Year : 2026
Style : Melodic Hard Rock
Country : United Kingdom
Audio : 320 kbps + front
Size : 178 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 has the pleasure to announce the release of much loved vocalist Bob Catley (Magnum/Avantasia) “Far Away Live in Concert” with artwork by Rodney Matthews! The Vinyl will be a double gatefold limited edition of 500 copies only, “Blueberry” and “Mimosa Marble” colours, all will be numbered 1-500, 180g audiophile, also on CD.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 throughout the next 16 years consisted mainly of Bob Catley on vocals and Tony Clarkin on guitar. 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 (Queen) 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.Subsequently, Clarkin decided to maintain a tighter control, and after their initial mainstream success, the band lost their major label backing and returned to a more personal level of production.This finally found the band splitting and the formation of Hard Rain in 1995, which saw Clarkin pursue a more Pop orientated direction with a band that included Sue McCloskey on lead vocals. This new direction didn’t sit well with Catley, and after a headline performance at The Gods in the late 90s, a conversation with Bruce Mee of Now & Then Records saw Catley agree with a decision which eventually led to his debut solo album, ‘The Tower’. This release was completely written by Gary Hughes of Ten, with the writing completely decided to be in the vein of classic Magnum. The album itself was recorded by various members of Ten, including the amazing Vinny Burns (Dare) on guitar. On release, the many positive reviews concluded that the release of ‘The Tower’ had succeeded beyond its wildest imagination…..and Bob Catley’s solo career had been launched with amazing success!!After the great success of ‘The Tower’, Bob and Gary got together again for the follow-up – ‘Legends’. While not a full-blown concept album, each track was written about legendary figures from literature, mythology and real-life. Where else would one see songs about Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe standing should to shoulder with tales of Dracula, the Phantom of the Opera, Medusa and the Hydra amongst others.It was during the tour to support ‘Legends’ that Bob played at the renowned Lokerse Festival in Belgium, using members from Native Cain, along with Paul Hodson (Hard Rain/Ten) on keyboards, as his backing band. With a set consisting of tracks from his first two solo albums, as well as a fair amount of Magnum classics, this was a show to go down is history – and the fervent crowd certainly added to the spectacle!!The release is on both CD and also double vinyl, adorned with artwork by the legendary Rodney Matthews.As a fitting end to our collection of Bob Catley albums, this is one release that fans of Magnum, and quality Melodic Rock, should certainly add to their collection! Date of release 24th April, 2026.
Line-Up:
Bob Catley - Vocals - See also: Avantasia (live), Magnum, ex-Hard Rain, ex-Paradox, ex-The Capitol Systems
Connor Emms - Lead guitar
Chris Walton - Rhythm guitar
Jon Hayward - Bass
Dez Wooton - Drums
Paul Hodson - Keyboards
Production:
Executive producers: Bruce Mee & Khalil Turk
Audio restoration and mastering: Mark Ayres, additional mastering by Fredrik Folkare
Remastered by: Fredrik Folkare
Live photos: Jeff Price
Tracklist:
01. The Light 8:36
02. The Pain 6:51
03. Dreams 6:29
04. Scream 7:02
05. Far Away 6:07
06. Too Late 5:33
07. Start Talking Love 4:30
08. Lonely Night 5:05
09. On A Storyteller's Night 4:41
10. Fear Of The Dark 7:29
11. Les Morts Dansant 4:32
12. Just Like An Arrow 3:27
13. A Beautiful Night For Love 5:35
14. The Tower 6:26 (Bonus Track)
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
