RUN

Tenmidnight from Bologna came together in 2003 under the forces of Roberto Bovini (drums, vocals) and Bob Ranzi (keyboards), who had been playing together for years.With Tiziano Bolzoni (bass), Ivan Bertuzzi (guitars) and Gabriele Carboni (flutes, guitars) they completed the line-up which recorded a self-titled debut in 2005.This brought the band to the attention of Mellow Records, that signed the group, and in 2008 they returned with a sophomore effort, entitled ''Run''.

I haven't listened to the band's debut, but based on what is contained in ''Run'' I do not intend to, considering that a second work is almost always an improvement over the debut of a band.Tenmidnight play a mix of straightforward Hard Rock with Art/Prog Rock, having strong 70's vibes, especially the KANSAS influence and the JETHRO TULL vibes are more than evident, but the result is far from irritating and often cheesy.They blend English and Italian lyrics, really a turn off for all Italian groups, unless the music is pretty outstanding.But this is not the case here.There are some well-played parts on ''Run'', especially the good flute drives and the light use of organ is more than welcome, but the tracks tend to be rather forgettable and cliche.Additionally some themes sound as a complete ripoff of classic acts of the past, like the opening tune of ''Lusitania'' sounding similar to KANSAS' ''Carry on my wayward son''.The vocals are also average, nothing bad but nothing trully exceptional either.Trying hard to find the positive offerings of these release, I detect a nice ability of the group to deliver good instrumental work and a couple of tracks that eventually show some potential for the future, being well-crafted Progressive/Art Rock with interesting keyboard passages.

Not my cup of tea for sure.This is very accesible and at times cheesy music with a completely unoriginal sound and mediocre songwriting, which the band needs the most considering the delivered style.Only recommended for rare spins.

TenMidnight is one of the lesser known italian prog rock bands in last decade. I've reviewed their latest album The city of angels and I lilked what I've heared so I decided to check their second offer named simply Run issued in 2008 at Mellow records. Well, this album is quite different then their third one the next one The city of angels, here the band sounds little less symphonic then on Angels and more towards a combination between Kansas and Jethro Tull with aswell passages remind me of Uriah Heep. This mixture is pretty much ok most of the time, no spectacular moments but well played. The bands tanks on in the liner notes and dedicated some pieces to their main influences overall like Led Zeppelin is the track Led Ten and to Kansas is Lusitania. Overall not much to add, decent album with nice catchy vocals and good instrumental parts but their best album by far remains The city of angels who were a clear improvement over this one Run. Good band that somehow were gone under the radar in prog circles. 3 stars for sure.