ASIA - Silent Nation

I have always gone on record as saying that I much preferred the albums that Asia made when they were no longer a supergroup- the John Payne era, in other words. Whilst Steve Howe and Carl Palmer occasionally contributed to these albums, the band were seemingly generally led by Geoffrey Downes and Payne. I think that 'Aura' and 'Aria' in particular were superlative albums, with a slightly more progressive feel than the bombastic AOR of the 80s albums. However, whilst 'Silent Nation' might feature some of their most progressive material, it's something of a disappointment to me, particularly after the superb 'Aura' which I rated as their best album ever.

I agree with a previous reviewer that said this album has a demo-style sound. It's the production job that I find to be one of the album's weakest elements; whilst I have criticised the 80s albums for having a rather overcooked production (I can think of few 80s albums by the prog big guns, or indeed few 80s albums full stop, that do not, in fairness), this album goes completely the other way and it almost has no real production at all. It's as if the band just pressed record and didn't really mix the album to any great degree- it's a shame after the wonderful work that was done on 'Aria' and 'Aura'.

The other flaw here, though, is that some of the material is rather below par. 'What About Love', to these ears, falls rather flat as an opening track- despite the welcome presence of a Hammond organ and a fairly organic sound, it has about it the feel of an 80s power ballad in the manner of Whitesnake or Def Leppard. It sure as hell does not hold a candle to the wonderful 'Awake' on 'Aura'! 'Ghost In The Mirror' and 'Gone Too Far' continue this relative lethargy, being disappointingly average AOR fodder.

Some of the other AOR songs are better- 'Long Way From Home' is the best of these, with a great chorus and a wonderful lead vocal from John Payne that has real sincerity throughout. 'I Will Be There For You' is a slightly better attempt at a power ballad, although is far from original and (I guess you're getting sick of this comparison...) nothing compared to what I hold to be the best ever Asia track, their cover of 'Ready To Go Home', from 'Aura'.

There are some tracks which push the boat out slightly, and these are definitely the best tracks. 'Midnight' is the most progressive, reminding me a bit of Uriah Heep's song of the same title, with its churning Hammond organ introduction, some neat harmonies and a rather twiddly mid-section where Downes gets to show off a bit on the synthesiser. 'Blue Moon Monday' is an intriguing number that nevertheless, feels a bit underdeveloped, perhaps owing to the bare-bones production job. Still, the track's essential quality remains. The title track and 'The Prophet' are the best of the rest, to my ears.

I would not call this a weak album, but the band have proved themselves to be capable of more than this- indeed, even the releases that followed this, such as the Wetton/Downes album 'Icon' and the GPS (Payne and the other members that were in Asia at that time, with Spock's Beard's Ryo Okumoto replacing Downes) album 'Window To The Soul', showed their talents to better effect. Unfortunately, however, this slightly disappointing effort looks likely to be the last word from the John Payne era of Asia.

Studio Album, released in 2004

Track Listings

1. What About Love? (5:25)
2. Long Way From Home (5:58)
3. Midnight (6:23)
4. Blue Moon Monday (7:16)
5. Silent Nation (6:03)
6. Ghost In The Mirror (4:35)
7. Gone Too Far (6:47)
8. I Will Be There For You (4:09)
9. Darkness Day (6:17)
10. The Prophet (5:15)

Total Time: 58:08

Line-up/Musicians
- John Payne / bass, vocals
- Geoff Downes / keyboard
- Chris Slade / drums
- Guthrie Govan / guitar