is not only a great example of this, it's also one of the few albums I own where every track is strong, both as parts of a whole and each song by its lonesome. The playfulness of "Rubylove" and "Moonshadow" juxtaposes nicely with the melancholy of "If I Laugh" and "How Can I Tell You," which in turn mesh well with the grace of "Morning Has Broken" and "The Wind." Even the songs which on first blush seem slighter, such as "Changes IV" and "Bitterblue," have become stronger over the years with repeated listenings. Whatever anyone thinks of Cat Stevens' work overall, on TEASER he struck gold throughout.
You'll have to judge for yourself whether or not the bonus disc of this "deluxe edition" of TEASER is worth it. Personally, I doubt I'm going to play the "demo" versions of these songs again now that I've heard them once: it's pretty clear that the final versions of the songs were far superior to the rough drafts, and I find the documentary aspect of these inclusions fairly negligible. The concert version of "Tuesday's Dead" from Stevens' 1976 tour can be found on the MAJIKAT concert disc released a few years ago, so it's redundant. The two bonus tracks that I find the most compelling are the ones featuring Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens' current incarnation, for those of you who don't know) doing a re-working of "Peace Train" as an acapella tour-de-force; and a more recent concert version of Islam performing "The Wind" which serves to remind listeners of how timeless and lovely a song it is.
And that's really what TEASER AND THE FIRECAT is in the end---a timeless and enduring collection that only gets better with age. Whether you get the "deluxe edition" or the standard edition of this album, get it. It's a gem.
Customer Rating:
Summary: a 5 Star album gets even better!!!!
Comment: This album, along with Tea For the Tillerman are a couple of the greatest singer/songwriter albums of all time..and they were both made by the same artist, Cat Stevens...at just about the same time. This album featured classics like "Moonshadow" and "Morning has Broken" and "Peace Train" ..as well as other songs many prefer to the hits....songs like "How Can I Tell You" and "If I Laugh". The production at the time was very tasteful and acoustic so they've held up over the decades. NOW..on to the bonus disc..
"Moonshadow" is from an early performance at LA's legendary TROUBADOUR club, the next six songs on the album are all included as demos...and wow ..hearing Cat Stevens on just his guitar running through these songs before recording is almost unbelievable for a fan like myself..truly a dream come true. The last few are more recent "Live" versions and they are also a nice treat although nothing like the demos.
If you love this album like millions of us do..the bonus material is absolutely worth it...
the remastering was already excellent on the previous edition so that wouldn't be my reason to upgrade...
The booklet features some cool pix and a nice intro/remembrance by Cat Stevens penned sept '08, as well as notes from his producer and Guitarist which ad to the experience.
This is my find of the year...
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![Teaser and the Firecat [Deluxe Edition]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41IOOAf1rEL._SL160_.jpg)
