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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 Mathews!
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CD VERSION £10.99 + Shipping Pre-order Now |
VINYL VERSION £28.99 + Shipping Pre-order Now |
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Release date: 24th April, 2026 TRACK LISTING 1. The Light 8:37
THE BAND Executive producers: Bruce Mee & Khalil Turk 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
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CD £10.99 + Shipping Pre-order Now |
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Release Date: 20th March 2026 TRACK LIST 1 TAKE ME INTO THE FLAMES 4:14 All lyrics by Francis Soto Band are: Francis Soto - Vocals and Guitar Francis Soto is a German rock and metal vocalist and songwriter whose musical career began in the His musical roots trace back to Sanvoisen, where he was part of the original lineup from 1990 to One of the most important and defining chapters of his career followed in the mid-1990s with the The band’s sound rooted in powerful Hard Rock with Melodic Metal elements
gave Soto the perfect framework to expand his vocal range, emotional depth, and dynamic expression. This era is widely Now is the time for Francis Soto to put all these years of musical experience to use and finally create
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Escape
Music has the pleasure to announce the release date for Saracen,
title of the album
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CD VERSION £10.99 + Shipping Pre-order Now |
VINYL VERSION £23.99 + Shipping Pre-order Now |
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Release
Date: 20th March 2026 SARACEN are: Vinyl
Track-list CD Track-list When Saracen released their debut album ‘Heroes, Saints & Fools’ back in 1981, the UK Rock scene certainly took notice. Their combination of Magnum-like melodies and Uriah Heep intensity and vocal stylings immediately endeared them to fans of the NWOBHM scene, and fans of classic British Rock in general. All songs and lyrics were written by lead guitarist Rob Bendelow, who left prior to the release of their second album, ‘Change Of Heart’, in 1984. While this sophomore effort still contained a few Bendelow songs, the band had changed direction, moving away from the almost Pomp and NWOBHM of the debut for a more polished and Melodic Rock direction. Unfortunately, this new direction didn’t resonate with the fans, and the band broke up not long after. However, Bruce Mee of Now & Then Records had always been a massive Magnum and Saracen fan. Having already convinced Bob Catley to start a solo career in the late 90s, he also had very productive talks with Rob Bendelow. This great friendship resulted in the band reforming and the release of ‘Red Sky’ in 2003. Rob Bendelow and Saracen were back. Later signing to Escape and releasing several more great albums, Rob Finally retired from the music scene a few years ago, but the band gamely soldiered on, keeping his songs and legacy alive for their many adoring fans. In an instance of total cosmic kismet, that same Bruce Mee was also co-organiser of the inaugural ‘Tower of Fire’ UK festival, and in 2024 invited Saracen to play the event along with other well recognised names of the scene such as Nitrate, Remedy, Atack, White Skies and Gabrielle de Val. The event was multi-track recorded, and the results of the Saracen set were so good that it was decided to release a very first live album. The title of the live album is taken from the name of their crushing opening song: ‘Crusader’. And in a further act of unbelievable karma, the magnificent album artwork and design are created by Sebastian Kozak, the very same creative artist responsible for the brilliant artwork on the band’s come-back album ‘Red Sky’ back in 2003. All but one of the songs that day were from that incredible debut and those 5 songs, along with 3 others previously recorded live by the band, make up this totally amazing live album. For fans of Saracen and NWOBHM, this is a moment we never thought we’d ever see: a brilliant live Saracen album with vocalist Steve Bettney sounding as incredible as he did over 40 years ago.
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Escape Music has the pleasure to announce the release date of Keys brand new album title “INFINITY PARABELLUM” on the 20th February 2026, it will be limited edition of 1000 copies only, and all will be numbered 0001-1000
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CD £10.99 + Shipping Pre-order Now |
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Release
Date: 20th February 2026 Track List: Keys
are: With special guests: Alex Landenburg – Drums / Adde Larsson - Drums * Produced by Mark Mangold and Jake E. Mixed by Dennis Ward
KEYS are back and in fine form with their third studio album following on from 2024’s “The Grand Seduction”. This all-keyboard band is the brainchild of singer Jake E (Cyhra, Amaranthe and others) and keyboardist Mark Mangold (Touch, Drive, She Said, Michael Bolton, Cher, Paul Rogers and others) with help of drum gurus Alex Landenburg (Kamelot, Cyhra and others) and Adde Larsson. Featuring live performances with three keyboardists boasting a huge battery of keyboards, this ambitious band brings keyboard and instrumental prowess to a new level while playing a range of progressive melodic forays to catchy and melodic rock anthems …and highlighted with Jake’s award-winning voice (Burrn Vocalist of the year 2020). Previous KEYS album also featured guest keyboard additions by Charlie Calv of Angel and others. This band shows the versatility of keyboards in the modern age and the professionally crafted songs are brimming with synths, organ and “guitar” style pyrotechnics. We have beautifully layered keyboards with the, now available, “plug in” that perfectly emulates guitars. As Mark and Jake are first and foremost award-winning songwriters, they never lose sight of the composition and melodies, Mark is famous for his work with classic four piece “Touch” and Jake E has a 4 octave vocal range that is just a pleasure to the ears.
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