TENMIDNIGHT

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.

TenMidnight is a prog rock band from Bologa, Italy formed in 2003 with 3 albums released so far. Their latest album to date The city of angels from 2010 issued at Mellow records is by far their best release. The music offered is something between american school of prog in some parts very similar with Kansas , maybe because of the violin on some passages, some Uriah Heep similarity or even Genesis with clear direction towartds italian bands from the '70 like Le Orme, or with bands like Eris Pluvia, the flute passages mainly, Malibran or Il Castello di Atlante. The album is based on sci-fi book "Engine Summer" by John Crowley and is well developed with very nice instrumental sections where the keyboards and guitar have an important role, is pitty that the vocal passages while good are not fantastic. Some forte pieces are to me Running in the wind, The bread tree, the excellent instrumental Cats wich is a combination of Genesis with Uriah Heep, Memories remind me of Eris Pluvia, the rest are decent towards great to.The harmonies are arranged in thick layers of keyboards, on which vintage Minimoogs, Mellotrons, and Organs are combined very well with the rest of the instruments, really nice instrumental parts. All in all this is a fairly solid album, much better then previous two albums put together. I like aswell the t the album is lively with positive vibes catchy and with memorable parts most of the time. Nice cover art. 3,5 stars, definetly worth check out if you are into prog rock music, and specially those who like italian school. TenMidnight is one of the lesser know names from today prog scene that desearve a wider recognition, mainly because of this album.

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.

Excellent album from this Italian band!

Italy and its progressive rock scene never ceases to surprise us, now since the first time I listened to this album I felt absolutely please, and happy with the music my ears were listening to.

Ten Midnight was an unknown band to me, now I know they were formed back in 2003 and so far have released three studio albums. The one I am reviewing is called "The City of Angels", an ambitious project who saw the light the last year (2010), and an album that made it to my top ten albums of the year. It was really a positive surprise.

The album released under Mellow Records features twelve compositions and more than an hour of great progressive rock music. The band's members (or as the booklet says, "The Angels") are Robby Bovini on vocals and drums, Matteo Giaculli on guitars, Titti Bolzoni on bass and Bob Ranzi on keyboards. This album was inspired by John Crowley's novel entitled "Engine Summer"; once again, music and literature go together.

Now the music. It kicks off with "Waking up", a short but interesting introduction with synths creating a spacey feeling. It leads to "Early Memory" which happens to be the longest composition, an eleven-minute track that offers exciting and complex music. It starts with some robotic noises, then it totally changes, flute appears and makes a gently and beautiful sound. A minute later the vocals appear, and then the band begin to build up a pretty interesting structure. During the whole song, you will find cool musical elements, maybe some catchy moments where you will feel like singing, and overall a pretty strong song with good changes on it.

"Running in the Wind" is a fascinating track, with a great keyboard introduction that reminds me to some older bands such as ELP or Le Orme, the atmosphere is intense and will make you feel interested. Then the mood and rhythm changes and becomes calmer, though there are some heavy-like guitars. However, the vocals sound so melodic and create a gently relationship between music and listener.

"Over the Horizon" starts with a cool guitar sound that accompanied by bass and drums create a friendly harmony. That instrumental intro ends after one minute when vocals appear and the rhythm turns softer. Anyway, we can appreciate some nice changes during those seven minutes. In "Life Valley" we listen again to a kind and charming sound, the keyboard work is great, the rhythm is so cool and enjoyable. I like the voice a lot, very Italian, hope you get what I mean. There is a nice violin contributing in this track, (they have some guest musicians as well). The words "I am free" will be stuck on your head; and there is a great guitar solo. This is one of my favorite tracks.

"The Bread Tree" has again some spacey atmosphere created by synthesizers. The instrumental passage is pretty nice, then when the vocals appear the direction of the music changes drastically. I liked the order of the tracks, I can link the previous ones with this, and enjoy the music and some parts of the lyrics (I can understand a little bit of Italian) so that helps. This song is another great one, full of elements, colors and nuances.

A thing I don't really liked, was the decision of one song completely in English. The title track has that, I adore when the bands sing with their mother language, and here, the change is evident, though that may not be a thing that important, it is to me, actually it makes me not paying the deserved attention to the song, which is in fact a nice piece of music with a combination of both, acoustic and electric guitars.

"Syntax error" is a peculiar piece with vocoder speaking all the time the title of the track. This is the shortest composition. "Cats" has an attractive sound, the drums and guitars speak of themselves. Seconds later a minor changes happens when guitars appear and gives an enthusiastic and warm rhythm. There are nice bass lines on this instrumental track.

"Memories" catches our attention with the flute introduction; later vocals and keyboards appear. There are some parts where the music is soft and in moments I lose interesnt (just in few moments), but minutes later a great change with flute and the other instruments returned my interest, though it ends very soft and calm.

"Revelation" is a short track with piano and vocals creating a gently atmosphere. There is a vocal game that sounds pretty nice. "Rewind" sounds like the opener song, this is just a one minute closer.

Again, I say I was surprised by this album which I really like. I invite RPI lovers (and prog lovers in general) to listen to it. My final grade will be four stars.

Enjoy it!