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Trollheart · 12-12-2015, 08:01 PM

Title: The Dragon and Saint George
Artiste: Ten
Year 2015
Nationality: English
Genre: Melodic Rock/AOR
Familiarity: 100%: I have all their albums and they are one of my favourite recent bands, even if none of you proles have ever heard of them...

Expectations: Ten have slipped in recent times, and their 2011 Stormwarning was not up to much, the first of theirs to disappoint me, while 2012's Heresy and Creed stepped it up and brought them back to the kind of quality I expect from them. Since then they've had two more albums but in typical Trollheart fashion, I haven't managed to listen to them. However I hope this, as a taster from this year's La Isla Muerta, continues the tradition of excellent melodic rock/metal I've been used to them churning out over almost twenty years now.

Note: this is weird. Ten have released I think three EPs in their career, and this one looks to be almost unnecessary. Rather than being, as I expected, a precursor to the album, it was released after it (four months after, to be precise) and contains both tracks from it and the previous album as well as some new material. Odd, to say the least: Ten are not normally into ripping off their fans like this, though I suppose when you calculate up that of the thirty-one minutes of music here, twelve are completely new tracks, while if you add in the special edition only tracks then it brings it to nineteen, leaving only two tracks, one from each album, already released. So I suppose it's not bad value in those terms.

Anyway, none of you give a **** about that (or about this review, but that won't stop me) so let's get on to the music itself.

1. The Dragon and Saint George: Good hard rocker to start things off, with that unmistakable Ten sound I've enjoyed over ten albums now (two yet to be sampled) and the vocals from Gary Hughes coupled with new guitarists (well, new to me) Dann Rosingana and Steve Grocutt backing up John Helliwell making a powerful combination. Peppy keys from Darrell Treee-Birch add the expected flair to the song. It's not, to be fair, a classic Ten song, but it doesn't come close to the disappointment I suffered with Stormwarning. A decent start, but I'm hoping for better. This is one of the tracks from the new album, which does concern me slightly. Well, we'll see when I get to listen to the full album, which I'll have to add to the list later.
2. Musketeers: Soldiers of the King: Another fast rocker, driven pretty much on Treece-Birch's jumping keyboards. Gary likes his history, so the subject is not that unexpected. Again, it's a good track but not a great track. Come on guys: you can do better than this, I know you can.
3. Is there anyone with sense: Good sense of hard rock about this, moving a little away from the more AOR/melodic style they usually pursue. Good hook, though it sounds similar to a few other songs of theirs such as “The twilight masquerade” and “The alchemist”. Not so much as to be a rip-off or rewrite of those songs but certainly reminiscent of them. Really nice guitar solo, though who by is anyone's guess with three guitarists, two of whom play lead. Once again though, good where I want great. Still kind of waiting.
4. The prodigal saviour: Very much more into the melodic vein of things, the hook in this one comes close to what I expect from these guys. Could be on to something here.
5. Albion born: Oh, like the choral opening and then the stately keyboards against which Gary can really let loose with his vocal, rolling drums behind him slowly ushering in very Big Country guitar. This could be the one. Sad that it already comes from the previous album, but it may be a pointer to the quality on Albion, which I have yet to hear. Stirring and moving, emotional and powerful. Yeah, this is more like it. Sure, it probably seems cheesy to most people, but this is the Ten I know and love. Reminds me of Return to Evermore. Great stuff.
6. Good God in Heaven what Hell is this: Even with such a weird title as that, brilliant rocker that puts the occasional metal in Ten's description as melodic metal (though I wouldn't really ever call them that) and points back to the glory days of The Robe and The Name of the Rose.
7. We can be as one: One thing Ten do is amazing ballads, and here's a great one to close. Piano-driven, with gorgeous lyric and a passionate vocal from Gary. Simple and perfect.

Final result: I suppose in fairness there's a reason why all but two of these tracks were dropped from the two albums. They certainly don't showcase Ten at their best, and one of the tracks that does is from the last-but-one album. However the closer, which is on the new album but only the European edition as a bonus track, reaffirms my faith in this band and I look forward now to experiencing those two albums in full.

