Asia released Silent Nation

Silent Nation Asia

Released: August 31, 2004 Peak: -- US, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US and UK) Genre: rock

Tracks: (Click for codes to singles charts.) What about Love? (2004, --) Long Way from Home (2004, --) Midnight Blue Moon Monday Silent Nation Ghost in the Mirror Gone Too Far I Will Be There for You Darkness Day The Prophet Rise The Players: Geoff Downes (keyboards) John Payne (vocals/ bass) Guthrie Govan (guitar) Chris Slade (drums)

Rating: 3.362 out of 5.00 (average of 9 ratings)

About the Album: Asia’s eighth studio album marked a few closed chapters for Asia. On the most superficial level, this was Asia’s first studio album in which the name did not begin with the letter ‘A.’ It was ironic that the band could be so consistent in naming their albums, but do such a bad job of retaining personnel. After three albums anchored primarily by the band’s original supergroup lineup of guitarist Steve Howe (only on the first two albums), vocalist John Wetton, drummer Carl Palmer, and keyboardist Geoff Downes, the band shifted gears into the duo of Downes and vocalist John Payne backed by a revolving door of guitarists and drummers. For this effort, Downes/ Payne retained the services of Govan and Slade, who amongst the previous album’s slew of guests, had essentially served as session musicians. It was the end of the Downes/ Payne era, however, that marked a much more significant closure. Asia’s 2008 Phoenix album marked the reunion of the original four members that formed the supergroup behind 1982’s multi-platinum, #1 self-titled effort. Meanwhile Payne, Govan and drummer Jay Schellen, who had joined Asia to start working on an album tentatively titled Architect of Time, formed GPS. Along with Spock’s Beard keyboardist Ryo Okumoto, they released the 2006 album Windows to the Soul. Later, with Erik Norlander on keys instead, Payne, Govan, and Schellen would call themselves “Asia Featuring John Payne.” As for the Silent Nation album itself, it “features some of their most progressive material,” PA but is “something of a disappointment.” PA While the ‘80s albums have “a rather overcooked production,” PA “this album goes completely the other way and it almost has no real production value at all. It’s as if…the band didn’t really mix the album to any great degree.” PA “The other flaw…is that some of the material is rather below par. What about Love?…falls rather flat as an opening track despite the welcome presence of a Hammond organ and a fairly organic sound. It has…the feel of an ‘80s power ballad in the manner of Whitesnake or Def Leppard…Ghost in the Mirror and Gone Too Far continue this relative lethargy, being disappointingly average AOR fodder.” PA “Some of the other AOR songs are better – Long Way from Home... [has] 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.” PA “Midnight is the most progressive…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.” PA “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…album Windows 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.” PA

Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Asia PA James Jeffery, ProgArchives.com Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 4/20/2008; updated 8/6/2021.

 

The Finn Brothers Everyone Is Here released

Everyone Is Here The Finn Brothers (aka “Finn”)

Released: August 24, 2004 Peak: -- US, 8 UK, -- CN, 2 AU Sales (in millions): -- Genre: adult alternative rock

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Won’t Give In (8/04, 26 UK) Nothing Wrong with You (11/04, 31 UK) Anything Can Happen Luckiest Man Alive Homesick Dismebodied Voices A Life Between Us All God’s Children Edible Flowers (4/05, 32 UK) All the Colours Part of Me, Part of You Gentle Hum All songs written by Neil and Tim Finn.

