Bob Catley - When Empires Burn (2003) (Escape Music Limited Edition 2025)
Posted: 25 Sep 2025, 06:23
Bob Catley - When Empires Burn (2003) (Escape Music Limited Edition 2025)
Year : 2003 (Escape Music Limited Edition 2025)
Style : Melodic Hard Rock
Country : United Kingdom
Audio : 320 kbps + scans
Size : 149 mb
Bio:
Robert Adrian Catley (born 11 September 1947) is an English singer. He was the lead singer of the hard rock band Magnum and is also active as a solo artist.Born in Aldershot on 11 September 1947,Catley's family moved to the Tile Cross area of Birmingham when he was young.He went on to attend the nearby Central Grammar School for Boys (Birmingham) and left to start an apprenticeship at the GPO before deciding on a musical career shortly after meeting similarly minded individuals at college.Whilst at college he joined several bands, such as The Smokestacks (Jeff Clark-guitar, Ron Savage-guitar, Derek Danks- bass & Brian Worrell- drums Life and Clearwater). His first professional band was when he joined local outfit The Capitol Systems. The initial line-up was Bob Catley (vocals) Paul Sargent (guitar) Paul Whitehouse (bass), Dave Bailey (keyboards) and Bob Moore (drums). Shortly afterward they changed their name to Paradox, inspired by a science-fiction novel. A one-off deal was arranged with Mercury after Paradox had come to the attention of Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt. The tracks were "Ever Since I Can Remember", backed with "Goodbye Mary". In addition they recorded "Mary Colinto" and "Somebody Save Me". All of these songs were written by Dave Morgan.Paradox played festivals in the Netherlands and Italy before splitting up upon their return to the UK in 1970.Formed in 1972, Magnum have undergone several changes in personnel over the years, however the core of vocalist Bob Catley and guitarist/songwriter Tony Clarkin remained throughout.Magnum began as the house band at Birmingham's famous Rum Runner night club (later the home of Duran Duran). They began to develop their own style by playing Clarkin's songs at a residency at The Railway Inn, in Birmingham's Curzon Street, in 1976. Joining Clarkin and Catley were drummer Kex Gorin and bassist Dave Morgan (later a member of ELO). Their most notable success during these early years was the Jeff Glixman produced Chase The Dragon (1982) which reached No. 17 in the UK, and included several songs that would be mainstays of the band's live set, notably "Soldier of the Line", "Sacred Hour" and "The Spirit".Their breakthrough album came in 1985 with On a Storyteller's Night which featured the single "Just Like an Arrow". This success continued in the following years with the Roger Taylor produced Vigilante in 1986, the top 5 album Wings of Heaven in 1988, and the Keith Olsen produced Goodnight L.A. reaching No. 9 in the UK album charts in 1990.In the summer of 1995 Tony Clarkin announced the band were to split following a farewell tour of the UK and Europe.After Magnum split, a spin-off group featuring Catley and Clarkin was formed called Hard Rain, and they released the albums Hard Rain and When The Good Times Come. It was around this time that Catley launched a solo career using various songwriters, including Gary Hughes of the band Ten. However, Hard Rain found gigs and booking hard to come by, and there were discussions about renaming the band as Magnum. Also, at this time, Catley was becoming increasingly focused on his solo career, and he quit Hard Rain, marking the end of a working relationship with Clarkin that dated back to 1972. After a quiet period Clarkin announced the end of Hard Rain.Tony Clarkin and Catley re-launched Magnum with the album Breath of Life in 2002 on SPV. They were again joined by Stanway, with former Hard Rain bassist Al Barrow and former-Thunder drummer Harry James. This was subsequently followed by Brand New Morning in 2004.Magnum completed work on a new studio album, Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow released on 26 March 2007, that also marked the return of cover artwork by Rodney Matthews. The album entered the UK Album Charts at #70, the first time Magnum have charted in the UK since 1994. It also reached No. 4 on the BBC Rock Album Charts and No. 60 in Germany, the band's biggest market outside of the UK along with Scandinavia.The band disbanded in early 2024 following the death of Tony Clarkin in the January of that year.