Rating:

12-12-2015, 08:01 PM	#7 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Title: The Dragon and Saint George Artiste: Ten Year 2015 Nationality: English Genre: Melodic Rock/AOR Familiarity: 100%: I have all their albums and they are one of my favourite recent bands, even if none of you proles have ever heard of them... Expectations: Ten have slipped in recent times, and their 2011 Stormwarning was not up to much, the first of theirs to disappoint me, while 2012's Heresy and Creed stepped it up and brought them back to the kind of quality I expect from them. Since then they've had two more albums but in typical Trollheart fashion, I haven't managed to listen to them. However I hope this, as a taster from this year's La Isla Muerta, continues the tradition of excellent melodic rock/metal I've been used to them churning out over almost twenty years now. Note: this is weird. Ten have released I think three EPs in their career, and this one looks to be almost unnecessary. Rather than being, as I expected, a precursor to the album, it was released after it (four months after, to be precise) and contains both tracks from it and the previous album as well as some new material. Odd, to say the least: Ten are not normally into ripping off their fans like this, though I suppose when you calculate up that of the thirty-one minutes of music here, twelve are completely new tracks, while if you add in the special edition only tracks then it brings it to nineteen, leaving only two tracks, one from each album, already released. So I suppose it's not bad value in those terms. Anyway, none of you give a ** about that (or about this review, but that won't stop me) so let's get on to the music itself. 1. The Dragon and Saint George:** Good hard rocker to start things off, with that unmistakable Ten sound I've enjoyed over ten albums now (two yet to be sampled) and the vocals from Gary Hughes coupled with new guitarists (well, new to me) Dann Rosingana and Steve Grocutt backing up John Helliwell making a powerful combination. Peppy keys from Darrell Treee-Birch add the expected flair to the song. It's not, to be fair, a classic Ten song, but it doesn't come close to the disappointment I suffered with Stormwarning. A decent start, but I'm hoping for better. This is one of the tracks from the new album, which does concern me slightly. Well, we'll see when I get to listen to the full album, which I'll have to add to the list later. 2. Musketeers: Soldiers of the King: Another fast rocker, driven pretty much on Treece-Birch's jumping keyboards. Gary likes his history, so the subject is not that unexpected. Again, it's a good track but not a great track. Come on guys: you can do better than this, I know you can. 3. Is there anyone with sense: Good sense of hard rock about this, moving a little away from the more AOR/melodic style they usually pursue. Good hook, though it sounds similar to a few other songs of theirs such as “The twilight masquerade” and “The alchemist”. Not so much as to be a rip-off or rewrite of those songs but certainly reminiscent of them. Really nice guitar solo, though who by is anyone's guess with three guitarists, two of whom play lead. Once again though, good where I want great. Still kind of waiting. 4. The prodigal saviour: Very much more into the melodic vein of things, the hook in this one comes close to what I expect from these guys. Could be on to something here. 5. Albion born: Oh, like the choral opening and then the stately keyboards against which Gary can really let loose with his vocal, rolling drums behind him slowly ushering in very Big Country guitar. This could be the one. Sad that it already comes from the previous album, but it may be a pointer to the quality on Albion, which I have yet to hear. Stirring and moving, emotional and powerful. Yeah, this is more like it. Sure, it probably seems cheesy to most people, but this is the Ten I know and love. Reminds me of Return to Evermore. Great stuff. 6. Good God in Heaven what Hell is this: Even with such a weird title as that, brilliant rocker that puts the occasional metal in Ten's description as melodic metal (though I wouldn't really ever call them that) and points back to the glory days of The Robe and The Name of the Rose. 7. We can be as one: One thing Ten do is amazing ballads, and here's a great one to close. Piano-driven, with gorgeous lyric and a passionate vocal from Gary. Simple and perfect. Final result: I suppose in fairness there's a reason why all but two of these tracks were dropped from the two albums. They certainly don't showcase Ten at their best, and one of the tracks that does is from the last-but-one album. However the closer, which is on the new album but only the European edition as a bonus track, reaffirms my faith in this band and I look forward now to experiencing those two albums in full. Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 12-15-2015 at 08:40 AM.