TEN - Albion (2014)

Genre - Melodic Hard Rock

 

Track listing:

01 - Alone In The Dark Tonight
02 - Battlefield
03 - It's Alive
04 - Albion Born
05 - Sometimes Love Takes The Long Way Ho
06 - A Smuggler's Tale
07 - Die For Me
08 - It Ends This Day
09 - Gioco D'Amore
10 - Wild Horses

One of the most elaborated, intriguing and complete Melodic Hard Rock outfits coming out of Britain is without a doubt TEN, the '90s founded remarkably talented band centred around lead singer and ring master Gary Hughes.
Numerous line-up changes and differing musical styles during TEN's career resulted in mixed reviews and as we fast forward to 2014, there is a buzz in the air and whispered suggestion that "Albion", their new album to be released on October 24 returns to the classic TEN style of old and will once again please fan and critic equally.
The good news is that this is indeed the case. From opening track ‘Alone In The Dark Tonight’ through to closer ‘Wild Horses’ the whole album feels instantly at home to any TEN fan.
Gary Hughes' production and the mixing and mastering by Dennis Ward (Unisonic, Sunstorm, Place Vendome, Pink Cream 69 and more) have enabled all 7 band members to shine individually without stepping on each other and highlighting the appropriate instrumentation / musician at exactly the right time.
In addition it would be wrong to pass up the opportunity to comment on the album cover as well. Ten have always made a point of producing some amazing artwork for their albums and this is no exception. It’s a cover that warrants a vinyl release for sure but more on that later.
‘Alone In The Dark Tonight’ sees a solid rhythm built under the song from Steve Mckenna and Max Yates and some wonderful harmonies from Gary and the rest of the band on the chorus. The track immediately warrants the whole album to be listened to on a good set of headphones, with your life put to one side so that you can soak up the intricacies of what has been put together.
Gary Hughes is a poet rather than ‘just’ a songwriter. The lyrics and the style in which Hughes delivers them on the album helps paint a landscape that draws the listener into the heart of the song.
Combine this with the excellent musicianship and album artwork and you get the complete package that purists will eagerly lap up.
The trio of guitarists, Dann Rosingana, Steve Grocott and of course mainstay John Halliwell are all given opportunity to shine. This is no more apparent than on ‘Albion Born’ which for me is one of the album’s highlights.
Similarly, the guitars wail with emotion at the beginning of ‘A Smugglers Tale’ which brings to mind Spellbound era TEN.
‘Wild Horses’, which wraps up the album, also finishes in style with great guitar breaks, sublime keyboard / piano playing and to close out the last few seconds a heartbeat. Another reason why the headphones work so well.
Nearly all of the tracks come in at 5 minutes plus and this allows each song to build and tell its own individual story. And what stories they are.
Gary Hughes has long had the ability to compose complex opuses and maintains a high level of control over the whole process.
Credit then to Mr Hughes for not only composing "Albion" but also for finding the right band members to help deliver what is one of TEN’s best albums to date.
A welcome return to what they do best.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Rating - 9/10

Three Lions - Three Lions (Japanese Edition) (2014)

Genre - Hard Rock / Melodic Rock / AOR

Label - Frontiers Records

Track listing:

01 - Trouble In A Red Dress

02 - Hold Me Down

03 - Twisted Soul

04 - Winter Sun

05 - Just A Man (Not Divine)

06 - Holy Water

07 - Two Hearts Beat As One

08 - Kathmandu

09 - Made For One Another

10 - Magdalene

11 - Don't Let Me Fall

12 - Hellfire Highway

13 - Sicilian Kiss

14 - Don't Let Me Fall (Acoustic Version) [Japanese bonus]

XXXXXXXX I am not the author of the following review but couldn't agree with it anymore, therefore I reproduce it here. All credit must go to the original author!!  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

HREE LIONS is the new British beast consisting of Vinny Burns (Dare, Ten, Asia) on guitar, Greg Morgan (Dare, Ten) on drums and Nigel Bailey on vocals and bass which are about to release their self-titled debut on Frontiers Records next week.
This Japanese version is already available through Avalon / Marquee with a bonus track.

Take a trio of talented cats, consisting of two-thirds of the musicians whose legendary status has already been deservedly attained in the Melodic Rock scene. Add some classic rock inspirations and brilliant songwriting. Stir together with a producer with the apparent Midas touch and spice up with some infectious, catchy melodies and solid instrumental backing.
This ‘recipe’ was followed by the powerful trio under the name Three Lions, closely enough to result in a perfect AOR / Melodic Rock album. With Alessandro Del Vecchio behind the console (his above Midas touch engaged also in some of the songwriting), the result of what they’ve rustled up in the studio is simply stunning.

