TEN – Stormwarning

British Melodic Rock band Ten’s mastermind Gary Hughes is probably better known as the songwriter of Bob Catley’s first solo albums than for his output over the last 10 years with Ten. But, with astonishing regularity he returns and offers great, opulent, bombastic Hard Rock albums that conjure up a ray of light amid the darkest day. Stormwarning is no exception to that rule, yet it is different from the last two albums by the band, Return To Evermore and The Twilight Chronicles. Those had a tendency towards long, epical songs, while the new release goes back to the roots of Ten … there is a temptation to say back to the glorious era of The Robe.

With the exception of Hughes’ solo album Veritas, he never failed or disappointed his fans, and Stormwarning likewise won’t disappoint. His songs on the new album, warm and rich, have the typical flavor one is used to from the first three Bob Catley albums, especially Destiny and Kingdom Come, and others contain the bombastic approach of the early Ten days. That is not to say that these mentioned albums were bad, but this one is just a little bit better because it has more memorable hymns than its two predecessors. To be precise, Gary and his gang, which include long-time bandmate Paul Hodson on Keyboards and Mark Zonder of Warlord and Fates Warning fame on drums, have hit the mark a remarkable seven times out of ten. That makes Stormwarning a very good album without a doubt.

The songs that are a little less strong – not bad, not bad at all, just not as good as some others on the same album – are gathered in the second half of the album. If you buy this album on vinyl, you can safely only put on “The Hourglass And The Landslide” and “Destiny” from the B-side (not putting it on at all is not an option because of “Destiny”), and then return to the five great ones on the other side of the record.

Fans of Ten will certainly like the album, and everybody who does not mind his Rock to be a bit sticky and corny should definitely give it a try, as this is a very strong start of the year for Frontiers records and an early benchmark for everything that will come in 2011, which will not be easy to beat.