Album:
Escape Music continue to crack on with their re-issues of dear old BOB CATLEY’s solo output. We already featured in exclusive the re-release of ‘The Tower’, ‘Legends’, and ‘Middle Earth’ – they have now re-issued Bob’s forth album – “When Empires Burn”. As with the previous three, there is new artwork, done by legendary artist Rodney Matthews, and bonus tracks.Whereas the first three of Bob’s solo albums were written by Ten’s Gary Hughes, there remains a TEN connection here with ”When Empires Burns [Escape Music 2025 reissue + bonus]” being written by the (then) TEN keyboardist Paul Hodson. And we have a Magnum presence as Bob’s old Magnum colleague Al Barrow plays bass.Hodson’s songwriting is superb. This is a much heavier album with a strong symphonic feel to it. Bob seems to enjoy it too with a more powerful vocal style being needed than a typical Magnum song. Guitarist Vince O’Regan slams in a massive performance with the huge muscular, flowing riffs and shredding for his life. Hodson’s keyboards add the atmosphere without going overboard.There’s plenty of well placed hooks and melodies among the general bombast which highlight the strength of Hodson’s songwriting. In fact, and while all BOB CATLEY albums are good, “When Empires Burn” should be the best of all, mixing hard rock, AOR and lite prog. Seriously, this album is just awesome!A two minute wonderful instrumental leads in to Children of the Circle. Big guitar intro. All nicely heavy and symphonic, Bob’s giving his all with the vocals and O’Regan serves some roaring guitar work. A proper attention grabber of a song. It’s quite catchy too.Gonna Live Forever calms it down a little being more of what might be considered a “traditional” melodic rock type song with a big hook.Then comes The Prophecy, a glorious, sweeping six and a half minutes of hard hitting hard rock with plenty of power and poise. Superb stuff. The title track and Someday Utopia give us more rich heaviness full of the big swelling keys, huge riffs and soloing as the songs scorch along.My America is another winner. A song of two halves. The celtic style first part will have you thinking of Thin Lizzy. Bob’s vocal is nicely sensitive as befitting the lyrics. It builds in to the heavy stuff with yet another marvelous slab of O’Regan’s powerful, flowing lead work.Whilst this is generally a heavy album – there are some lighter moments such as Every Beat of My Heart – which are more akin to say Magnum.A most fine album of hard hitting, atmospheric and symphonic rock/metal. Good on Escape Music for continuing with their work on re-issuing Bob’s solo work. Wonder if they’ll do Spirit of Man next?”When Empires Burn” is overall an album throughout which Paul Hodson proves to be a fine songwriter giving Bob Catley a heavier framework, plenty of melody and AOR hooks too.