Rating: 3.773 out of 5.00 (average of 21 ratings) Quotable: A “trove of unassuming gems” – Elysa Gardner, USA Today Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Everyone Is Here is “the Kiwi brothers'...first collaborative studio album in eight long years,” MO but only “the pair's second full-lengther.” AZ “Alone and together, in and out of Split Enz and Crowded House, New Zealand's most famous songwriting siblings have consistently delivered some of the most memorable moments in troubadour pop.” UT “Ever since the demise of…popsmiths Crowded House back in the late '90s, [the Finn] brothers…have been content to plough their furrow far from pop's bustling farmstead.” AZ “Like a lot of underappreciated virtues, Neil and Tim Finn's expert pop craftsmanship and glowing harmonies are easy to take for granted.” UT Indeed, “the new material may not be as anthemic and infectious as the old Crowded House favourites” MO and “lacks the full production and grand, Beatlesesque melodic ambitions that saw songs like ‘Weather with You’ and ‘Fall at Your Feet’ become transatlantic radio hits.” AZ Still, the album “possesses the Finn Brothers' stamp,” MO replacing “such scope with a smudged, intimate acoustic style that suits Neil and Tim's songwriting talents almost as neatly.” AZ “Cutting edge music this isn't. The album sounds similar to previous Crowded House material [especially 1991’s Woodface], but without that vital youthful vigour that made those songs so special.” MO In fact, “Everyone is Here is produced and mixed by the same people, Mitchell Froom and Bob Clearmountain.” MO “One change that has happened is the lyrics…The brothers are palpably older and have become rather reflective in the process.” MO While lead single Won't Give In “possesses the kind of watered-down Beatles melody that we recognise from…Woodface,” MO it is also blessed with “shimmering lyricism” UT and “a delicate melody with a regular dusty beat that will spark a 1000 lighters.” MO The “folksy nostalgia” UT of the “confessional Disembodied Voices [is] sepia-tinged as Neil Finn sings: ‘Talking with my brother when the lights went out, down the hallway 40 years ago.’” MO ”Edible Flowers is a mid-life crisis waiting to happen. Starting off with melancholy violins and a gently discordant piano, Tim Finn despondently sings: ‘Everybody wants the same thing, to see another birthday.’ He then goes on to declare: ‘Taste the edible flowers scattered in the salad days.’” MO “There’s also…the more muscular fervor of All God’s Children,” UT “a rocky song with feel-good chord progressions and electric guitars that bring home some much-needed pizzazz.” MO “Luckiest Man Alive is the sort of conscious rock gospel that Stereophonics' Kelly Jones would kill to be able to write, while Anything Can Happen--a billowing, U2-style epic of scintillating guitar and cavernous drum-crashes is seemingly placed to prove that not all is trad chez Finn.” AZ “So there you have it. Melodic and inoffensive, Everyone Is Here is great for background music.” MO The “uplifting harmonies float from the speakers as an ideal accompaniment to a lazy, hazy summer's day.” MO “It probably won't spawn any MTV-hogging video classics – certainly, that was never the intention – but Finn fans in search of a mellow listen” AZ will find “another trove of unassuming gems.” UT Notes: “Edible Flowers” was first featured on Neil Finn’s 2002 live collection 7 Worlds Collide.”

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Neil Finn DMDB encyclopedia entry for Tim Finn AZ Amazon.com review by Louis Pattison UT USA Today review by Elysa Gardner MO MusicOHM.com review by Linda Serck First posted 3/24/2008; last updated 8/8/2021.

Alan Parsons A Valid Path released

A Valid Path Alan Parsons

Released: August 24, 2004 Peak: 12 DF Sales (in millions): -- Genre: progressive rock lite/electronica

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Return to Tunguska (instrumental) (Parsons/ Posford) [8:48] More Lost without You (Parsons/P.J. Olsson) [3:20] v: P.J. Olsson (2004 single, --) Mammagamma 04 (instrumental) (Parsons/ Woolfson) [5:05] We Play the Game (Parsons/ Jordan/ Kirkland) [5:35] v: Alan Parsons Tijuania (instrumental) (Parsons/ Mogt/ Ruiz/ Mendoza/ Amezcua/ Beas) [5:10] L’arc En Ciel (instrumental) (Parsons/ Wiles) [5:22] A Recurring Dream within a Dream (instrumental with narration by Orson Welles) (Parsons/ Woolfson) [4:06] v: Alan Parsons You Can Run (Parsons/ Pack) [3:52] v: David Pack Chomolungma (instrumental) (Parsons/ P.J. Olsson) [7:07] The ‘v’ after the song listing indicates who provides lead vocals. Total Running Time: 49:16 The Players: Alan Parsons (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, vocoder) Scott Kirkland (keyboards, programming) Simon Posford, Ken Jordan (programming, sequencer) Jeremy Parsons (guitar, programming, sequencer) David Pack (guitar, keyboards, vocals) David Gilmour (guitar on “Return to Tunguska”) Alastair Greene (guitar) P.J. Olsson (vocals, programming) Michelle Adamson, Lisa Parsons (vocals) John Cleese (narration on “Chomolungma”)

