CATS IN SPACE – Day Trip To Narnia (2019)
Since bursting onto the scene in 2015, CATS IN SPACE have been busy. As well as touring with the lines of Deep Purple, Thunder and Status Quo, they’ve released three albums and are now preparing to release their fourth – “Day Trip To Narnia”.
Cats In Space previous albums showed us a band that wasn’t afraid to channel the sounds of 70s Rock without calling to play round the houses of either Zeppelin or Sabbath, instead dropping in round the ”no less interesting yet less lofty” dwellings of Supertramp, ELO, The Moody Blues and co.
Here on “Day Trip To Narnia” we get a two-for-one of sorts with the first seven songs seemingly set to explore that magical snow-encrusted land, and the following six telling ‘The story of Johnny Rocket’ which the promo material describes as a ‘Space travelling masterpiece.’
‘Narnia’ that fittingly opens up the disc has a wanton swing and anachronistic beat that hasn’t been heard since the days of The Move and ELO and fittingly flies the Pomp Rock flag to bestow upon us the best possible of openings.
‘She talks too Much’ that follows it has the bluster of early Queen had they collided with vintage Styx it’s a heady mix of sounds that meld rock with more orchestrated moments and whist the Brian May-like guitar stabs will have you gasping it’s just a tad on the Prog side of the Cats in Space songbook, not, as they say, that there’s anything wrong with that…
‘Hologram Man’ has some 10cc on it, pure Pop Rock and celebrates the good old days for musicians and fans alike when things were far simpler; while ‘Tragic Alter Ego’ takes us on a piano-led ride through the sounds of the 70s via Queen-like stabs and harmonies.
We return to slick warm Pop for another look back in time on ‘Silver and Gold’ and fresh acoustic guitars litter the lead into the gently downcast and rueful ‘Chasing Diamonds’ and just when you’re settling into another fine release
Act one closes with sure-footed retro Rock&Pop sounds of the majestic ‘Unicorn.’
It’s at this point we say goodbye to Narnia and hello to ‘Johnny Rocket’ which opens up with the orchestral 39 second rumble of ‘Space Overture’ before the vintage Angel-like build and ELO body of ‘Johnny Rocket’, it’s impressive stuff and rocks along nicely up against the guitar-threaded disco beat of ‘Thunder In The Night’ and the cascading melodies and swing of ‘One Small Step.’
‘Twilight’ mellows proceedings and sports some wonderful strings as we’re propelled towards the end of Johnny’s story, whilst the languid ballad ‘Yesterday’s News’ has an even lighter touch and explores the temporary nature of it all.
We’re left with ‘Destination Unknown’ – a nice strummed Pop Rocker that has a timeless aspect to it, it’s a perfectly nice song but like it’s two predecessors lacks the twist and quirkiness I had expected shot through these final three tracks. In an album of two halves I much prefer the first.
Cats in Space had pushed their creative ‘boat’ out a fair way from shore, now they’ve launched it even further into the unknown.
“Day Trip To Narnia” works as separate two albums. ‘Side A’ is the Cats you know, catchy, melodious. ‘Side B’ is the Johnny Rocket suite, where the band try something new. I still prefer the classic ‘cats’, but kudos to the guys for exploring new territories. The first half of the CD is instant catchiness, while the second is a grower.
HIGHLY Recommended
01. Narnia
02. She talks too much
03. Hologram man
04. Tragic alter ego
05. Silver and gold
06. Chasing diamonds
07. Unicorn
08. The story of Johnny Rocket I: Space overture
09. The story of Johnny Rocket II: Johnny Rocket
10. The story of Johnny Rocket III: Thunder in the night
11. The story of Johnny Rocket IV: One small step
12. The story of Johnny Rocket V: Twilight
13. The story of Johnny Rocket VI: Yesterday’s news
14. The story of Johnny Rocket VII: Destination unknown
Paul Manzi – Lead Vocals (Arena)
Dean Howard – Guitar (Airrace)
Jeff Brown – Bass (The Sweet)
Andy Stewart – Keyboards
Greg Hart – Guitars / Vocals
Steevi Bacon – Drums
Pre Order:
www.amazon.de/Day-Trip-Narnia-Cats-Space/dp/B07MGJ6YF4
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