Ten
The first Ten album originally started life as a couple of Gary Hughes albums and quickly evolved into something much bigger with the arrival of former Dare members Vinny Burns and Greg Morgan. Veteran produced Mike Stone (Journey, Asia etc) was brought in to oversee the mixing of the record and added an extra special sheen to the project. On its release in Japan the album received 95/100 in Burrn! magazine. It entered the Japanese hard rock/metal chart at #3, the international artists chart at #11 and the national chart (which has Japanese and foreign artists) at #33. In the UK praise has included 4Ks in Kerrang!, 9/10 in Frontiers and 10/10 in Hard Roxx.

The band released their second album "The Name Of The Rose" in mid September in Japan. Burrn! magazine giving it another 95/100! and entered the international artists chart at #10 and the national chart at #29. In the UK it has received more glowing reviews from Frontiers and Hard Roxx, and the band have undertaken their first tour with dates in the UK and Germany to precede a Japanese tour in January 1997. Awards followed from Frontiers and Burrn magazines and in less then 12 months Ten had become the hottest, most talked about, new melodic rock band in years with over 100,000 CD sales.

Ten spent the summer of 1997 recording their third album for Now & Then Productions, "The Robe", which was released in October. Gary Hughes produced the album himself this time, with Mike Stone handling the mixing.

Reactions to the new album have once again been extremely positive with tracks from "The Robe" gaining much airplay in Japan. The first Japanese single, "The Robe", entered the international artists chart at #7 after its first week on sale. The album itself entered the international artists chart at #8 and the national chart at #34. A five date Japanese tour has already been booked for December. Burrn! magazine gave the album a coveted cross review with three reviewers grading the album at 86, 90 and 91 out of 100.

Six extra songs were also recorded during "The Robe" sessions and these were released in Japan across two singles ("The Robe" and "You're In My Heart"). In November they headlined the Gods '97 and played shows in Germany with Millenium. Before Christmas they returned to Japan for a five date tour.

Following another successful tour of Japan in December 1997 Ten spent the beginning of 1998 compiling their first live album., the double set "Never Say Goodbye". In Europe the album included 4 of the 6 extra tracks recorded during "The Robe" sessions. The remaing two tracks should turn up on a compilation at some point. In February Gary and Vinny returned to Japan for a short promotional visit.

Burrn! magazine gave "Never Say Goodbye" an 83/100 rating.

Ten spent much of 1998 recording their fourth studio album "Spellbound". The material this time moves on from the epic qualities that were explored on "The Robe", and once again shows the diversity in Gary's writing (he wrote 11 of the songs and co write the remaining one, "Inside The Pyramid Of Light", with Vinny Burns). From AOR/hard rock style ballads and rockers to the Zeppelin-esque title track, to the near power metal of "Fear The Force", to the anthemic "We Rule The Night" (which features guest vocalists Bob Catley (Magnum/ Hard Rain) and Sue Willets (Dante Fox)) not to mention the incredible celitc/Thin Lizzy/Gary Moore style rocker "Red", the album shows a band with a distinctive sound but also with the ability to incorporate differing influences without compromising their integrity. Tracks such as "March Of The Argonauts" and "Wonderland" feature a full string quartet while "We Rule The Night", "Remembrance For The Brave" and "Red" include celtic/folk instruments, such as fiddle ulean pipes and low whistle.

"Spellbound" was produced by Gary Hughes with the mix handled by Rafe McKenna (GIANT, BAD COMPANY, FAIR WARNING, TOMMY SHAW, RICHARD MARX, FOREIGNER) at DEP INTERNATIONAL STUDIOS (owned by UB40) in Birmingham, and is the bands most powerful and energetic recording to date. "Spellbound" was released on December 23rd 1998 in Japan through the band's new deal with major label MERCURY RECORDS and on January 18th 1999 in Europe on Now & Then/Frontiers Records

"Spellbound" has had a very successful launch in Japan. The album, the first for the bands new label, MERCURY, entered the Japanese National Charts at number 16 in amongst the likes of compilations by the likes of MARIAH CAREY, CELINE DION, U2 and soundtracks to "Titanic" and "Armageddon". The new METALLICA album, "Garage Inc", entered at number 20.

In November 1999 Ten's first three albums were reissued with the addition of various bonus tracks. The reissues were launched with Ten's storming appearance at The Gods 99.

Also in November Ten were joined by new keyboard player Don Airey (Rainbow, Whitesnake, Gary Moore, MSG, Ozzy Osbourne etc) who played at The Gods. Don has committed himself to a special guest role with Ten and made his Ten recording debut on the fifth album "Babylon" released in August 2000.

"Babylon" is a concept album based on the futuristic story of a solitary - very talented - computer programmer Lex Bader. He meets a beautiful young woman Jen Jarrett, the new personal secretary to Max Devlin, president of the company he is employed in: Cryotech Industries. She is a very competent and intelligent young woman with strong moral values and - in some ways - very old fashioned. The two of them finally fall in love with each other, but their story has a twisted turn when they decided that they would attend the Cryotech Christmas party. For that occasion, for the first time, they would be together before the curious eyes of their work associates. Rev and Don Devlin - the two honorary directors of Cryotech, `sleaze-bucket' sons of Max Devlin - couldn't believe that Jen was with Lex. They scathed towards the couple and mocked their `supposed' relationship. The following day Lex knew from the radio that Jen had been found dead in her apartment building. Therefore Lex - after mourning his loss - planned his revenge...

The artwork for the album was again supplied by renowned Spanish artist Luis Royo, whose work "Memory in White" was used for the "Spellbound" cover, which was voted ALBUM COVER OF THE YEAR in BURRN! magazine in Japan, POWERPLAY magazine in the UK and FLASH magazine in Italy. "Babylon" has been produced by Gary Hughes and mixed by Audu Obaje and will be the first to feature new keyboard player, the legendary Don Airey of Rainbow, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Gary Moore fame. Ten's immediately previous album, "Spellbound", was the bands most successful so far. Ten made another triumphant Gods appearance in November 2000 followed by an incredible Spanish debut and a forthcoming joint Ten / Bob Catley European tour. "Babylon" looks set to eclipse all previous efforts by the British act.

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