Ah Ten, the band around that other singing Hughes, Gary to be precise. Loved the early albums, and liked the mid period. And now, with a new and revised line up featuring no less than 3 guitar players (with only a couple of familiar names), Ten are back with their eleventh opus.
And back they truly are. The album starts with Alone In The Dark Tonight, and this feels like coming home. Epic in nature, flashy guitar solos, and Gary Hughes delivering his brown voiced melodies like only he can. And that feeling of familiarity flows throughout the album. And by this I do not mean that it is a copy of their early work. It is just that somehow they have managed to recreate the magic that surrounded the early albums. And this has a better production, more clear and sharp, up to modern standards. Courtesy of Dennis Ward, so that should explain that.
But the forte of Hughes, delivering epic hard rock songs with stunning guitar work, light and dark and intriguing story telling, that all is present here. So I guess we can welcome Ten back. And in this form I do not mind if they deliver a new album every year. This stuff is addictive!