Any fans of the AOR-prog metal band "Ten" here?

I've never seen these guys brought up around here, but they are a fantastic hard-rockin' prog band.  The vocals are pretty easy-going and mostly mid-range, but the riffage can be pretty fierce:



Lyrics focus mainly on historical/mythological storytelling.  The melodies are brilliant and the song structures are not pedantic like most prog bands - most of the songs are immediately accessible despite the length of the epic tracks.

I don't consider them a pure prog metal band, more melodic rock with some classical influence that reminds me of Rainbow and even Whitesnake at times. One thing that bugs me is the overly sterile production, kind of flattens their overall sound.

I like the acoustic work at the beginning. The main riff reminds me of Bark At The Moon. I liked it enough to hear more.

Black Rider wrote:I don't consider them a pure prog metal band, more melodic rock with some classical influence that reminds me of Rainbow and even Whitesnake at times. One thing that bugs me is the overly sterile production, kind of flattens their overall sound.

The production gets better as the band aged (they have 13 studio albums).  They have really strong production on this album, Albion:



The drums remind me of the sound on Images & Words or the first two Firehouse albums, which are the only albums with that kinda punchy drum sound that I've heard, since it was the same producer who went on hiatus after those releases.

This is the best metal "battle Hymn" I've ever heard:

Big fan!

They are great songwriters. Melodic Metal for sure. They scratch that particular itch.

Wow, I've missed this thread completely!

I haven't heard most of their albums but they are one of my favorite bands for the albums I've heard.

The first three albums are all fantastic.

This one from the debut album hooked me in immediately back in the day:




And the final track from the debut might be my all time favorite rock/metal ballad. Amazing, BEAUTIFUL chorus!
The 3 minute end solo deserves a mention too (four if you count the acoustic part)




The debut, The Name of the Rose and The Robe are all great albums. I have one live album too, and Babylon.

I have a couple of Gary Hughes' solo albums too.

I really should get back to them. As I said, I haven't heard much of their newer albums since Babylon. I liked Endless Symphony from an album from 10 years ago or so but haven't heard the full album at all.

Now I'm listening to Alone in the Dark Tonight posted in this thread. Great stuff! I really should get back to them.