ASIA – “Silent Nation”
(InsideOutMusic)
Running Time : 58:22

ASIA, a great continent. ASIA, one of the biggest melodic bands ever. More than three years have passed since the release of “Aura”, so I guess, people must have been anticipating a follow up quite eagerly. First release for them under the inside out label, better known for putting out heaps of prog rock material, and in fact, it’s quite prog-ier when compared with the past few releases. In a way it’s quite a throwback, to the bands earliest days. The band now consists of Geoff Downes (the only original band member) and singer John Payne (who has been instrumental in the later incarnations of ASIA) along with Guthrie Govan who handles the guitars and Chris Slade on drums.
The album manages to capture the essence of the band, without sounding too retro and the songs are interesting without becoming too long winded. Pure gold, Classic rock.
The lyrics deal mostly with how this world gets fucked up, by us humans. The production is simply excellent. The packaging beautiful, and the song, oh the songs, are perfect examples of what hard rock/AOR is all about. Personal favorites would include the dynamic opener "What about Love", “Long way from home', 'Gone to far”, "Blue Moon Monday" and the poppy gem "I will be there for You". Phew after such a long time, ASIA are still on top of the world. Class! Pure Class!

5,5/6