UPDATE: It’s been nearly a year since our initial coverage of the Cat Stevens Back To Earth box set featuring a new remaster done at Abbey Road and a wealth of rare audio and visual material. Since then, lots of changes have affected how the box will reach listeners. Now that Pledge Music is out of the equation, BMG and their new Cat-O-Log division will release the elaborate set more conventionally on April 10. The box won’t have all the bells and whistles described last year – just the discs and the book (sorry if you were looking forward to planting Back to Earth seeds.)  That said, the Cat Stevens online store offers its own bundles — more on that below.  Those anticipating bare-bones CD or vinyl configurations will be happy to hear that single-disc editions are already available wherever fine music is sold.

Originally released 41 years ago in December of 1978, Back To Earth found Stevens (who by that point had changed his name to Yusuf Islam, but who was still credited under his former moniker) reuniting with Paul Samwell-Smith, who had produced his legendary early ’70s output. The album also marked the return of collaborators Alun Davies on guitar, who also co-wrote two tracks, and Gerry Conway on drums. Back To Earth was to be the artist’s final pop album before retiring from the music business to focus on his faith, though Yusuf would eventually return to secular music in 2006 with An Other Cup. The resulting collection was largely a return to the acoustic-driven numbers for which Stevens had become popular earlier in the decade. Some songs deal with his retirement from music and his spiritual quests. Meanwhile, “New York Times” and “Randy” have influences from the theatre. Still, many of his evergreen themes – love, youth, and relationships, for example – are all present. And while the album stalled at No. 33 on the charts and the singles didn’t receive much airplay, Back To Earth was a remarkable coda to the classic A&M/Island era.

The mammoth, 8-disc super deluxe 5-CD/2-LP/Blu-ray edition pairs the new remaster with a disc of live tracks from the last decade, plus rare demos, including two previously unheard tracks: “Toy Heart” and “Butterfly.” Also included is the previous 2001 remaster of Back To Earth, plus Alpha Omega (A Musical Revelation), a Yusuf-produced 1978 recording by his brother David. The final CD features Stevens’ performance at the 1979 UNICEF Year of the Child benefit concert, which marked his farewell (for several decades, at least) to concert performing. The sixth disc, a Blu-ray, features video footage of the UNICEF Year of the Child performance and a high-resolution version of the remastered Back To Earth album. There’s also an LP of the remaster and a further LP featuring the UNICEF concert. Rounding out the set is a 50-page hardback book and exclusive memorabilia. We haven’t heard any news about the memorabilia once promised with Pledge Music’s bundles (a 7″ single with the two unheard songs, pins, patches, scarves, shirts, and a signed lyric sheet print of “Just Another Night”). The possibility remains that they may be available on the Yusuf Islam online store. We’ll update readers should that be the case. UPDATE: Though not as wild as some of the Pledge Music bundles, the Cat Stevens online store is offering bundles that add on the 7″ single of demos, color vinyl LP variants, a poster (signed or unsigned), and a T-shirt

If that’s too much Cat for you, a pared-down version is out now. Gone is the planned double-disc CD and in its place is a worthwhile standalone release of the new remaster on CD. Black vinyl and color vinyl variants are also available.

We hope for more to come from Cat-O-Log/BMG in the future and look forward to the upcoming edition of Back To Earth. You can get in on the celebration by pre-ordering the box or securing your copy of the standalone set with the links below. And to whet your appetite for the collection, Yusuf has released a lyric video for “Toy Heart.” Try getting this catchy outtake out of your mind!

Cat Stevens, Back To Earth (originally A&M LP SP 4735, 1978 — reissued Cat-O-Log/BMG, 2019)

5-CD/2-LP/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. link not yet live / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP black vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP color vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Standard 1CD, Standard 1-LP, Color Vinyl 1-LP Track Listing:

Side 1:
1. Just Another Night
2. Daytime
3. Bad Brakes
4. Randy
5. The Artist

Side 2:
1. Last Love Song
2. Nascimento
3. Father
4. New York Times
5. Never

Super Deluxe Edition (5-CD/2-LP/BluRay) Track Listing:

CD 1: Back To Earth: Original Album Remastered at Abbey Road

1. Just Another Night
2. Daytime
3. Bad Brakes
4. Randy
5. The Artist
6. Last Love Song
7. Nascimento
8. Father
9. New York Times
10. Never

CD 2: Return To Earth: The Original 2001 Stereo Master

1. Just Another Night
2. Daytime
3. Bad Brakes
4. Randy
5. The Artist
6. Last Love Song
7. Nascimento
8. Father
9. New York Times
10. Never

CD 3: Unearthed: live tracks, rare demos, and unheard material

1. Butterfly – previously unreleased
2. Toy Heart – previously unreleased
3. New York Times (new mix) – previously unreleased
4. Just Another Night (demo) – previously unreleased
5. Last Love Song (Session Mix) – previously unreleased
6. Daytime (Live 2017 Adelaide)
7. Bad Brakes (Live 2011 Albert Hall)
8. Last Love Song (Live 2014 Toronto)
9. Nascimento (Solto) – previously unreleased
10. Just Another Night (Live 2016 Nashville)
11. Bad Brakes (instrumental) – previously unreleased

CD 4: Alpha Omega (A Musical Revelation) : Yusuf-produced 1978 album by his brother, David

1. Universe
2. I Who Am I
3. Paradise
4. Inventions
5. I See That Face
6. Child For A Day
7. Sing, Love Is Everywhere
8. Alpha Omega
9. Music Is The 7th Wonder
10. Dreamer
11. World
12. Listen To Me
13. I Believe

CD 5: UNICEF Year Of The Child Concert at Wembley Arena 1979

1. Paul Gambaccini Introduction/The Wind
2. On The Road To Find Out
3. Just Another Night
4. Daytime/Where Do The Children Play?
5. Father & Son
6. Morning Has Broken (with Belmont Junior School Choir)
7. Peace Train
8. Child For A Day (with Richard Thompson and David Essex)

Blu-Ray:

1. UNICEF Year Of The Child Concert at Wembley Arena 1979 footage
2. High-Res Remaster of Back To Earth

LP 1: Back To Earth Original Album Remastered
LP 2: UNICEF Year Of The Child Concert at Wembley Arena 1979

Includes a 50-page hardback book and exclusive memorabilia