Line-Up:
Bob Catley - vocals - See also: Avantasia (live), Magnum, ex-Hard Rain, ex-Paradox, ex-The Capitol Systems
Vince O’Regan – Guitars
Al Barrow – Bass, Vocals
Jamie Little – Drums
Paul Hodson – Keyboards, Vocals
Production:
Produced and mixed by Paul Hodson
Recorded At – The Tent Studio, Stourbridge, England
Mastered At – Mastertone Sound Studios
Design [Album Design], Photography, Artwork – Al Barrow
Executive-Producer – Mark Ashton
Management [Bob Catley Is Managed By] – Annie Minion
Mastered By – Graham 'Graydo' Woodcock
Mixed By [Assisted By] – Bob Catley
Written-By, Producer, Engineer – Paul Hodson
Tracklist:
01. The Torment (Intro)
02. Children Of The Circle
03. Gonna Live Forever
04. The Prophecy
05. I’ll Be Your Fool
06. Every Beat Of My Heart
07. When Empires Burns
08. Meaning Of Love
09. This Is The Day
10. Someday Utopia
11. My America
12. Heaven Can Wait (Bonus Track)
13. When The Earth Lies Still (Demo)(Bonus Track)
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
Year : 2003 (Escape Music Limited Edition 2025)
Style : Melodic Hard Rock
Country : United Kingdom
Audio : 320 kbps + scans
Size : 149 mb
Bio:
Robert Adrian Catley (born 11 September 1947) is an English singer. He was the lead singer of the hard rock band Magnum and is also active as a solo artist.Born in Aldershot on 11 September 1947,Catley's family moved to the Tile Cross area of Birmingham when he was young.He went on to attend the nearby Central Grammar School for Boys (Birmingham) and left to start an apprenticeship at the GPO before deciding on a musical career shortly after meeting similarly minded individuals at college.Whilst at college he joined several bands, such as The Smokestacks (Jeff Clark-guitar, Ron Savage-guitar, Derek Danks- bass & Brian Worrell- drums Life and Clearwater). His first professional band was when he joined local outfit The Capitol Systems. The initial line-up was Bob Catley (vocals) Paul Sargent (guitar) Paul Whitehouse (bass), Dave Bailey (keyboards) and Bob Moore (drums). Shortly afterward they changed their name to Paradox, inspired by a science-fiction novel. A one-off deal was arranged with Mercury after Paradox had come to the attention of Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt. The tracks were "Ever Since I Can Remember", backed with "Goodbye Mary". In addition they recorded "Mary Colinto" and "Somebody Save Me". All of these songs were written by Dave Morgan.Paradox played festivals in the Netherlands and Italy before splitting up upon their return to the UK in 1970.Formed in 1972, Magnum have undergone several changes in personnel over the years, however the core of vocalist Bob Catley and guitarist/songwriter Tony Clarkin remained throughout.Magnum began as the house band at Birmingham's famous Rum Runner night club (later the home of Duran Duran). They began to develop their own style by playing Clarkin's songs at a residency at The Railway Inn, in Birmingham's Curzon Street, in 1976. Joining Clarkin and Catley were drummer Kex Gorin and bassist Dave Morgan (later a member of ELO). Their most notable success during these early years was the Jeff Glixman produced Chase The Dragon (1982) which reached No. 17 in the UK, and included several songs that would be mainstays of the band's live set, notably "Soldier of the Line", "Sacred Hour" and "The Spirit".Their breakthrough album came in 1985 with On a Storyteller's Night which featured the single "Just Like an Arrow". This success continued in the following years with the Roger Taylor produced Vigilante in 1986, the top 5 album Wings of Heaven in 1988, and the Keith Olsen produced Goodnight L.A. reaching No. 9 in the UK album charts in 1990.In the summer of 1995 Tony Clarkin announced the band were to split following a farewell tour of the UK and Europe.After Magnum split, a spin-off group featuring Catley and Clarkin was formed called Hard Rain, and they released the albums Hard Rain and When The Good Times Come. It was around this time that Catley launched a solo career using various songwriters, including Gary Hughes of the band Ten. However, Hard Rain found gigs and booking hard to come by, and there were discussions about renaming the band as Magnum. Also, at this time, Catley was becoming increasingly focused on his solo career, and he quit Hard Rain, marking the end of a working relationship with Clarkin that dated back to 1972. After a quiet period Clarkin announced the end of Hard Rain.Tony Clarkin and Catley re-launched Magnum with the album Breath of Life in 2002 on SPV. They were again joined by Stanway, with former Hard Rain bassist Al Barrow and former-Thunder drummer Harry James. This was subsequently followed by Brand New Morning in 2004.Magnum completed work on a new studio album, Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow released on 26 March 2007, that also marked the return of cover artwork by Rodney Matthews. The album entered the UK Album Charts at #70, the first time Magnum have charted in the UK since 1994. It also reached No. 4 on the BBC Rock Album Charts and No. 60 in Germany, the band's biggest market outside of the UK along with Scandinavia.The band disbanded in early 2024 following the death of Tony Clarkin in the January of that year.
