'The Twilight Chronicles" is really, really... long, and even worse, it is quite boring in spots. Who knows what
Gary Hughes was thinking when he cranked out this repetitive disc of drivel. Besides the double disc set of remakes pooped out last year, this is the worst thing Hughes has been involved in during his career thus far. And what a long and illustrious career that has been too. With several solo albums under his belt, a two disc rock opera (each part sold separately), a multitude of
Ten albums that received a boatload of acclaim and adoration world round and writing three impressive albums for Bob Catley... there is no shortage of material penned and imagined by Hughes. So why is
"Twilight" so utterly disappointing?
The songs are long. And I mean *long*. There have been no attempts to abbreviate anything or even spice up the proceedings. They seem to be lengthy just for the sake of it and no other reason. Themes are used, and reused, and then used yet again til annoyance turns into sheer anger and you are checking the countdown timer for the track over and over, praying that the end is in sight. He nails a nice chorus but then proceeds to loop it a zillion times in a row to stretch what should be a 3 or 4 minute track out to what seems like near infinity. Guitar solos pop in and out without much rhyme or reason, just wham bam thank you ma'am. It's disjointed and about as innovative as a rock. Not a space rock or a pebble from the beach rock, but a plain dirt covered brown, boring as hell - rock. An editor was sorely needed to slice and dice through the fat and leave the cd sleek, lean and clean. Taking it to the chop shop would have done wonders in improving the playtime and keeping the interest factor higher. You can only hear the same thing, so many times, in one bloody song before you just can't take anymore.
Yet when Hughes hits upon a great track, and leaves it with a reasonable running time, all is forgiven for those moments, and luckily there are quite a few pieces here that are not utter wastes destined for the trash heap. Towards the end of the disc the quality picks up tremendously, but trudging through those initial stinkers is a painful process that can lure you to sleep or just to extreme maddening boredom. It is a shame that a few of these great songs have been wasted on this disc even, but in favor of
"Twilight", they help save it from being a total disaster on a massive scale.
The nastiest offender is plodded out like an old beaten workhorse right from the get-go. Wasting no time getting this mediocre ride off to a wobbly start is the excessively self important and hopelessly bloated
"The Prologue; Rome". I swear this song must have been an hour long... yet it only lasts about twelve minutes and some change. They noodle around with instrumental "epic" stuff for almost four minutes before finally kicking into the meat of the song. Even the most progressive of bands risk losing their listener's attention with such drawn out and snooze worthy extended intros as this. If the build up cranked into something earth shattering, it would be like musical foreplay. Teasing with a bland taste before sinking into the good stuff. Only here the song being worked up to is a
Ten rehash, derivative of his past works and about as fresh as a dirty gym sock with all the wretched stink that is implied.
"The Chronicles" fares much better, thriving on the blood of classic
Ten pumping through its hard rock veins. It may sound like half a dozen other
Ten songs, but its a welcome change after being forced to sit through the first track in its entirety. The blood is pumping and the joint is jumping with hard rock enthusiasm.
Then
"Elysian Fields" pops up. There are enough ideas included here to make a nice, tight four minute track. They stretch it to seven plus. This means alot of looping and revisiting of the same worn and beaten bits repeatedly. Stick a fork in it. This one was done shortly after it got started.
Groan...
'Hallowed Ground" tries to be a sweeping, haunting epic but the only thing epic about this piece is its unnecessary length. Gary wanted to pen an epic album but so far that only glimpses at the amount of time each piece drones on. There are some interesting moments sprinkled through here but the wait for the trademark pompy bridge seguewaying into chorus is too long to be worthwhile. It seems the track is going to fade around the seven min mark but keeps on chugging for another several minutes, all wasted time and regurgitating the same ideas over and over. Enough is enough already. Monotonous is the word best describing this self absorbed bit.
"This Heart Goes On" is *the* ballad and anyone that knows
Ten, possesses the knowledge that
Gary Hughes is like a heartthrob making the little girls swoon and weak in the knees when it comes to ballads. He is the warrior and your heart is the dragon and he sticks his sword of vanquishing right through your beating, blood spewing muscle and slays you where it hurts the most. This one is sentimental and pretty, as they all are. It is nothing new but has a consistent feel and doesn't stick around too long to wear out the welcome. The vocals are deep, throaty and seductive. Expect nothing less from this crooner.
"Oblivion" is instantly accessible, terribly addictive and the most commercial piece on the disc. It borrows a nice slab of pop flavor from "Far Beyond the World" but still links the darker taste of "Return to Evermore". The chorus is catchy as hell and tight as a drum, but is looped about ten times too many for its own good. You get worn out before the song comes to a close. Alright overall but would have been better if it had received further tweaking and streamlining.
"The Twilight Chronicles" has another nice chorus but its buried underneath so much over-the-top unnecessary theatrics (which so far have not amounted to much on this disc) and repeated themes that it falls through the cracks and is lost in the shuffle. Another one fallen to the repetition disease.
Finally they get something right...the final three songs close out the album in classy
Ten style.
"Tourniquet" has Hughes backing up Hughes, which is still not enough Gary for me, but vocally this sounds so powerful and massive. Layered and shivering with that classic
Ten sound, it is kicked squarely in the jewels with a gritty, growling guitar. This takes the listener right off guard, especially with the haunting drifting backing vocals and acoustic accompanying it. Superb chorus here too. A little overly long, but that's forgiven since
Ten keeps the song rolling with little flourishes here and there.
Ten fans can trace the roots of this back to perhaps "Barricade" from "Babylon".
"Born to the Grave" is another massive hard rock track that embodies the spirit and spice of
Ten. From vocals to the wicked guitar, you can feel the sweeping epic winds tumbling down the musical corridor. Five minutes even, and not a second wasted here. Chris Francis wields the axe with a heavy edge and solos right til fade for an explosive turn of events.
"When This Night is Done" is slinky, dark and moody. A slow bloomer that has a dramatic flair and drifts about like shadows in a misty night. You could call it a ballad... and that would not be far off the mark. It certainly has the feel of a ballad and the heart of a passionate romance and all its shades painted throughout. Long, but lovely and wonderful. It builds to a beautiful climax and traps the listener in its inner delicate web of longing.
"Twilight" is an album that is overly caught up in its own pompous self importance and wanders around aimlessly more often than not. A handful of interesting themes are used but after multiple reuses they fall prey to repetition and lose all their intended impact and meaning. There is a haunting undercurrent here that conjures the mystical feel of twilight - that darkened realm of soft light and stretching shadows caught between day and night. In times when this feeling is conveyed sharply in the music for brief glimpses, the disc really shines, but its an infrequent occurrence and something that doesn't really reveal itself fully, except with repeated listenings. There are songs that show the better side of the band, but overall this is a disappointment.
Torn with the adoration emotion between the tracks that make the cd and battered with despair by the songs that break it, its a tug of war act that leaves the cd split right down the middle in a struggle of love and hate.
The final conclusion is this.
"Twilight" is worthwhile for the dedicated
Ten fan, there is more than enough here to praise and pout about. Songs such as
"When This Night is Done" and
"The Chronicles" should not be missed by those familiar with Hughes and his merry musicians. But for those that are just looking for a straight up great hard rock record, and that are not already in love with the band or familiar with their other works, there are a million discs on the market right now with more flash, substance and flavor than this release. Anything from
Ten's back catalogue for starters if you are searching for rockers, or test out Gary's solo releases if romance is in the air.
"Twilight" is for the diehards only and even then it's a tough disc to swallow more than once and still savor the taste as a complete album.
Written by
Alanna Wednesday, August 23, 2006
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