Ten - Babylon ~ Showcase Album for October 2000

Ten has (up until this point) been a late 1990s version of Whitesnake, using "Still of the Night"-esque, over-the-top dramatics and Gary Hughes' sensual voice to their full potential. Ex-Dare shredder, Vinny Burns' axework is even comparable to the likes of John Sykes, with plenty of fire and bite to go around, but with the melodic sense needed to perform for the likes of Ten. While not as blatantly a WS-ripoff as Gotthard has been, Ten still is an undeniable child of the Snake, and since the original serpent has curled up under a rock and disentigrated, most fans of the album "1987" have welcomed Ten with open arms, especially in Japan where the reception is considerably warmer than the rest of the world. After the first couple of albums, they started to pick up speed, and then with "Spellbound", went from followers to originators, spicing up the melting pot with a fresh sprinkling of Irish/Scottish vibes and picking up a few tips and tricks of the power metal trade along the way. Now its not quite two years later, and Hughes and company are offering up their follow up to the surprising "Spellbound" with an album that dares to go where David Coverdale never even thought of going before, and which shows the power influence in the band even stronger than the scattered glimpses on their previous release... a concept album.

"Babylon" revolves around a time in the future, blending sci-fi themes, classic concepts of love, murder and despair, with a twist at the end. While the story itself is a little shaky, it is not near the dominant centerpiece of the album, the driving force with Ten, as always, is their music, and this time it comes across as even bigger, bolder, and more experimental then ever before. With a fresh production that is as crisp as newfallen snow, it allows even the tiniest nuance to be heard perfectly, and is the finest mix their music has ever been subjected to. It makes this album come out smelling like roses and sounding simply heavenly. This would prove to be an essential element to "Babylon" since it features the band debut of ex-Rainbow keyboardist extraordinaire Don Airey, who lends his expertise and multilayered keys playing to the music. His delicate sonic tapestries enrich each song, but never overpowering. He alone becomes the extra something that gives the band a fourth dimension which was sorely needed on other Ten albums like "The Robe". The songs are so rounded that it feels like you could reach into your speakers and pick them up and hold it in your hand, the sound is that good, and with so much going on in the complex, yet easy to digest packages that Hughes and co. churn out, this ease of listening makes the disc a joy to lose yourself in. Gary himself really needs no introduction, those that have heard him before are already spellbound. His vocals are so mindblowingly enthralling, and over the past few years and releases, it has improved and even deepened a little on the edges. He can hit some of those higher notes, but prefers straight up singing, and coos with a soft traquil gentleness that is peaceful and soothing, but its the inbetween range where he performs his best, smoother than silk and richer than fudge, and so very seductive. Vinny Burns is given plenty of opportunities to showcase his frenzied axework with its strong blues sense. He rips and roars with a variety of tones, neo-classical shredding with some very aggressive moments, which fits the disc since its a fusion of two periods from Ten's past, the 'power metal lite' feel of "Spellbound" and the ultra AOR melodicness of their debut. These stellar performances and newly inspired overall feel coupled with high class songwriting that has yielded some truly fantastic tunes this time, has shaped this album up to be a surefire winner.

On to the music:

1. The Stranger - The DJ rambling opening is painful to endure but after that is out of the way, and the song finally kicks off, it turns into a hard driving treat. A prime example of the "Spellbound" influence coming into play, the guitar sizzles, the vocals have just the right amount of raspiness and the whole thing hits like thunder and keeps up a steady rumble all the way into the end.
2. Barricade - Keeping that heaviness locked into place, this one begins with some down n dirty, grit rubbed guitar before changing faster than a chameleon switches its colours into a full on AOR pounder. Hughes grabs the last word of some of his lines and twists it into the higher ranges, a real attention grabber. The bridge that leads into the high powered melody buried chorus, is delivered with his brand of heart stopping sensualness..."I've seen the lightning and now I'm waiting for the thunder, for I'm imprisioned by the spell she has me under.."
3. Give In This Time - Hugo (who was produced by Gary, ironically enough), Journey and the others that believe themselves to be in the ranks of AOR god status, eat your heart out, this is one absolute KILLER of an AOR medium tempo song that just oozes with melody in every crack and pouring out during the gracefully addictive chorus. Gary's deeper delivery of the lines "give in this time" is simply enchanting and has the same kind of tones as Joe Elliot in his "Hysteria" ballad days. Striking direct contact with the senses, this plush tune is just too immense to ignore.
4. Love Became the Law - Keeping up the same vibes as the one before, this track conjures the darkest mood displayed on "Babylon" thus far. The rhythm guitar lumbers along like an ominious wind while mystical keyboards twinkle like brilliant little stars in the night sky. Hughes voice is deep and smooth in texture, a nice contrast to the complicated instrumentation that is woven into the background. Bass slowly vibrates as the synthesizer sounds like shooting stars streaking through the darkness. Purely on the outside, its easily accessible, but upon further examining reveals to be much more than originally meets the eye.
5. The Heat - This is pure Ten, and could have come from any of their past albums and have been comfortable but the one that jumps out to be the closest match is their debut. Not quite just midtempo but not shoving off over the edge of the border, it fits nicely in an upper inbetween area that comes off as being perfect after the last two tracks. The chorus is pure ecstasy, as it ups the tempo a few notches and adds in a host of vocal harmonies to broaden the width and depth of its outer appearance. At the end we are alerted by the gargly voiced DJ to the death of a woman who was apparently murdered in her apartment.
6. Silent Rain - Soft as a butterfly's kiss and comparable to the beauty of a pastel rainbow painted across the drizzling sky. A ballad like non other and the most beautiful piece Hughes has ever written and Ten ever recorded. Each time Hughes sings the following: "Like a lost ship of dreams that failed to sail, but to him it was more than just another fairy tale, she became his reality... unveiled..." it makes it almost impossible to choke back the tears, its simply so gorgeously sung, the gentle keys delicately adding to the emotional response along with the violins that swell in for the sorrowful love-lost chorus.
7. Timeless - Hard n' rough, the melodies running through this track remind me heavily of the Middle Eastern vibes of Rainbow's "Gates of Babylon". Vinny Burns' multilayered guitars are slinky and serpetine in their writhing quality, the rounded riffs slithering underneath the vocals and entangling themselves around each other. The strange and mystically warped synth sounds give this one an entirely different feel than anything else on the album. In a turn that's rare for the band, the vocals take a backseat to the hypnotizing axework.
8. Black Hearted Woman - Uptempo but just *bathed* in tingling sensuality, the ultimate tale of the dangerous bombshell. "You'll go to hell and think its paradise, tonight..." Gripping AOR with a sweeping chorus and Airey's chime-like synth sounds tickling out the groundworking melody with bubbling guitar dancing along teasingly. Of course the center point is Gary's erotic vocals that pour out this tale quite bewitchingly seductive, especially the last lightly nearly-spoken "tonight".
9. Thunder In Heaven - Giving into cliches, it can be said that this track is 'thunderous' and that it is! The guitar is aggressive and tough, blazing upwards into columns of electric flame at each available opening, with the solo especially an impressive display of axe slinging virtuosity. One of the heaviest tracks Ten has recorded, and it slays and kills, revealing much in the way of story and even more into the brilliant pallette that the band holds at their command. This is what I called 'power metal lite' earlier, with its bombastic guitar and frantically intricate keyboards by Airey.
10. Valentine - The very opposite of "Thunder In Heaven", which was a roaringly massive track, "Valentine" is everything that "TIH" wasn't... soft, sweet, sorrowful, and above all, simplistic. Piano and vocals, and that's all that is necessary to begin with. Hughes has such a beautiful voice, elegant and dripping with sentimental agony. The song's feathery course thus far is so very dainty and quite soothing to the soul. "if you could only see how much you mean to me, for a moment our lives could entwine. I'd give the world to thee, beside you endlessly, my one and only, sweet valentine." At the halfway point, almost unexpectedly, soaring tear stained guitar notes pour through and drums kick in to give the ballad some backbone. It finishes in true power ballad fashion, each guitar lick aimed to strike a chord in the listener's soul, Gary's voice carving alongside it, a lasting impression of pain. Just breathtaking.

Ten has a massive release on their hands, driven by the sheer amount of quality contained within each inspired song included on the disc. The intense emotionally stressed moments of "Babylon" ensure the sentimental vote, the pop influence will without a doubt win over the AOR fans, and the heavier periods should attract a mixture of hard rock fans that normally would not get into this type of a release. It's a varied formula, but in the manner its been put together, it flows like the finest of wines. The only problem the band has run into is the inclusion of the "futuristic DJ" that introduces some songs or provides time/weather/news information at the beginning others. The other voices are electronic such as the identification system or the 'holodeck' which could have come right off of Star Trek. Instead of being the nudge it was intended, its instead a hard push right in the listener's ears, I personally found these spoken parts, cheesy and entirely unnecessary, but above all, annoying. There is no excuse with ruining the opening vibes of these tracks by tacking this cheddary stuff on. If it had been done in the same format that Blind Guardian chose for "Nightfall in Middle Earth", where the voice actors parts are put on seperate tracks, making it easy to skip over and into the next song, then it would have been just a minor note instead of the issue it has become. Luckily it doesn't spill over into the tunes, and rather comes after the song, with the exception being the first track of the album, therefore not tarnishing them as badly as it could have. Taken on the most important elements alone, "Babylon" is a heavy AOR album that just borders on perfection. With its few musical flaws, this one is for fans of superb metallic music in general, an essential disc and contender for album of the year.
Rating: 9.4
(awesome, varied album and a giant step for Ten - one of the best of 2000)
Review By Alanna Evans
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