Ten Years After
Rock & Roll Music to the World

THE REVIEW

Often, very often in fact, while surfing the web or consulting various books about rock and blues, one comes across not only the discography but also the history of the band Ten Years After. It seems truly incredible, but almost everyone attributes the breakup of this great band to a lack of ideas and originality that, according to many, marked their later works, so much so that the same band members, Alvin Lee first among them, expressed this line of thought. Undoubtedly, it is true that the third-to-last work, the bland "Alvin Lee And Company," was merely a commercial speculation carried out by their old record label, Deram, which still possessed unreleased material, as Ten Years After had amicably moved on to Chrysalis Records.

And yet, generally going against the current compared to everyone, including Ten Years After themselves, I believe the last two albums represent an example of enlightened rock, particularly the penultimate studio effort before everything ended, namely "Rock & Roll Music To The World" from 1972.

The originality is indeed there. The biggest novelty is certainly the introduction of a more massive use of synthesized keyboards, such as the extraordinary organ solo first and then synth in the track Standing At the Station. Even Convention Prevention is a fantastic track, endowed with an incredible rhythm, here too featuring the novelty of synthesizers, which are also heard in the excellent Religion, with lyrics critical of religion (I never really understood religion / Except it seems a good excuse to kill). Some consider this new use of keyboards out of place, so much so that Ten Years After themselves felt constrained and in the subsequent album abandoned the synths. But it is undeniable that they bring a breath of freshness to the band's sound.

Sure, the start of the album is in classic Ten Years After style with You Give Me Loving, while the blues filler is not lacking (Turned Off T.V. Blues), but that is a trademark of every one of their albums. Great crescendo with Rolling Stones-like atmospheres in You Can't Win Them All. But the last part of the album is very deserving, with three excellent rock'n'roll tracks with very personal tones, namely Choo Choo Moma, Tomorrow I'll Be out Of Town, and the title track. There is no trace of a band in a compositional crisis, perhaps Alvin Lee himself used this excuse to avoid saying that his great personality was too confined in a band like Ten Years After (look at the cover to believe it... who is that little man with a guitar seen in the drum snare? Exactly!). It's no coincidence that the solos of the then fastest guitarist in rock find less space.

The sales, therefore the eternal and cursed money, seem to be the real reason for the slow downward trajectory, as they did not do justice to the album it is.

Ten Years After will fade into the background. No one will pay attention to them anymore, especially after the release of the live album "Recorded Live." Sure, perhaps the subsequent "Positive Vibrations" is a bit underwhelming compared to the present album reviewed, but not enough to justify the band's breakup. As for "Rock & Roll Music To The World," we are facing an album of fine workmanship.