Yusuf/Cat Stevens’ beloved 1974 album Buddha and the Chocolate Box has been newly remastered and is set for reissue on 4th September 2026, more than fifty years after it first appeared. Cat Stevens’ sixth Island Records LP — one of four consecutive albums to reach the Top 3 on both sides of the Atlantic — will be available on CD, vinyl, and digitally for streaming and download.
Originally released on 19th March 1974, Buddha and the Chocolate Box marked the return of both producer Paul Samwell-Smith and guitarist Alun Davies, following their absence on the preceding album, Foreigner. Sonically, the record was a homecoming to the style of the Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat era — but with the arrangements and production reaching a new level of finesse and polish.
“Buddha and the Chocolate Box reopened the doors of my familiar melodious soft delivery and sentiments. Although still experimental in compositional terms, it was what most of my fans desperately wanted to hear next. Following on from Foreigner, the Buddha album proved— especially to those who had no faith—that the missing Cat had simply wandered away from home for a while. My principle of independence was asserted as with most cats, don’t ever dare think you own them! As far as the critics were concerned, album-wise, it marked my heralded return to “Cat Stevens” form.”
‘Cat on the Road to Findout’ Yusuf / Cat Stevens
The album’s nine original compositions range from the forceful, keyboard-driven opener “Music” — with its rallying message for the ages, “there’d be no more wars in the world if everybody joined in the band” — to the tender, piano-led “Oh Very Young,” another deeply prescient track and illustrative of Cat’s exceptional ability to explore deep emotion and universal experiences through the medium of popular song. Elsewhere, the country-tinged “Ghost Town,” the optimistic “Ready,” and the closing “Home in the Sky” — with its declaration that “Music is a lady that I still love” — showed a songwriter at the height of his melodic and philosophical powers. And yet, the deeply intriguing lyrics of “Jesus” – which also mention Buddha – gave a clear indication of the artist’s broad spiritual leaning.
A GLOBAL SUCCESS — THEN AND NOW
Buddha and the Chocolate Box was a worldwide hit. In the United States it climbed to No.2 on the Billboard 200, spending three weeks in the runner-up spot — held off the summit only by the The Sting soundtrack — and it was certified Gold within weeks of release (8th April 1974), later going Platinum (RIAA) for over one million copies. In the UK it reached No.3, earning silver and gold certifications on the same day that July, just months after release.
It was a genuine international triumph, reaching the Top 5 across much of the world: New Zealand (No.2), Canada (No.3), Austria (No.3), Australia (No.5), Norway (No.5), Finland (No.6), Italy (No.6) and France (No.9). While in Australia in June 1974, Cat Stevens was presented with a plaque marking the sale of 40 Gold Records — at the time, the largest number ever presented to any artist in the country.
Comments are closed.