After four years of silence
Ten is back, and surely not by accident, with ten new songs. Stormwarning is an album that I found immediately catchy and highly promising. That is called the "God-I'm-so-happy-to-get-new music-from-one-of-my-favorite-bands"-effect. However, after a month and about 15 listens the album fell in regard and things started to sink in. There is a strangely muted atmosphere, kind of depressive and lacking in energy, running through the first half of the album, almost killing my desire to sit down and listen to it repeatedly. So, not melancholic in the good way.
Gary Hughes' sublime voice is the main reason I kept giving it another chance. Fortunately and rather surprisingly the album takes a 180 mood turn about half way through.
Endless Symphony opens the album with a suitably hug(h)e instrumental passage. It sets a grand atmosphere and is one of the things main songwriter
Gary Hughes excels in. But the song never really takes off. The melodies are excellent but there is a sense of niceness to the whole things that keeps it from rising above mediocrity. I had hoped the song at some point would rip my head off and make me "rrooarrrr!" with energy but instead it caresses my face with a soft fluffy glove for 7 minutes. I miss the deep, passionate energy that characterized the earliest
Ten albums.
Former
Fates Warning drummer Mark Zonder guests on the drums and my first thought was "Hhmm that's an interesting fit". I have always liked his style and he lets it shine through here. His influence is clear in a song like
Centre of my universe. Through the album his drumming is an interesting element and definitely solid all the way through but I'm not yet convinced he is the right drummer for
Ten.
There is one major misstep on the album.
Book of Secrets... The song does not fit
Ten in mood, lyrics or style. The band simply does not have the energy nor attitude to pull off a song like this and it ends up feeling slightly embarrassing.
Through the first six songs several highlights do appear, one is the chorus for
Kingdom Come which is sublimely smooth and dreamingly melodic, another is the uptempo title track which finally infuses a bit of energy into the album but in spite of these and other highlights the muted, held back atmosphere kills most of my enjoyment.
Suddenly the mood shifts...
Love Song opens with a positive vibe and a feeling of some urgency. Gary's voice suddenly takes on a convincing tone, he feels alive and suddenly I am convinced that he actually means what he is singing, something that has been missing so far. The song evolves into a gloriously melodic chorus where I can't help but sing along. Finally, it feels like the album has awoken and the old
Gary Hughes is back. Yay!
The Hourglass and the Landslide is sweet, maybe too sweet, but damn it's melodic. The smooth opening drags me in and while the keyboard is too dominant it is easily forgiven as I have a weakness for this deliciously harmonious direction.
Destiny opens a door back in time as its opening melody is vintage
Ten and very similar to
Fly Like and Eagle from The Robe. The song does take on its own identity and ends up making a good impression.
The Wave wraps the album up in a warm embracing ballad. Nice.
Guitarist Vinny Burns will always be missed in
Ten. Guitarists John Halliwell and Neil Fraser do a good job but fail to stand out with really memorable solos and small touches in the same way Vinny did. Still, a tough act to follow and maybe not a fair comparison.
So, to sum up: If you are new to
Ten but into melodic hard rock I'd recommend you start out with The name of the rose, the debut or Babylon. Stormwarning is an above average album with plenty of things to enjoy but overall a disappointment for me as a longtime
Ten fan. The last four songs show that there is still a glimmer of hope for the future.
Written by
Steen Sunday, February 13, 2011
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