Ten
Ten
| 1. Hard Times 2. Lucy 3. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark 4. Girl Crazy 5. City 6. Come in From the Rain 7. Red Hot and Heavy 8. She's Gone 9. Let it Out 10. Ten Lovers 11. Goin' Off the Deep End 12. Surrender |
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| Y&T is
probably best known for their early hard rock classic material, including
"Meanstreak" and "Black Tiger", and also their hit single
"Summertime Girls", which gained them a foot into the mainstream market. They
went from a rougher pure rock sound into a slick pop metal sounding band, with the release
of "Contagious", which was just that. The album in question in this review
however, is "Ten", which was their follow up. There is no doubt about the talent in this band. You have lead singer Dave Meniketti, who is not only a great metal vocalist, in the same kind of range as Kip Winger, Joe Elliot, and the like, but he is also a fabulous guitarist. The drummer, Jimmy DeGrasso, has gone on to lend his drumming talents to Alice Cooper and most recently Megadeth. There's also some song writing help from now-Savatage guitarist Al Petrelli. "Ten" is just pure fun. They blend together their past hard rock sound, some "pop sensibilities" here and there (read as: bouncy feel good metal tunes), and toss in a blast of their former "Contagious" sound to round things out. There's nothing here that is particularly serious or in-depth. "Girl Crazy", "Lucy", "Goin' Off the Deep End" and "Red Hot and Heavy" are pretty average tunes drenched in the 80s metal main theme of sex and good times. However, they represent the low end of the album. No standout rhythms, choruses, or guitar solos. Its pretty much cookie cutter rock n roll with that harder metal edge. The partially Al Petrelli penned "City", starts off pretty bluesy and ends up a decent hard rocker that grows on the listener after multiple listens. "Hard Times" is the song that actually kicks the whole album off, and it sets the pace well. Upbeat, and hard rockin', it will most likely appeal to most fans of this type of metal. "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" is one of Y&T's best tunes ever, with a beautifully smooth chorus. A nice, addictive, mid paced tune that's almost a ballad. "Come In From the Rain" also fits into this category. Truly great stuff. "Ten Lovers", written by the 'other lead guitarist', Phil Kennenmore, is surprisingly good. After several listens it became one of my favorites on the disc. I especially like the pacing, it gives it a different twist. Another uptempo ballad, but it doesn't have that plush background of music holding it together, its more stripped down. "She's Gone" just rocks out, with a really super sound, "Let it Out" is another fairly decent party rocker, and to sum it all up, is the finale, "Surrender" which is 80s pop metal at its best. Overall this is a pleasant disc to listen to. It flows really smoothly, and there are no tracks that are just so horrible that you have to skip them, and the gems of the disc are scattered through, instead of bunched at the front, like happens so often. With the track arrangement, it makes the lesser songs not glare out so obviously. A definite worthly addition to the collections of those taht enjoy more 80s hard rock bands like 80s-Rainbow, Def Leppard, Dokken, and others that thrive on big choruses, lots of guitar, and catchy tunes. Rating:
7.4 |
