Most moviegoers will tell you that remakes and sequels are almost never as good as the originals, and for every
The Godfather Part II you get four or five things like
Exorcist II: The Heretic or
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2. So why does Hollywood make them, and why do people pay to see them? Most of it can be chalked up to the notion of the pre-sold commodity -- people have a good idea of what to expect, even if the quality isn't up to snuff, and there's always the hope the filmmakers will beat the odds and they'll have the same fun they had a few years previous. One can only imagine
Yusuf, the artist known as in his salad days as
Cat Stevens, was thinking along these lines when he decided to make
Tea for the Tillerman 2, a song-by-song remake of the 1970 album that became his international breakthrough hit. This time around,
Yusuf and producer
Paul Samwell-Smith (who also produced the original) have maintained the original sequence but given the tunes brand new arrangements, in effect giving fans a new and different version of one of their favorite albums. If the idea was to put these songs into a more modern context, that's not how it plays out; for the most part,
Tea for the Tillerman 2 trades the early '70s folk-rock of the original for a sound reminiscent of mid- to late-'70s soft rock, going to a great deal of trouble to travel a very short distance. (The album's greatest concession to modern tastes is a rap-influenced section in "Longer Boats," which is only slightly less embarrassing than it sounds.) With a few exceptions, the songs hold up rather well in their pastoral optimism and cautious tone about the state of the busy world. However, these new interpretations don't bring out much that's fresh or enlightening, and where the voice of 22-year-old
Cat Stevens was strong and versatile, the 72-year-old
Yusuf sounds a bit fragile and weary (and he clearly can't hit all the high notes). He sounds emotionally committed to the material throughout, which sometimes helps and sometimes makes things worse in his painful sincerity, and the jazz-tango arrangement of "Wild World" is simply puzzling. 2009's
Roadsinger and 2017's
The Laughing Apple proved that
Yusuf is still capable of writing fine songs and making them work in the studio.
Tea for the Tillerman 2, on the other hand, is a curious misfire that trades strength and confidence for second-guessing and stylistic uncertainty. This isn't likely to win
Yusuf any new fans or find favor with the millions who loved the original; while it's not quite as pointless a remake as
Gus Van Sant's 1998 version of
Psycho, it comes too close for anyone to recommend it. ~ Mark Deming
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