Search - 10cc :: Ten Out of 10

Tip your hat to Mercury Records for this mind-blowingly well

Dave | United States | 07/07/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wow, I almost have a hard time believing it, but Mercury has almost, ALMOST completely hit the nail on the head.



10cc's "Ten Out of 10" album was originally released in November of 1981 in the UK (incredibly, it failed to even chart there). A very different "Ten Out of 10" was subsequently released in the US in 1982, with the song "Memories" being partly remixed/ re-recorded, and 4 tracks from the original UK track listing being replaced altogether. What's more, there are at least a couple additional alternate mixes, plus another b-side that didn't end up on either the US or UK release.



Mercury has damn near collected the whole lot of this. Wisely, the original UK track listing, i.e. the first ten songs on this CD, are what we get first. Then we get the tracks that were added to the US release including the 'US Mix' of "Memories", plus the UK single mix of "Les Nouveaux Riches" and the additional b-side "You're Coming Home Again". All on a single CD. Wow.



Speaking strictly of the original UK album's track listing, it offered another potent dose of brilliant music from 10cc. Some considerable changes had taken place--drummer Paul Burgess who had played with 10cc since 1977's 'Deceptive Bends' was still on board, appearing on most of the tracks, but Duncan Mackay and Stuart Tosh who had joined the group for 1978's "Bloody Tourists" were gone, and Rick Fenn who had also played with the group since "Bloody Tourists" was only on two tracks. As a result, a handful of tracks were performed entirely by Stewart, Gouldman, & Burgess, but they did get assistance on keyboards from Vic Emerson on 4 tracks and Marc Jordan on 2 tracks, plus legendary session drummer Simon Phillips (who later on joined Toto following Jeff Porcaro's death) also played on a track. Additionally, unlike each of the previous two albums where a few tracks featured writing credits from other band members, "Ten Out of 10" was written entirely by Stewart and/ or Gouldman. The production, by Eric & Graham, is superb--the album sounds clear and crisp without being overslick. The original vinyl LP was actually digitally mastered by the late Melvyn Abrahams who mastered 10cc and 10cc-related projects for many years. 'Side 1' is essentially flawless--the riffy, moody album opener "Don't Ask", written and excellently sung by Graham Gouldman, is a masterful pop-rock song; "Overdraft In Overdrive" is infectious dumb fun; Stewart's "Don't Turn Me Away" is a powerful, pleading love song with trembling vocals from Eric; "Memories" is a warm, wonderfully wistful ode to youth--it starts off as a beautifully sad ballad before quickly, and effectively, switching to feel-good reggae for the chorus; the creepy and haunting "Notell Hotel" is an uncanny and somewhat funky track. 'Side 2' gets off to a terrific start in its own right with Stewart's infectious "Les Nouveaux Riches" which has a reggae-fied chorus that's utterly mind-boggling and ultra catchy at the same time; then there's "Action Man in Motown Suit" which starts off with an arrestingly dreamy, somewhat tropical feel before eventually giving way to a super fun, rousing chorus.



The 1982 US version of the album is also solid despite the loss of "Action Man In Motown Suit", the inclusion of the pointlessly 'revised' version of "Memories" (slightly botched although actually not all that different), plus the addition of the somewhat second-rate newer songs "We've Heard It All Before" (the verses are catchy but it's still slightly obnoxious) and "Tomorrow's World Today" (a lame commentary on technological advancement), the latter two of which both feature Gouldman on lead vocals. I have to stand corrected though regarding the ballad "Runaway", which I formerly accused of being a sadly half-hearted attempt at capturing the dreamy vibe of "I'm Not In Love"--it's actually a very tender, lovely Stewart vehicle. Also on the positive side is the insanely catchy, wonderfully pulsating "The Power Of Love", also featuring and co-written by Andrew Gold (who would later team up with Graham for Wax UK)--it was released in the UK as a single, but the US album version was tweaked with, resulting in a more powerful version.



Which leads to the ONE sole gripe I have with this particular CD reissue. The version of "The Power Of Love" included here is the UK single mix, not the preferrable US album mix. This is frustrating because the UK single mix already turned up on the 3 disc "Ultimate Collection". But I'm probably one of the only people on the planet to even notice all of this.



In closing, despite my "Power Of Love" gripe, Mercury has done one hell of an incredible job assembling this CD, and I recommend it enthusiastically."

Great album

D. Moses | London, London United Kingdom | 09/24/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My major gripe is why there had to be two different releases of this album, with rather different track listings. It makes a huge annoyance for one trying to complete their collection.

I agree with Dave this is an excellent album. I would recommend it for those who like 10cc more mellow and chilled out.

For those really interested, as well as the tracks listed for the album, those omitted and on the other release are the incredible ballad sung by Graham 'Survivor'. This is a fantastic soft song with a soaring electric lead outro. Also omitted is 'Lying here with you', probably 10cc's softest song ever. It is a delicate and gorgeous piano ballad, written by Graham and sung by Eric. It has some delicate and well programmed synth parts, that may well have been even more exceptional with real strings. 'Action man with mowtown suit' is a cross between a ballad section, sung by Graham and a rockier chorus section, sung by Eric. Also a nice, charismatic song. The final song left off, is 'Listen with your eyes', clearly the weakest of the four, with some quirky but forgettable melody. Still a good song. Also of note, is a b-side from the era, called 'You're coming home again' a nice acoustic guitar ballady folk song.

Of the tracks on the album listed above, I actually really like the ballad 'runaway', I think it has a strong melody. The other songs are also great, although 'Tomorrow's world today', 'We've heard it all before and 'Power of love' are not really my cup of tea, as they try again, a bit too much, to be quirky, at the expense of melody."

Exceptional "regrouping" from Stewart & Gouldman

Wayne Klein | My Little Blue Window, USA | 05/23/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"An underrated and overlooked album the band's tenth album "Ten Out of 10" (it's their 10th if you include the Greatest Hits album released while Stewart recooperated from the injuries sustained in his nearly fatal car crash)is presented with every single track from b-sides to replacement tracks cut for the U.S. version of the album (which was decidely inferior compared to the release for the rest of the world)and single edits of songs.



After the weak "Look Hear!" guitarist/vocalist Eric Stewart and bassist/vocalist Graham Gouldman regrouped with guitarist Rick Fenn, keyboardist Vic Emerson and drummer Paul Burgess to produce a fine return to form. "Don't Ask" Graham Gouldman's song about lonliness and "Overdraft in Overdrive" are highlights here as are the Stewart-Gouldman collaborations "Action Man in a Motown Suit" (missing from the American version of the album), the witty and rocking/bluesy "Listen with Your Eyes". Eric Stewart reggae inflected "Memories" is also a highlight.



The import version of this album includes the tracks that were recorded to replace tracks for the American version including "The Power of Love" and "Runaway" as well as the remix of "Memories" and the b-sides that should have been on the album "We've Heard It All Before" and Eric Stewart's "You're Coming Home Again". We also get the single mix of "Les Nouveaux Riches". There is a grand total of seven bonus tracks making this the definitive version of the album. The only thing as Dave mentioned in his review that is missing is the U.S. single mix of "Memories" which was shorter and a bit different sounding than the two different album versions.



The CD is housed in a replica of the original album sleeve. While "Ten Out of 10" isn't the best album by the duo that led 10cc during most of its life, it's a fine return to form after the underwhelming "Listen Hear!""