Usually when veterans re-record their old hits, it's nothing radical. They may do acoustic versions, or add strings, maybe invite superstars for duets. Basically they don't change much, and the results are simply a way for their labels to milk a little more out of the same old songs.
Cat,
or Yusuf, bravely reworks much of his 50-year old classic. That's
mostly in the arrangements, instruments and melodies. He does make one
notable lyric switch, changing "Looking for a hard-headed woman" to
"found myself a hard-headed woman," which is more appropriate now for him.
That song, and "Where Do The Children Play" kick things off, and are two
of the least restructured tunes. But then you're hit with the beloved
"Wild World." It's completely
restructured, with a reggae beat and klezmer touches, accordion and clarinet.
And
so it continues, more and more surprises and radical reinventions.
There's even a brief hip-hop shout-out, nothing tacky, more like Yusuf
being inclusive. He does leave the venerated "Father And Son" largely
unchanged, letting his older voice now handle the poignancy. But the
rest of the album goes from quirky to unrecognizable, the acoustic
flavour of the original replaced by bigger production and more
instruments. It's different and I still like it.
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