Band : Bob Catley
Album title : Immortal
Label : Frontiers
Distributor : Rough Trade
Release date : 19/09/2008
Release : CD

Apparently, Magnum frontman Bob Catley likes a bit of variety in the songwriters he works with on his solo albums. In 1998 he started a collaboration with Gary Highes from Ten, a unison which would sprout three albums (1998's The Tower, 1999's Legends, and 2001's Middle Earth) which would perfectly catch Magnum's style of the On A Storyteller's Night. Catley, not content to just bring out a solo album, would gather musicians around his person to promote the material on stages around the globe (a bootleg of the live debut at 1998's The Gods festival would then be officially released through Now And Then that same year as Live At The Gods), at the same time continuing work with his then current Hard Rain project, as well as the resurrected Magnum. For 2003's When Empires Burn, Catley decided to let his longtime keyboard player Paul Hodson do the songwriting for an album which was way heavier than before thanks to a Dio-esque flavouring. Solo album number five, 2006's Spirit Of Man (review by yours truly posted 31/01/2006), was written by longtime guitarist Vince O'Regan (and recorded by Catley's then current touring band) plus two other British songwriters (Dave Thompson & Paul Uttley). The overall mood was again heavier, and with a flavour closer to Rainbow and Dio.

For his sixth solo album, Catley started co-operating  with Swedish songwriter/ guitarist/ keyboardist/ producer Magnus Karlsson (known from his involvement in Midnight Sun, Starbreaker, Last Tribe, Primal Fear, Allen/Lande) in late 2007. Having written the material, he sent the demos over to producer Dennis Ward (of Pink Cream 69, Kymera, etc fame), who then recorded the actual music of the project with Elegy drummer Dirk Bruinenberg, taking care of most guitars, bass, and additional keyboards himself. Strangely enough, guitar ace Karlsson only provides the bulk of keyboards on this venture, also playing one guitar solo on the song "End Of The World". Further additional guitars were provided by Uwe Reitenauer (of Place Vendome and Sunstorm repute). At the end of January, Catley flew over to Germany and put down his vocal parts.

As mentioned in the info sheet provided by Frontiers (you can find it at frontiers.it), "...The sound is again on the heavy spectrum of Bob's abilities, but manages to incorporate the Epic atmospheres on Magnum and Bob Catley's early solo albums..." or, in other words, Karlsson has succeeded in writing 12 great songs which display Bob's capacities to the fullest. He's allowed the singer some occasional calmer passages as well though, and this most prominently on album closer "Heat Of Passion". Don't take it quite for a ballad though, even if the opening (and further passages) contains some truly beautiful piano play. Still this IS the most calm song both vocalwize and instrumentally. On a frequent basis on the album as a whole, Karlsson has also incorporated very atmospheric keyboards, giving the music at that point the Epic touch mentioned earlier. Bob Catley is one of those singularly recognizable better singers in the Hard Rock genre, and although I've never nominated an album by one of his projects into any year-lists (at the time when I woùld've done that, which is at the very beginning of Magnum's career, I wasn't active as a music journalist yet), I will always honour his music. Weird, isn't it? I mean...when push comes to shove, this is the kind of music I could listen to at àny time, any place, in whatever conditions!!!

When trying to find places on the Internet where you could listen to some audio off the new album, you'll find nothing at this moment. However, you can listen to samples of all songs on the previous (which is somehow still the closest to the new one, soundwize) album at bobcatley.com (in the “Solo Albums” section), and you'll find a couple of full-length songs of same album (as well as off older ones) at myspace.com/bobcatley. I think you really best go over to the local record store when the album comes out, and ask for a listening session (always provided they've got the gem in-store of course, but then you should know how high the probability rate is for that!).

92/100

Tony.