Foreigner

With the Tower of Power horns, Patti Austin, Barbara Massey, and Tasha Thomas on backing vocals and Bernard “Pretty” Purdie on drums, Cat Stevens set out to self-produce *Foreigner* and come up with his impressions of R&B. Stevens moves over to piano for many of the songs, and Jean Roussel added keyboards and string/brass/wood arrangements, while Stevens’ usual accompanying guitarist, Alun Davies, was removed from the lineup. The R&B-inflected “The Hurt” became a mild hit, while “Later” added a touch of funk and “100 I Dream” continued in this style, which felt to Stevens like he was exploring “foreign” territory. Only “How Many Times” revealed traces of old Cat. The side-long, 18-minute “Foreigner Suite” is an exploratory gamble that sounds like a mix of Jethro Tull and Stevie Wonder: progressive rock meeting R&B and soul with an extreme, out-there approach. Interestingly, in modern times, Stevens filed a lawsuit regarding the melody to Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida,” alleging that the song plagiarized the part of “Foreigner Suite” that starts 14 and a half minutes in. Listen for yourself.