There was a big band sound to this album, possibly due to the production work of Roy Thomas Baker and the continued use of a horn section. One of the highlights was the cover version of Question Mark & the Mysterians' hit "96 Tears" (which reached No. 17 in the UK Singles Chart).[7] Cornwell has expressed satisfaction with the way this album turned out, whereas the rest of the band, including live guitarist John Ellis, who joined the band on the next album, have all expressed negative feelings about 10.[8]
Singles released in the UK for this album were "96 Tears" and "Sweet Smell of Success" (UK No. 65).[7] "Man of the Earth" was due to be the third single from the album, however, Epic decided against it.[9]
Background
Since the Stranglers last album Dreamtime, released in October 1986, the band had toured extensively until the end of 1987, released the 1987 single "All Day and All of the Night", and the 1988 live album All Live and All of the Night. The band had begun recording 10 in bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel's newly built 16-track home studio in Cambridgeshire in 1988. By 1989, with help from local engineer Owen Morris, the band had recorded around 20 tracks which they delivered to their label CBS/Epic for a late 1989 release.[10] The label's A&R man Muff Winwood, however, was unhappy with the production and suggested re-recording the album with producer Roy Thomas Baker, aiming for the American market.[11] According to Hugh Cornwell in his 2001 book The Stranglers: Song by Song, the band had never heard of Baker before but were told he had produced various successful Queen albums. "Roy was sold to us on the basis that he could produce the sound that the Americans wanted," Cornwell said.[12]
The album was recorded in autumn 1989 at Wisseloord Studios in the Netherlands.[6] To achieve a bigger sound on the album, Baker would multi-track Cornwell's guitars. "Whenever I had a guitar part, Roy would make me play it 22 times and record it on separate tracks," Cornwell said. "He'd then mix it all down to stereo and it would sound immense with 22 guitars all playing the same part."[13] At the suggestion of Baker, the band also recorded a cover of "96 Tears" for the album.[11] The spoken section on "Let's Celebrate" is read by Baker's wife, Tere.[14]
Despite the album's American-friendly sound and the moderate success of "Sweet Smell of Success" in the United States (reaching No. 5 on the US Modern Rock Chart),[7] the band did not undertake a US tour. Cornwell, feeling the band had come to a halt in their artistic evolution, decided to leave the band following the last gig on the supporting tour.[15]
AllMusic's Alex Ogg called the album a "meager fare of dislocated pop and half-assed R&B," writing, "The Stranglers actually released very, very few bad albums. 10, sad to say, is one of the few, and it's an absolute stinker."[2] Ira Robbins of Trouser Press wrote, "Although Roy Thomas Baker produced the rock'n'rolly 10 ... things didn't turn out all that bad. As horrifying as it is to hear this once-dynamic group reduced to covering "96 Tears" ... the originals that otherwise comprise the record are pretty lively."[3] In his 1997 book No Mercy: The Authorised and Uncensored Biography of The Stranglers, David Buckley wrote that the problem with the album wasn't so much Roy Thomas Baker's production, but the fact that the songs were "simply stale and boring", with the cover "96 Tears" being the only quality song.[8]
Track listing
All tracks are written by the Stranglers, except where noted