Rating: 2.797 out of 5.00 (average of 15 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Musical history is littered with artists who at some point in their careers thought it would be a wise idea to revamp their sound. Usually, this move meets with loyalists crying “sellout” as their favorite band moves to a more commercial sound. Alan Parsons manages to revamp his sound in such a way as to disappoint loyalists while simultaneously not selling out. Any cries of sellout would be levied at Parsons during the mid-eighties, when he was at his commercial peak, and not at anything he’s done since the Alan Parsons Project disintegrated in 1987. “If [1985’s] Vulture Culture is what Alan produced under pressure to be a chart-topping artist, A Valid Path is what Alan produced when he wanted to just go have some fun.” DV This album is Parsons’ attempt to stretch himself musically. “Recorded without longtime bandmates Ian Bairnson and Stuart Elliott, A Valid Path is really Parsons's first solo album. A la Santana, nearly every track is a collaboration” TH as Parsons steers away from a lifetime career in progressive rock in favor of electronica. One could see the leanings on 1999’s The Time Machine, but wouldn’t expect Parsons to have gone full tilt. You have to give him credit – if you’re going electronica, bring in some heavy hitters. “Parsons's guest list is a veritable ‘who's who’ of electronica (Shpongle, The Crystal Method, Nortec Collective, Uberzone).” TH Electronica brings out tendencies evident throughout Parsons’ musical career. He definitely likes instrumentals and views vocals merely as another interchangeable instrument; depending on the feel you are after, you bring in a singer to match it. This latter approach resulted in some 40 guest vocalists on Parsons’ product over the years – many of them interesting, but practically none of them household names as successful solo artists. Parsons stubborn reliance on instrumental pieces can come across as lazy, like he just didn’t want to bother with vocals on those songs. That would make this the laziest album of Parsons’ career. At only nine tracks, it is a bit startling to grace only three with vocals. It doesn’t help that two of the instrumentals are rehashes of earlier Parsons’ work, even though Alan’s son Jeremy “proves himself a formidable programmer” TH on both; Mammagamma '04 “works better stylistically here than it did in its classic presentation on [1982’s] Eye in the Sky,” TH but A Recurring Dream Within a Dream, which combines “A Dream Within a Dream” and “The Raven” from the Project’s 1976 debut Tales of Mystery and Imagination, is “a distracting detour from the more ‘valid path’ of new compositions.” TH The album isn’t a complete wash. “The production and engineering is without peer, as always.” DV Parsons’ electronica foray actually makes for “parts of this album that are downright danceable. Funky, even.” DV To tempt us into thinking he hasn’t completely given up on prog-rock, we have “David Gilmour…on the opening track, Return to Tunguska, to link back to the days when Parsons produced Pink Floyd.” DV “Parsons remains the driving creative force behind every track, even assuming lead vocal and guitar duties for We Play the Game,” TH a Crystal Method collaboration which features a great ”drum groove and haunting vocals.” DV More Lost Without You, "is a straight-ahead pop song with an electronica sheen on it.” DV That song and You Can Run feature “P. J. Olsson and David Pack, respectively [and] combine elements of rock/pop with electronica to great effect.” TH Tijuanic is “an interesting mix of electronica and mariachi (something Nortec Collective is known for), with some microtonal glissandi thrown in for color.” TH ”The triumphant and tribal Chomolungma, the CD's close, [is] a powerful, percussion-laden work of art.” DV It includes “a John Cleese cameo that will delight Monty Python fans, and a fun reference to the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds.” TH A Valid Path is, indeed, a different path for Parsons. But it's a path where his peers seem to respect him, he seems to be having fun, and he produces some intriguing, groovy work.” DV Still, it isn’t enough. Faithful Parsons’ fans may stick by him, but this is one of his weakest efforts as he tries too hard to steer himself in a new musical direction.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Alan Parsons DV DailyVault.com review by Duke Egbert TH Thom Herlin WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 9/12/2009; last updated 7/20/2022.

40 years ago: The Supremes “Where Did Our Love Go” hit #1

Where Did Our Love Go The Supremes

Writer(s): Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Eddie Holland (see lyrics here) Released: June 17, 1964 First Charted: July 3, 1964 Peak: 12 US, 12 CB, 12 GR, 12 HR, 12 RB, 3 UK, 11 CN, 14 AU, 4 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 0.2 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 3.0 radio, 18.4 video, 95.47 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Motown “built both and empire and an era-defining sound” TB and “The Supremes were the towering stars who made Motown what it was.” TB The four girls from the Detroit housing projects were originally known as the Primettes. They started out at Motown as “high school kids hanging around the studio, adding backing vocals or hand claps whenever anybody needed them.” TB By 1962, they were down to a trio of Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, and Mary Wilson and had started recording singles. From 1961 to 1964 they released eight singles, most of which barely scraped the charts or failed to chart. Other artists at Motown even called them “the No-Hit Supremes.” FB They didn’t find their sound until Motown founder Berry Gordy paired them with the songwriting and production team of Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland. They struck gold in 1964 with “Where Did Our Love Go,” “a simple lilt of a song about the unraveling of an unstable love affair.” TB It was, however, “ a brilliant piece of songcraft and personal building that…announced the Supremes as a cultural force.” TB Interestingly, it was first presented to the Marvelettes, who turned it down. FB It established a template for songs written by H-D-H for the Supremes. It was the first of five consecutive chart-toppers for the group and eleven #1’s overall – second only to the Beatles at the time. The song also represented what to expect from a Motown song in general – “big beats, propulsive bass, sweetly sung lyrics about romantic dilemmas, choruses that would get stuck in your head all day.” TB Yes, it’s a song “about a desperate romantic situation, but it’s light and fun, built for dancing.” TB Vocally, Ross “sounds like she’s doing everything she can to maintain her compusre.” TB Wilson and Ballard “gently circle Diana Ross’ voice, murmuring ‘baby, baby’ languidly in the background.“ TB Musically, the song “is fast and simple, anchored to that foot-stomping beat.” TB Resources: TB Tom Breihan (2022). The Number Ones. Hachete Books: New York, NY. Pages 49-66. FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 155. DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 212. Related Links: First posted 2/4/2023.

