While Blaze's second album 'Tenth Dimension' features a storyline that was made "for me", I felt a bit disaffected by it straight from the start. Maybe the reason is the storyline, which is bloody awesome actually! A fucking paradox... Let's see the story first. There's this professor who travels to the tenth dimension (Einstein's relativity theory and newer quantum theory can only go hand in hand if there are at least ten dimensions!) and wants to benefit his findings to mankind, not governments or such. Science and fiction meet in a way I love it.
Musicwise, this doesn't differ too much from already wide 'Silicon Messiah' (2000). Its ends are simply pulled further from each other. It is still safe to say, that 'Tenth Dimension' is a slab of English heavy metal. So, as this is a conceptual album, there are a lot of different bits abound. 'Kill and Destroy' is a true "raise yer fists and bang yer head!" type song, and fast 'Leap of Faith' as well as bonafide heavy metal song 'Stealing Time' can also be named as such. 'Speed of Light' is also one of these, and the catchiest song on the album; also known as 'Born as a Stranger' of 'Tenth Dimension'!
Darker pieces are part of the story, too. Varying 'End Dream' is the first of these. Anthemic 'Nothing Will Stop Me' makes you believe that Blaze won't stop. Epic slow song 'Meant to Be', featuring female vocals (plus a strings section) but not being a love song, with its intro 'The Truth Revealed' (listen, this is what influenced Mr. Dickinson's calm singing on 'The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg'...) is one of the pinnacles of the album. 'Stranger to the Light' features dumb "Mission: Impossible" style main riff, that causes emesis reactions for me. Fuck that, because the song is otherwise more than plausible. No real contender for 'Stare at the Sun' here, sadly.
And two reminders are the mighty title track and that other song... 'The Tenth Dimension' is pure manna, because it features both sides, the banging and the dark. And no "Mission: Impossible" acrobatics here. It really deserves to carry the crown of the title track. Actually there is the third side to this album, and many of its songs: Beauty. Well, there are a lot of sides, but they are achieved by touching the betweens of the trinity "banging-dark-beauty". This takes us to the final song, that's to be mentioned yet: 'Land of the Blind' is a groovy song, and easily the worst piece on the album, thanks to its bad verses and Ozzy-sounding pre-chorus.
Blaze Bayley's vocals didn't sit into Iron Maiden too well. But when the music's done specially for him, his manly and powerful voice controls. He sounds very, very characteristic, and that is a obstacle for some people. This wouldn't be Blaze if there was not some hollering parts. Blaze is also the master of choruses (minus 'Land of the Blind', which failed miserably, actually the whole song did). The guitars by Steve Wray and John Slater are pleasurable to listen to. Really rock-hard riffs, screaming and catchy solos, fantastic harmonies, you name it. The rhythm section of bassist Rob Naylor and drummer Jeff Singer is tighter than a virgin and very firm indeed.
The Andy Sneap production is solid. There's far more flesh over the bones than in many of his works. There are up to 40-60 tracks of music in the songs, so they are rich. Everything is well-balanced, so there's no muddled stuff. Graphic design is really spot-on; the booklet's lyrics pages look like a professor's diary.
The limited edition digipak includes a bonus CD with okay live songs, and two out of four songs are only available here, as they do not appear on 'As Live as It Gets' [2003]. Studio track 'Living Someone Else's Life' features nice chorus, but otherwise is too American style groovy piece for my liking. There is also a multimedia part with grainy videos (good and informative EPK with interviews, and a promo clip for 'Ghost in the Machine'), 2 mp3's from the debut and pictures. In all, this is nothing too special, but good item for Blaze followers.
Even if 'Tenth Dimension' is my least favourite Blaze album, that doesn't mean it is crap. It is mostly very solid work indeed, and if English heavy metal is your cup of tea, get it. But remember to give it time.
Update (10-26-2024): At first, back in 2002 when I got this on its release date, I didn't really enjoy this hugely. Then, about 7 years later when I wrote this review, I already had infatuated with it way more. Now, many, many moons later I find this album as a highly classy piece of British steel. I grant it a "honorary mention, and the score goes from 8/10 to... -LaneRating: 8½ (out of 10) ratings explained
Reviewed by Lane
11/25/2009 21:32
