Ten-Stormwarning

Frontiers Records 2011


According to the bio that came with this promo this is Ten's "ninth all original studio album". I'm going to come right out and say I've honestly never heard any of the other albums. Considering the fact that they formed the same year I got married (you can look it up if you'd like but trust me when I say it was a long time back) I'm not sure if that's bad or if I haven't been missing much. Formed by vocalist/songwriter Gary Hughes(who has written for Bob Catley of Magnum fame) and guitarist Vinny Burns (Dare,Asia,Ultravox) Ten was an outgrowth of Gary's solo work. Again, being honest here I am not familiar with the solo work of Hughes so I don't know if this was his attempt at branching out into a more hard rock sound or what. No matter the case Stormwarning was mixed and produced by Dennis Ward (Pink 69,Angra) and features guest Mark Zonder (Fates Warning) on drums so the hard rock credibility is there. And, as with most Frontiers Records releases the emphasis is firmly planted on craftsmanship. There is a lot to be said about the way the band plays and how they perform in perfect harmony playing off of each others strengths. I give them their due props for the showmanship aspect. It's very consistent with the type of quality music you get from Frontiers. No one can reasonably say Ten isn't a class act. So with all that in mind I might argue the fact though that it's a bit too much fantasy with Ten. It's a bit over the top in presentation. I don't take issue so much with the fact that musically this is more melodic rock than hard rock. I don't mind that (even if Ten are billed as hard rock by some) as melodic rock can be really enjoyable and there are tons of melodic rock groups doing fantasy these days. It's just that the music itself doesn't feel hard enough to justify it's mythical aspirations. Every once in awhile Ten does flirt with breaking out into something truly explosive. You can hear Dennis Ward pushing them towards it. I just wish they would have gone all the way. I never got that thunderous chill you'd get from bands like this. I'm not talking about the need for more heavy metal solos here. That isn't what it is. As I said the band can play and there are moments of hard rock grit to be found. It's more like that feeling when you become one with the music and it takes you on that journey. That's what I look for when your singing songs of war, glory and the spell love casts on you. Stormwarning didn't do that for me though. It was fantasy without the fun. Shame too as on paper this sounded cool. Even the album cover for this was made it look epic. But as they say never judge a book by it's cover.