Mona Bone Jakon

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Mona Bone Jakon

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List Price: $11.98
Our Price: $8.97

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Editorial Reviews:


Limited Edition import-only vinyl LP repressing of this album. Universal. 2007.


Mona Bone Jakon marked the beginning of the Cat Stevens we know and love, forming alongside Teaser & the Firecat and Tea for the Tillerman the creative heart of Stevens's oeuvre. Though previous releases showcased his sticky burr of a voice and flashes of his songwriting brilliance, it was on Mona Bone that Stevens became disillusioned enough with the music industry to write more deeply introspective and personal songs. It's interesting to note that his disavowal of the biz (wryly commented upon in the song "Pop Star") coincides with his increasing popularity. You can hear Stevens finding his distinctive voice and sound on the first few bars of "Lady D'Arbanville" in all its baroque, emotive glory. "I Think I See the Light" marks the beginning of Stevens's lyrical spiritual pursuits, and "Trouble" stands among the best tracks in his career. All in all, Mona Bone Jakon is a delight, and because it never achieved the Top 40 radio ubiquity of later albums, it sounds fresh and distinct. --Tod Nelson

User Comments:

Mona Bone Jakon

Thank you - Mona Bone Jakon safely received and in good condition. Couldn't afford to buy first time round - thank goodness for re-mastering.

Essential Cat

Also, I noticed at the 2:10 mark of this song he starts strumming the chords to Don't Be Shy, a song he did for the movie Harold & Maude. Not sure why but it just doesn't do anything for me. Next comes the catchy Pop Star, which is kinda repetitive but I still like it. Trouble is the only song I'd heard before buying the album. Katmandu has a nice flow and descriptive lyrics that really reminds me of camping. The only song I find kind of mediocre is Lady D'Arbanville. Anyway, that's my opinion of this album: one of his best and seemingly most overlooked.

And the album ends with Lilywhite, a nice slow song that has some beautiful violin playing in it. Time is a really short song which really is just the intro to Fill My Eyes, which is a very pretty songone of my favorites. Mona Bone Jakon is almost there with Lady D'Arbanville as a throw-away track for me but it's pretty short and there's something kinda interesting about it so I usually don't skip it. I Think I See the Light just plain rocks; I love the piano in it.

I can't explain what about the song I like so much; I just think it has a great tune. So the album for me starts with Maybe You're Right, which might be my favorite of the album.

I was already very familiar with Teaser and the Firecat from when I was young and partially familiar with Tea for the Tillerman from "best of" collections I've heard but it wasn't until a few months ago that I actually got the Mona Bone Jakon album. It's really hard for me to pick a favorite out of the three.

I Wish, I Wish is a catchy song with an interesting beat that seems to keep building up; I really like it. Peter Gabriel plays the flute in this song.

There's a lot of good stuff on here and I would say it's on par with the other two albums. I view this album as the first third to the amazing three part masterpiece that is MBJ/TFTT/TATF.

It's a classic with a very nice, slow and easy tune.

Classic Cat Stevens

Cat Stevens has a distinctive voice, and it really comes out on this CD. I don't love every song, and none of the songs made it to pop hit status as I recall, but who cares if you love his voice, you'll love this CD.

Well Done

This cd's got a couple of songs from the movie "Harold and Maude", which I understand can be found on no other album.