Had the new Ten album for a few days. Time for a review…..In a few words – Gary Hughes at the top of his game. Albion consistently “rocks” harder that anything Ten has done since they pretended to be Whitesnake with the old Spellbound album. As usual with the more recent Ten album, line-up changes. Since Heresy and Creed, guitarist Dan Mitchell has gone and in come two “shredders” – Dann Rosingana and Steve Grocott. This makes for a very powerful sound as John Halliwell remains and three guitars do sound great.
What we have here are ten songs which fit together well, feature top-notch arrangements. The band is tight. The three guitars really shine. Nice big chunky clean soundings riffs and cord structures with some excellent soloing. The keys give it a nice progressive/atmospheric feel too. Overall we have a really excellent, strong album of hard/melodic and slightly progressive qualities from start to finish.
As it’s a Gary Hughes show all the Hughes trademarks are evident. Big arrangements, an all-round “epic” feel, the overblown (in a good way….) sound, the slightly Celtic feel here and there, strong melodies now this time with a much harder edge that most recently. Any rock/metal fan should find enough edge, riffs and guitar-play to keep themselves happy. Make no mistake.
If I have one (in my opinion) gripe about Mr Hughes over the years is that he is somewhat prone to chuck in the occasional overly-sugary way too sweet soppy ballad. Not my cup of tea even with all the sugar. No so on Albion. It does almost creep in on Gioco D’Amore before the song saves itself.
That slight weak spot aside, the other nine cuts are first rate classic hard/melodic rock at a nice pace. The three guitars shine throughout. I understand it was a conscious decision by Hughes to go with three and man, that’s paid off.
Alone in the Dark Tonight, Battlefield, It’ Alive, Albion Born are the first four songs each one up there with anything in Ten’s back catalogue – check out how crisp the guitars are and how dextrous the solos . Powerful, strong, hard hitting. Well, as are the rest of them with the only slight downer being the aforementioned Gioco D’Amore.
Top notch production from Dennis Ward layers all the sound very nicely too. Overall a consistently strong listen of first class melodic/hard rock. If you are a Ten fan then it’s a no-brainer. If you are not, then Albion is a great introduction for you. Double thumbs-up, strongly recommended.
Now, perhaps a few dates to promote it eh Gary? Should be quite a show with three guitars up there…….
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