Ten… truthfully, as they sit back comfortably as the class of a once lost genre, they've known no equal during their impressive streak which continues on again with their latest, "Babylon…" or "Miss Saigon-revisited" a thousand years later?

Their definitive elements are all present and accounted for- edgy guitar riffs housed in hooks and harmonies; meandering keyboards that add a touch of splendor within the schematics; mature content and flighty vocals that soar deep into the bright blue sky… in whole, a free bird spreading its wings-majestically, with no visible boundaries.

The team of Gary Hughes and Vinny Burns have earmarked the many stellar moments of others, whether as writers, producers or performers on the varying of fellow "Frontiersmen" like Bob Catley, and there's a telling sort of magic that develops when they set out to create.

"The Name of the Rose," probably about three or four years old by now, still to this day remains an ongoing favorite of mine, and one that contained some of the most captivating content I've personally heard in this generation or beyond-call it pop-metal, melodic rock, AOR, whatever it was, it sounded… good.

The formula remains the same for "Babylon," which follows along an interesting theme of the pale existence of life in the future and the trials those few who've survived an ashen and apocalyptic state of earthly decay.

This could well be an interpretation of a theatrical classic for all I know…

I'm not quite as cultured as maybe I should be at this stage in life but it's a saga that seems to follow along one of those romance novel storylines…

Anyway, songs like "Give in This Time," "Love Became the Law," "The Heat…" precious moments captured through the fictional lives of imaginary characters that could well be anyone or everyone the moment we lapse off into dreamland… and that's what I think this record endeavors to portray-we can find a way, amidst all of the peaks and valleys.

Love conquers all… and maybe in this case, even death!

You'll have to follow along. "Babylon's" got its few weak points for all of the good nature it evokes. Some of the songs would be better served with a hook here or maybe a reworked bridge there… at times I'm expecting the Wilson sisters to jump into the picture!

And as much as I like "If Looks Could Kill" and "Magic Man" and that stuff, there's not even a breadth of space written into this script to afford a disruption like that!

Ten has gone and done so much good with their fellow Frontier neighbors that in an odd way, they need to really be at their peak when the time comes for them to deliver here and as usual, they've upheld their winning formula…

"Babylon," fallen though it may have in the pages of written history, sees Ten once again, in the reality of this moment, emerge triumphant!

Released by Frontiers Records

Review by Vinnie Apicella [va85@columbia.edu]