{"id":50365,"date":"2015-09-30T19:28:39","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T00:28:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=50365"},"modified":"2015-10-09T08:06:26","modified_gmt":"2015-10-09T13:06:26","slug":"ten-the-dragon-and-saint-george-music-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2015\/ten-the-dragon-and-saint-george-music-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten | The Dragon And Saint George<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Ten_The-Dragon-And-Saint-George\"Apparently set to remain the most prolific \u2013 and also the busiest \u2013 band in the Melodic Hard Rock universe, Ten returns with a new EP only a few months after the release of their full-length Isla De Muerta<\/em>. Equipped with quite a few AOR-ish aces up their sleeves and an atmospheric cover artwork, the British ensemble under the leadership of Gary Hughes give vent to their fascination with historic and mythical themes again. The title of the aforesaid EP released via Rocktopia Records \u2013 The Dragon And Saint George<\/em> \u2013 certainly speaks for itself. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s \u201cThe Dragon And Saint George\u201d that opens the EP, a familiar start for those whose mid-2015 playlists were built around Isla De Muerta<\/em>. A part of this record\u2019s respective story line, here it serves as a first chapter to yet another tale with its powerful drum opening and intense chorus. \u201cMusketeers \u2013 Soldiers Of The King\u201d is one of the previously unreleased tracks, very close to the previous Ten full-lengths stylistically. Much in the band\u2019s trademark Melodic Hard Rock style, this guitar-laden uptempo piece is a classy extension to Ten\u2019s present output rather than the outtake. <\/p>\n

\u201cIs There Anyone With Sense\u201d combines traditional AOR sound with modern, interesting guitar riff. It\u2019s followed by the groovy piece number four with rich rhythm section work and a handful of classic six string licks \u2013 \u201cThe Prodigal Saviour.\u201d An anthem on its own, \u201cAlbion Born\u201d is almost cinematic epic-ness of 2014 Albion brought back into new realms. This being next-to-the-last of the six tracks, the EP is finished on a ballad-ish note with \u201cWe Can Be As One.\u201d Similarly to its predecessor, it\u2019s hardly a novelty for some of the listeners, at least. Particularly those coming from the Old Continent or being eager record collectors, as the piano-based, grandiose power ballad was already included in the track list on the European versions of Isla De Muerta<\/em> album. <\/p>\n

An EP comprising three unreleased tracks and some little bits of two previous Ten full lengths, The Dragon And Saint George<\/em> is two-dimensional release in a way. Firstly it\u2019s a collector\u2019s item with certain appetite-whetting quality to it \u2013 especially for Ten\u2019s die-hard fans. For those who missed the release of Albion<\/em> and Isla De Muerta<\/em>, it can serve as a teaser for both mentioned records. However, also the three previously unreleased tracks are hardly the outtakes that are supposed to fall behind the rest of the material. Classic Melodic Hard Rock pieces on their own, they certainly shouldn\u2019t have been shelved into oblivion \u2013 a thing not only a staunch Ten aficionado would admit. It\u2019s not sure if the classic AOR vibe to The Dragon And Saint George<\/em> can become an argument convincing enough for anyone skeptical towards such sound aesthetics. Regardless of this fact, however, it\u2019s a worthy addition to the band\u2019s catalog.<\/p>\n

Edition notes: The EP is also going to be released as 12\u201d picture disk featuring the additional bonus track \u201cGood God In Heaven What Hell Is This,\u201d originally found on the Japanese release of Albion.<\/p>\n

Genre: Melodic Hard Rock, AOR<\/p>\n

Band:
\nGary Hughes \u2013 Vocals
\nDann Rosingana \u2013 Guitars
\nSteve Grocott \u2013 Guitars
\nJohn Halliwell \u2013 Guitars
\nSteve Mckenna \u2013 Bass
\nDarrel Treece-Birch \u2013 Keyboards
\nMax Yates \u2013 Drums<\/p>\n

Tracklist:
\n1.\tThe Dragon And Saint George
\n2.\tMusketeers \u2013 Soldiers Of The King
\n3.\tIs There Anyone With Sense
\n4.\tThe Prodigal Saviour
\n5.\tAlbion Born
\n6.\tWe Can Be As One<\/p>\n

Label: Rocktopia Records<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/www.tenofficial.com\/<\/a> \u2013 https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TenOfficial<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Senior Columnist — Apparently set to remain the most prolific \u2013 and also the busiest \u2013 band in the Melodic Hard Rock universe, Ten returns with a new EP only a […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":50367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12394],"tags":[8939,8289,10111,2847,11270,1793,11713],"class_list":{"0":"post-50365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2015","8":"tag-aor","9":"tag-ep-review","10":"tag-gary-hughes","11":"tag-melodic-hard-rock","12":"tag-rocktopia-records","13":"tag-ten","14":"tag-the-dragon-and-saint-george"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}