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Tommy Keene never became a big rock star. He should have. His music was melodic, power-pop with enough big guitars and catchy lyrics. Alas, outside of college radio, most commercial stations ignored Keene’s music. The fourth album from the Bethesda, Maryland native is perfect. Let’s dive into what makes Ten Years After an amazing release and today’s feature on I Own That CD!
Similar to artists like Marshall Crenshaw or Matthew Sweet, Tommy Keene has been composing smart, guitar-based pop-rock songs for years. Keene first received critical acclaim with the pioneering Washington D.C. rock band The Razz before going solo.
I saw Keene perform at the small Arlington, Virginia club Iota Club & Cafe - I was blown away by how good Keene and his backing band was (along with the sheer volume and wave of sound from a trio).
Ten Years After kicks off with a banger of a track - “Going Out Again” - With the fierce, big sound of a huge rock band and the melody and lyrics from an in-tune singer-songwriter, the song is a perfect kick-off. Right after is the fantastic “Turning On Blue” with it’s buzzy rush and wistful lyrics.
The country-tinged ballad “If You’re Getting Married Tonight” is gorgeous and you feel the distance already in a couple, yearning for love.
Keene’s voice was sweet and cool and it showed on song after song, especially tracks like the rocking “On The Runway” and on the acoustic-led track “Silent Town”.
The CD captures the energy of his live shows and this could have been the one that pushed him into the mainstream. Dave Holmes put it best: “He should have been huge, is the way the story has gone. He should have had the career of a Tom Petty, or at least a Bryan Adams. It was a thing that came up in every profile of him, in every interview with him, in every conversation about him.”
Ten Years After was his first release after he was released from Geffen Records who buried the amazing Based on Happy Times.
The next two tracks are my favorites on the release. “Good Things Going” and “Compromise”. “Good Thing Going” has beautiful shimmering guitars layered on top of Keene’s beautiful voice. “Compromise” is pure power-pop that should rank up there with the best that’s been released.
Keene closes everything out with the unlisted track “It’s Not True” a song written by Pete Townshend and performed by The Who in the 1960s. Keene and band kick it up a notch to a noisy, messy, great track.
Ten Years After is an ironic title, as its release year is ten years after he released his major label debut on Geffen Records - ten years after he could have/should have made it big. It's rock and roll and power-pop and beautiful songwriting and it (and Keene) deserved better. Keene died in 2017 at the age of 59. But there's still time for you to hear the amazing music of Tommy Keene and you can start by borrowing my copy of Ten Years After.