LABEL: NOW & THEN / FRONTIERS
OVERALL: 90%
Produced by: Gary Hughes
OVERALL: 90%
Produced by: Gary Hughes
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LABEL: NOW & THEN / FRONTIERS OVERALL: 90% Produced by: Gary Hughes | ||||
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When Ten released their last album Spellbound, the band had settled into their new studio and took a direction change, but also sounded better produced and the sound was a little tighter. The difference between The Robe and Spellbound is the same as the difference in sound between Bob Catley's debut The Tower and his new album Legends. Written again by Gary Hughes and recorded with the rest of the guys from Ten, this album is also tighter and better produced. Having the experience of knowing and working with each other for a better period of time, it has also allowed Hughes to better tailor songs for Catley's style and delivery. No, Bob Catley has not recorded Spellbound II, but on Legends, he has toughened up even more as has the production and musicianship. And this is sure as hell better than the two Hard Rain albums. The album will appeal to any fan of Ten and any fan that loved the best selling Tower album. On top of that, I hope the bigger diversity of the songs on Legends will entice older | |||
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Magnum fans to once again enjoy the wondrous vocal talents of Catley. There are the obligatory over the top hard rockers like the opening track The Pain, the totally ballistic Medusa (Bob rocks!!) and the album's major progressive epic The Light - clocking in at over 8 minutes. All very enjoyable, but then there are some more complex, intelligent and quite moody pace changing rock tracks like Shelter From The Light, Carpe Diem, Too Late and Hydra. All songs vary their pace and approach and Bob Catley's vocals are second to none. The other aspect of the album is some superb ballads. Tender Is The Night is soft and moody in it's verse, but powerful and heavy in it's chorus; A Beautiful Night For Love is perfect, with it's piano led atmosphere and the album finishes with the best track of all - Where The Heart Is. This moody heartfelt ballad is accompanied only with a keyboard and acoustic guitar and a soft vocal harmony backing vocal. A wonderful little song. If there is any criticism of the album, it is that each hard rocking song contains a very similar guitar sound, one that needs to be varied more to create the perfect album. But this is close. I marked the debut at 94% and this is really close to it. My pick is that the third album, whenever it comes will be the essential masterpiece.
| PRODUCTION: 88% | SONGS: 90% | VIBE: 88% | ATTITUDE: 90% | ESSENTIAL FOR: All Bob Catley fans, most Magnum fans and Ten/Gary Hughes fans. |
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DISCOGRAPHY:Magnum; Hard Rain; Solo - The Tower . Legends
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