Ten

Following a productive stretch of songwriting, vocalist and songwriter Gary Hughes assembled the British melodic hard rock outfit Ten in 1994. While readying material intended for his third solo release, Hughes accumulated twenty-eight tracks and later chose to distribute them between two separate albums. Mike Stone joined the sessions as mixer, and guitarist Vinny Burns, formerly of Dare, was enlisted. Another ex-Dare musician, Greg Morgan, soon came aboard, transforming Hughes’s undertaking into a full band. Ten issued their debut album X in 1996, which met with a favorable response. The group then toured in support, recruiting yet another Dare alumnus, bassist Martin “Shelley” Shelton, along with keyboardist Ged Rylands and guitarist John Halliwell, both previously of Kage. Without delay the expanding lineup returned to the studio, delivering their second album, The Name of the Rose, before the year ended. After additional road work, Shelton departed and was succeeded by Andrew “Drew” Webb. For the subsequent release the band retained producer Mike Stone and their characteristic melodic hard rock approach while incorporating broader stylistic elements.

Throughout the remainder of the nineties Ten issued three more projects: The Robe, the live album Never Say Goodbye, and Spellbound, the last of which proved one of their strongest sellers. Entering the new millennium, they unveiled the 2000 concept album Babylon, which traced a computer programmer’s romance in a futuristic setting. On the following record keyboard duties passed from Don Airy to Paul Hodson while Vinny Burns exited over creative differences; Chris Francis ultimately took his place. The band paused between 2002 and 2003 as Hughes concentrated on his rock opera Once and Future King. Two additional Ten releases appeared before the decade closed: 2004’s Return to Evermore and the 1995–2005 retrospective The Essential Collection. Bassist Steve McKenna left in 2005, Francis followed in 2008, and Hughes placed the group on hiatus that same year.

Ten resurfaced in 2011 with Stormwarning, their first studio effort in five years. Further personnel changes occurred when Hodson, guitarist Neil Fraser, and bassist Mark Sumner all exited during that year. Guitarist Dan Mitchell and keyboardist Darrel Treece-Birch stepped in, and Steve McKenna returned on bass. The band maintained its momentum, issuing Heresy and Creed in 2012, Albion in 2014, Isla de Muerta in 2015, and The Dragon and Saint George, their first EP in sixteen years, also in 2015. In 2016 Ten rejoined their former label Frontier Records to record their thirteenth studio album, Gothica, released the following year, and announced plans to reissue their catalog in both physical and digital formats, the latter appearing as the virtual box set Opera Omnia.