I’ve been going back to bands I haven’t listened to in a while and rediscovering what made me get into them in the first place. One of the bands I went back to was 10 Years. They’ve always been a good go to for some solid rock music with lots of melody. During the course of listening to all their albums I thought that it would be a good time to do an album rank of their records. So here it is from not their best to their best.
It’s often easy to dismiss bands you hear on the radio. Most are just plain generic bands with no substance or truth behind them. For every 10 of those types of bands there is usually 1 in the bunch that really stands out, and defies those standards mentioned above. One of those bands is 10 Years. 10 Years was initially formed in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1999. In 2005 they released their major label debut, The Autumn Effect. The songs “Wasteland” and “Through The Iris” were released as singles and garnered solid radio play. During the album cycle for their debut, they toured with Korn, Sevendust, Deftones, Mudvayne and others. The follow up Division was released in 2008. This album has a different feel to it. Rick Parasher (Pearl Jam Ten) was chosen to produce this album. Some of the members of the band have gone on to say that this was a very difficult album to make, hence the name of the album. Songs like “Beautiful,” So Long, Goodbye,” “Actions and Motives,” are all standouts amongst others like “All Your Lies,” and “Focus” which was co-written by Dean DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots. Touring saw 10 Years share the stage with Sevendust, Chevelle, and was apart of the 2008 Projekt Revolution tour. For their third album Feeding The Wolves, Howard Benson was picked to produce (on a personal note, I think Howard Benson’s production is too polished and clean, taking away from the raw feeling of the band). During recording, the band went back and forth between putting on live shows and working on the album. During this time, they debuted a few new songs live, including “Dead in the Water”, “Now is the Time”, and the new album’s first single “Shoot It Out.” Other standouts from the album include “Fix Me” and the epic closer “Fade Into (The Ocean).” When it came time to write a new album, 10 Years had announced that they were leaving their label to become independent again. The result was Minus The Machine, which was their most organic album since The Autumn Effect. It was released on August 7, 2012 through their own independent label called Palehorse Records. Songs such as “Minus The Machine,” “Backlash,” “Knives,” and “Forever Fields (Sowing Season)” are all standouts from the album. The bands live show has always been full of great energy and true emotion. Listening to singer Jesse Hasek, you can hear in his voice that the words really mean something. Guitar wise Ryan “Tater” Johnson has great ability to play heavy and delicate songs without overplaying. Lewis Cosby plays the bass with enough force to make the low end shine and it balances extremely well with Brian Vodinh’s powerful drums.
10 Years is the real deal. They aren’t your typical radio friendly band. If you wrote them off, give them another listen. They really are a gem amongst a sea of nothings.
audioeclectica 