Album:
Escape Music continue to crack on with their re-issues of dear old BOB CATLEY’s solo output. We already featured in exclusive the re-release of ‘The Tower’, ‘Legends’, and ‘Middle Earth’ – they have now re-issued Bob’s forth album – “When Empires Burn”. As with the previous three, there is new artwork, done by legendary artist Rodney Matthews, and bonus tracks.Whereas the first three of Bob’s solo albums were written by Ten’s Gary Hughes, there remains a TEN connection here with ”When Empires Burns [Escape Music 2025 reissue + bonus]” being written by the (then) TEN keyboardist Paul Hodson. And we have a Magnum presence as Bob’s old Magnum colleague Al Barrow plays bass.Hodson’s songwriting is superb. This is a much heavier album with a strong symphonic feel to it. Bob seems to enjoy it too with a more powerful vocal style being needed than a typical Magnum song. Guitarist Vince O’Regan slams in a massive performance with the huge muscular, flowing riffs and shredding for his life. Hodson’s keyboards add the atmosphere without going overboard.There’s plenty of well placed hooks and melodies among the general bombast which highlight the strength of Hodson’s songwriting. In fact, and while all BOB CATLEY albums are good, “When Empires Burn” should be the best of all, mixing hard rock, AOR and lite prog. Seriously, this album is just awesome!A two minute wonderful instrumental leads in to Children of the Circle. Big guitar intro. All nicely heavy and symphonic, Bob’s giving his all with the vocals and O’Regan serves some roaring guitar work. A proper attention grabber of a song. It’s quite catchy too.Gonna Live Forever calms it down a little being more of what might be considered a “traditional” melodic rock type song with a big hook.Then comes The Prophecy, a glorious, sweeping six and a half minutes of hard hitting hard rock with plenty of power and poise. Superb stuff. The title track and Someday Utopia give us more rich heaviness full of the big swelling keys, huge riffs and soloing as the songs scorch along.My America is another winner. A song of two halves. The celtic style first part will have you thinking of Thin Lizzy. Bob’s vocal is nicely sensitive as befitting the lyrics. It builds in to the heavy stuff with yet another marvelous slab of O’Regan’s powerful, flowing lead work.Whilst this is generally a heavy album – there are some lighter moments such as Every Beat of My Heart – which are more akin to say Magnum.A most fine album of hard hitting, atmospheric and symphonic rock/metal. Good on Escape Music for continuing with their work on re-issuing Bob’s solo work. Wonder if they’ll do Spirit of Man next?”When Empires Burn” is overall an album throughout which Paul Hodson proves to be a fine songwriter giving Bob Catley a heavier framework, plenty of melody and AOR hooks too.
Line-Up:
Bob Catley - vocals - See also: Avantasia (live), Magnum, ex-Hard Rain, ex-Paradox, ex-The Capitol Systems
Vince O’Regan – Guitars
Al Barrow – Bass, Vocals
Jamie Little – Drums
Paul Hodson – Keyboards, Vocals
Production:
Produced and mixed by Paul Hodson
Recorded At – The Tent Studio, Stourbridge, England
Mastered At – Mastertone Sound Studios
Design [Album Design], Photography, Artwork – Al Barrow
Executive-Producer – Mark Ashton
Management [Bob Catley Is Managed By] – Annie Minion
Mastered By – Graham 'Graydo' Woodcock
Mixed By [Assisted By] – Bob Catley
Written-By, Producer, Engineer – Paul Hodson
Tracklist:
01. The Torment (Intro)
02. Children Of The Circle
03. Gonna Live Forever
04. The Prophecy
05. I’ll Be Your Fool
06. Every Beat Of My Heart
07. When Empires Burns
08. Meaning Of Love
09. This Is The Day
10. Someday Utopia
11. My America
12. Heaven Can Wait (Bonus Track)
13. When The Earth Lies Still (Demo)(Bonus Track)
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/