A joy-filled return to where it all began
There are some bands that just get you. Every time you put one of their records on, something lifts, something clicks into place, and suddenly the world feels a bit brighter. Cats in Space are absolutely one of those bands for me.
This time, I’m looking at the Too Many Gods picture disc – the band’s debut album and the record that started everything. It’s been out of print for a while, so seeing it return in this beautifully presented limited edition feels genuinely special. And yes, before anyone asks, this is also the album that appears on CD in the Chapter One box set from Cherry Red Records – which I’ve reviewed before and still absolutely love.
Let’s talk picture discs for a moment. Once upon a time, they looked great and sounded… well… not great. But that’s really old news now. Modern picture disc technology has come on leaps and bounds, and this one sounds fantastic. Clean, punchy, dynamic – absolutely no complaints at all. This is not a novelty item; it’s a proper, enjoyable listen.
As a package, it’s a lovely thing too. You get the striking picture disc itself, a poster, and a band image featuring the original Cats in Space line-up. Only 250 copies were pressed, so if you’re even remotely tempted, I wouldn’t hang about.
Musically, what really strikes me when I go back to Too Many Gods is just how confident it is. Some bands take a couple of albums to find their voice. Cats in Space didn’t. They knew exactly who they were from day one. The title track Too Many Gods is, in my book, one of the great modern rock openers. From there you’ve got Last Man Standing, Mr Heartache, Unfinished Symphony, and The Greatest Story Ever Told – songs absolutely steeped in classic rock DNA, but delivered with freshness and heart.
You can hear the influences – ELO, Queen, Boston, City Boy – but it never feels like pastiche. It feels like Cats in Space. There’s light and shade across the album too: big, uplifting choruses, lush harmonies, emotional ballads, and that unmistakable sense of joy that runs through everything they do. Tracks like Velvet Horizon, Five Minute Celebrity and Man in the Moon still hit me right in the chest.
And this is where I get a bit philosophical – because their music really does something to me. We all have those records that act like a key to an emotional lock. You don’t always know what’s inside until a song turns and click – something opens. Cats in Space do that for me. Time and again.
There are moments where I’ll be driving back along the A30 here in Cornwall, stuck behind a tractor, rain coming down, traffic crawling… and I honestly don’t care. Stick Kickstart the Sun on and everything changes. That song alone is one of my all-time favourite rock tracks – pure exhilaration, pure comfort, pure escape.
In a world that often feels relentlessly heavy and grim, this kind of music matters. It reminds me why I fell in love with music in the first place. It reminds me how powerful, healing, and transporting it can be.
So yes – this picture disc really means something to me. It’s the only Cats in Space album I didn’t previously have on vinyl, and now I do. It looks great, sounds brilliant, and celebrates the album that launched a band I absolutely adore.
If you’re a fan, head over to catsinspace.com and see if there are any copies left. And if you’re missing the early material on CD, Chapter One from Cherry Red is still an essential purchase.
Here’s hoping we’re talking about a brand-new Cats in Space album before too long… preferably before 2066 😉
As always – music is the healer and the doctor.
Keep spinning those discs.
Find out more at Cats In Space
Phil Aston | Now Spinning Magazine
