The unique and epic British hard rock
band TEN is back with a new and very fresh album.
This time, this
amazing band has grown into an 7 piece
orchestra. Three guitarist stands for
some brilliant guitar debauchery, but
it is still the amazing vocalist Gary
Hughes, who's the captain and frontman of this
classy hard rock battleship. There are
two new members in the band since their
last album 'Heresy and Creed' which came
in 2012; Dann Rosingana and Steve
Grocott, both handling the guitars
together with John Halliwell. This has
changed TEN's sound a bit and I have to
say: "it has evolved for the better". A
thicker and solid hard rock base with
the lush and high quality melodies, which
covers the cake like sweet, whipped
cream with a chocolate topping.
'Albion' rushes out of the
starting blocks with the half prog rock
track 'Alone in the Dark Tonight' and
sounds just as I had expected, it's both
sophisticated and melodic at the same
time, with many layers of brilliant
musicality. 'Battlefield' is a big song
with Gary Hughes' charming vocals and of
course guitar combinations that are
played on the higher qualitative scale.
One of the finest songs is 'It's Alive'
with big choruses and nice keys from
Darrell. The pompous and powerful
'Albion Born' is truly an 100% British
rock song with big fat elements of the
English major power time. A blend of
folk and rock music in a majestic blend; tastes of some classic Gary Moore sound.
The calm and quite stunning ballad
'Sometimes Love Takes the Long Way Home'
is one of the best tracks on 'Albion'. A
great and powerful experience with
wonderful vocals from Gary. A catchy
song with groovy rhythms is the cheeky
'A Smugglers Tale' where Gary sings with
a proud chest and TEN delivers very stylish
adult rock as well.
The 7:28 long 'Die for Me' is
more classically structured and it has
wonderful old-fashioned 70's rock in the
veins, but that has been thinned out with
modern rock loops and several delicate
guitar stuff. The technical track 'It
Ends This Day' tickles my progressive
nerves. This is a magic song with superb
vocals from Gary and it sounds thicker
than the London fog in November. 'Gioco
D'Amore' is a bombastic, powerful ballad
in Italian style. Very unique and
special song with amazing guitars. This
music piece of art closes with 'Wild Horses'; another epic and wonderful song
from these British gentlemen. TEN has
their own sound and doesn't care about
hit charts or what's popular at the
moment. It's hard to get tired and sick
of TEN's albums. I still have ''Heresy and Creed''
on my Ipod and "Albion" will also probably
remain for years as well!!!
Very adult hard rock with robust
progressive rock splashes. If you like your hard
rock in many different colors and layers, Tens new
album "Albion" is a mandatory purchase for your CD
collection!
Line up:
Gary Hughes – vocals, backing vocals,
programming
Dann Rosingana - guitars
Steve Grocott - guitar
John Halliwell – guitars
Steve Mckenna - bass guitar
Darrel Treece-Birch - keyboards
Max Yates – drums
