Cats In Space: Time Machine

It’s no secret that we here at SoT - and especially those of a UK Connection persuasion - pretty much adore Cats In Space. I myself have given two of their previous releases the scarcely seen score of five out five, while our illustrious head honcho Mr Pardo did likewise to the band’s recent live album. Therefore it’s impossible not to go into a release like Time Machine without those horrible things - you know the ones I mean… expectations. And with that (and them) in mind, it’s taken me a few weeks to pop my thoughts down about the Cats’ sixth (but kinda seventh) studio album, to let my hopes and ambitions settle into something less, well, impossible to match.

Having debuted with the band on 2020’s Atlantis, singer Damian Edwards has now fronted half of the Cats’ studio outings and the man has a simply incredible voice. Full of emotion, capable of immense power and able to hit and hold notes that visibly stunned his band mates when I saw them recently in Bathgate (of all places…), the frontman is such an asset and one that this outfit really know how to use. Maybe their eagerness to show his talents here is one of the reasons that I initially didn’t quite click with Time Machine as I’d expected.

It’s the title track that opens proceedings, The Who (a real theme at times on this album that the band haven’t explored quite so readily in the past) evident in a “Baba O’Reilly� kind of way. I’d also suggest that a certain Mr Entwistle is channeled through the bass runs here and on a few other spots across the album. In many ways it makes this introduction feel like a big epic closer, and one that’s driven home by the more Paradise Theater Styx era like “My Father’s Eyes�, before the tear-jerking “Crashing Down� makes it an opening trio of big, bold, epic, but not hugely rocking offerings. “Orcam’s Razor� and it’s blaring horns (and more Who-isms) sorts that out, pulsating, pushing and shoving and yet still melodic, catchy and magnificent.

From there, a theme has been set, the slow, patient ballad of “Forever & Ever� highlighting a glorious vocal before the almost Elton John like piano of “Ivory Anthem� asks Edwards to take a temporary backseat so the band can build up a head of steam - something Hart, his co-guitarist Dean Howard, bassist Jeff Brown, keyboard player Andy Stewart and drummer Steevi Bacon don’t waste. “This Velvet Rush� then moves us back into contained territory before “Yesterday’s Sensation� proves to be the album’s brightest, most eye-catching diamond, as it shines in a way that Dennis DeYoung would have found irresistible in his Styx days. It’s one of the band’s best moments in a catalogue littered with jewels. From there “Immortal� hits hard, but only in spots, whereas “When Love Collides� closes things out with us heading right back into more balladic territory, Edwards’ vocals yet again enthralling but here and I must admit elsewhere, I can’t quite shake off the notion that I wish this album allowed them to do so in a heavier more guitar oriented situation than Time Machine often allows.

The CD version of the album offers up 4 bonus tracks and oddly - superb though the three covers - “No Regrets� (The Walker Brothers), “Music� (John Miles) and “How Does It Feel� (Slade) - and the ‘Ghost Mix’ of “This Velvet Rush� are (and they are), they kind of double-down on the epic-ballad feel.

Now, I’ll caveat all of the above by saying that there isn’t a single duff track anywhere in sight here. In fact I’m not sure that Cats In Space would even know how to do a duffer if they tried, but as an album I find the journey in this Time Machine just a little too smooth for my taste. Still, if you want to revisit the 70s rock scene and all the glories it provided, you still won’t ever get much better than what Cats In Space offer up both here and right throughout their catalogue.

Track Listing
1.  Time Machine
2.  My Father’s Eyes
3.  Crashing Down
4.  Occam’s Razor (Not the End of the World)
5.  Forever and Ever
6.  Ivory Anthem
7.  Run for Your Life
8.  This Velvet Rush
9.  Yesterday’s Sensation
10.  Immortal
11.  When Love Collides
Bonus tracks
12.  No Regrets
13.  Music
14.  How Does it Feel
15.  This Velvet Rush (Ghost mix)

Added: November 18th 2024
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Time Machine @ Cherry Red
Hits: 2530
Language: english

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