In the first track “Trouble In A Red Dress”, the lyrical ego narrates:“… She came to the party after the show … isn’t that how the trouble starts…?” The story goes on, illustrated with a brilliant, infectious melody and a rich guitar work; it’s pure Melodic Rock with an AOR spirit which might as well be released thirty years ago.

“Hold Me Down” is more mellow, a lite AOR mid-tempo song, with “Twisted Soul”, the band delivers a dose of feisty, guitar-oriented British Melodic Rock with a catchy chorus. The latter’s follow-up “Winter Sun” explodes with wailing guitar sounds, developing into a wistful piece of wonderful mid-tempo balladry.
With the guitar-laden melancholy slowly fading, the next thing the listener’s treated with is “Just A Man” – a dynamic, yet polished song with harmonized vocals, the one that could end up on any Survivor or, especially, Jimi Jamison’s solo albums. A personal favorite for sure.

Groovy guitars and the great bluesy hook of “Holy Water” (ala John Sykes / Blue Murder) precede a soaring yet meaty power ballad “Two Hearts Beat As One”, a terrific cut with a strong Foreigner feel.
Particularly interesting is the storytelling track “Kathmandu” starting off with an oriental, Eastern-influenced intro and based on a slower lumbering riff. “Made For One Another” is a strong AOR midtempo that I can see performed live surrounded by thousand lighters held up in the air.

“Magdalene” is Magnum Vigilante / Goodnight L.A. era revisited, a keyboard-driven, awesome hooky rocker plenty of that '80s atmosphere.
Next track “Don’t Let Me Fall” is a really stylized AOR number recalling the guy's previous band Dare and why not, Strangeways, really polished and adorned by lovable vintage keyboards.
There is also “Hellfire Highway” – an intense keyboard / guitar duel kind of song with massive chorus, another AOR masterpiece – and the final “Sicilian Kiss”, a piece of sublime instrumental wizardry with a bit darker and somewhat dramatic vibes to it. It’s a beautiful guitar-oriented coda to this truly greatly-crafted MR / AOR gem of a CD.
The Japanese bonus track is an acoustic version of “Don’t Let Me Fall”, and really worth it because it's totally different from the original: just piano & vocals alone.

Three Lions’ self-titled debut is a perfect balance between instrumental prowess and great melodies, catchy hooks and dynamic guitar work, with not so distant echoes of where two of the three musicians come from music-wise (Dare, Ten).
Speaking shortly, it’s what album-oriented rock should stand for in the first place and as long as you’re into AOR, no matter if you think classics such as Survivor and Journey or 21st century representatives of the genre, you’re going to love this one.
Three Lions is terrific, believe me.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Raing - 9/10

Line Up:

Nigel Bailey - Lead Vocals, Bass

Vinny Burns (Dare, Ten, Asia) - Guitars, Keyboards

Greg Morgan (Dare, Ten) - Drums

Alessandro Del Vecchio - Keyboards, Production

Ginger - Ten

Ginger (Wildhearts) releases Ten, a 16 track best of album. Featuring songs taken from Ginger’s last 10 years as a solo artist, including material from the SilverGinger 5 album, Black Leather Mojo, and the Valor Del Corazon, Yoni and Market Harbour albums and two shiny brand spanking new tracks!

Sadly nothing features from the quirky Clam Abuse album or the blistering Super Shit 666 Ep, and even more criminal is the overlooking of the tracks released via the ill fated singles club (later released as the album, A Break In The Weather.
Now the problems with compilations, and especially so called best of albums is that you are never going to agree 100% with the chosen track listing and this album is no different.
I dont Understand how you could overlook tracks like Smile In Denial, Shatterproof, Where Did Everyone Go, The Saga Of Me And You, Reinventing The Wheel, Dont Let Me Die Lonely, Monkey Zoo, Inside Out, Unlucky In Love, Bulb, and the amazing Awareness and Great Integrity, but hey, they selected what they selected, and to be fair, Ginger is one of the best and most prolifoc songwriters to emerge from the Uk in the past 20 years or so, so narrowing down a track list to just 14 tracks must have been a complete nightmare lol.
The two new songs have that kind of laid back feel, and follow on well from Gingers last solo album the mighty Market Harbour.
Despite my personal gripes over the track listing, Ten is still one hell of an album and a great introduction to the songwriting genious that is Ginger.

Track Listing -

1.Sonic Shake
2.Yeah Yeah Yeah
3.How Hard Can You Make It
4.Mother City
5.Any Way But Maybe
6.Black Windows
7.Church Of The Broken Hearted
8.Drinking In The Daytime
9.The Man Who Cheated Death
10.This Is Only A Problem
11.When She Comes
12.I Knew You
13.Girls Are Better Than Boys
14.Jake
15.No Way Out But Through (new song)
16.This Too Will Pass (new song)

Very highly reconmended!!!!!!

rating 10/10

website - http://www.gingerandthesoniccircus.net/category/news/