Paul Hodson, has been a busy man over the last couple of years, writing producing and playing on the last Bob Catley solo album, playing on the two Once & Future King albums and then more recently adding his keyboard touches to the new Ten album 'Return To Evermore'. Somewhere in the midst of all this work he has managed to produce the debut album, This Strange World' from his eponymous solo band.

The album opens with 'This Foolish World', introduced by a keyboard flourish reminiscent of German band Zeno, however Pulse/Bob Catley guitarist Vince O'Regan soon makes his presence felt with a  suitably impressive fretboard flourish. The song possesses a fine melody, though at times Hodson, who handles the lead vocal duties as well as keyboards, appears to struggle with the higher notes. The chorus hook works excellently however and O'Regan provides a truly superb solo.

'Jelunda' begins with what, I would guess, is a Budhist monk chant, before a driving guitar riff kicks in. Again Hodson has penned a memorable melody to sit atop the music and the chorus is perhaps the most catchy on the record with superb harmony vocals. A spoken word segment introduces third song 'The Calling'  before we get a complex wall of sound courtesy of Hodson's keyboards and O'Regan's guitars. At 8 minutes or so in length the song can definitely be described as an epic, however for all it's length it doesn't quite have the appeal of the opening two numbers, although the short orchestrated instrumental section before the solo is quite beautifully written and played.

'My Saviour' is a classic rock song in every definition, with just a hint of prog rock. The melody and instrumentation is similar in feel to the first Phenomena album and O'Regan once again shows how good a guitarist he is with some fretboard histrionics that compliment the song as whole. Next up is 'English Rose', an up-tempo rocker that, to my mind, somehow doesn't quite cut the mustard. The arrangement and production is extremely busy and perhaps overshadows the original idea of the song.

Things get back on track with 'Shamen Eyes',  another energetic rocker. Hodson introduces a touch of anger and aggression into his vocal delivery in the verse, whilst the chorus melody is perfectly complimented by the keyboard harmonies. 'Soulman' is yet another up-tempo full on rock song. At this point a change in pace would have been welcome, as although it is a good song in its own right, it seems one track too many in this vein and hence loses its identity.

'Light In The Black' is a Rainbow cover from the Dio era 'Rising' album. Hodson perform the song very much in the same way as the original and certainly do justice to this classic. Rounding off this CD is 'The Swan'. This song sees the change in pace that was needed earlier on in proceedings. O'Regan really shines on this song with some gorgeous melodic guitar passages complimenting a beautiful vocal melody.

On 'This Strange World', Hodson proves his song writing ability is of the highest order, certainly equal to British contemporaries such as Gary Hughes and Tony Clarkin. Their are a few niggles however. The order of songs could have been better. 'The Swan' would have sat better mid way through the album breaking up the out and out rockers, whilst the production is at times extremely busy and not as crisp and clean as Bob Catley's 'When Empires Burn' opus. Overall however 'This Strange World' is a good, if not great album full of classic rock songs and blessed with fabulous musicianship.

You can check out more info on the band at www.hodson.uk.com

Let us know your views on 'This Strange World'

Track List

This Foolish World
Jelunda
The Calling
My Saviour
English Rose
Shamen Eyes
Soulman
Light In The Black
The Swan

Line  Up

PaulHodson - Vocals/Keyboards/Guitars
Vince O'Regan - Guitars
Josie Vespa - Bass
Lynch Radinsky - Drums