50 years ago: Mario Lanza’s The Student Prince hit #1 for 1st of 42 weeks

First posted 4/7/2008; updated 9/29/2020.

The Student Prince Mario Lanza

Opened on Broadway: December 2, 1924 Charted: July 10, 1954 Peak: 142 US, 5 UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, -- UK, 0.5 world (includes US and UK) Genre: operetta

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Orchestral Introduction Serenade (4/22/55, 15 UK) Golden Days Drink, Drink, Drink (aka “The Drinking Song”) (10/16/54, 21 US, 13 UK) Summertime in Heidelberg Beloved Gaudeamus Igitur Deep in My Heart, Dear I’ll Walk with God (2/18/55, 18 UK)

Rating: 4.229 out of 5.00 (average of 7 ratings) Awards:

About the Album: “Sigmund Romberg’s celebrated operetta The Student Prince opened on Broadway on December 2, 1924, the first of 608 performances that were only the beginning of decades-long success for the musical story of Prince Karl Franz and his thwarted love for the waitress Kathie in Heidelberg. The original production occurred long before the vogue for original Broadway cast albums struck in the 1940s, but when it did, the record labels organized studio-only casts to record the score. Columbia and RCA Victor had versions out in 1947, …Mercury released one in 1949” AMG and “Decca belated got into the act” AMG in 1950. MGM released a film version in 1954 that featured the singing of Mario Lanza. It “was one of Lanza’s greatest achievements, with the tenor producing some of his most ardent and poetic singing” AZ on what is “generally regarded as being among Lanza’s finest renditions of English-language songs.” WK “The highlights are undoubtedly the joyful Drinking Song; the inspired I’ll Walk with God; …Serenade; and the passionate Beloved – arguably Lanza’s best recording of an English song.” AZ “‘Beloved’ and ‘I’ll Walk with God’…are not by Sigmund Romberg, the original composer of The Student Prince, but were written especially for the film version by Nicholas Brodszky and Paul Francis Webster.” WK Also, “The Student Prince was recorded in 1952, with one remake (‘Beloved’) in May of 1953.” WK The soundtrack recording differs from the movie. “For contractual reasons, the singing of soprano Ann Blyth,.” WK “Lanza’s vocal partner on the actual soundtrack” AZ was replaced in the movie with “soprano Elizabeth Doubleday, who appears with the tenor on two tracks here…Doubleday’s contribution was recorded separately, with the disconcerting result that on Deep in My Heart, Dear, she sings both the soprano and the tenor parts in the middle of the song. Lanza’s only contribution on this number is the magically phrased opening, which RCA clumsily repeats at the end.” AZ

Resources and Related Links: Mario Lanza’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry AMG All Music Guide review by William Ruhlmann AZ Amazon.com review by Derek McGovern WK Wikipedia

50 years ago: The Crew-Cuts Hit #1 with “Sh-Boom”

Sh-Boom The Chords

Writer(s): William Edwards, Carl Feaster, Claude Feaster, James Keyes, Floyd McRae (see lyrics here) First Charted: July 3, 1954 Peak: 5 US, 3 HP, 17 CB, 2 RB, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 17.84 video, 93.02 streaming

Sh-Boom The Crew Cuts

First Charted: July 10, 1954 Peak: 19 US, 3 HP, 17 CB, 3 HR, 12 UK, 14 AU (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 1.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 16.7 video, -- streaming

Awards (The Chords’ version): Click on award for more details.

---

Awards (The Crew Cuts’ version):

About the Song: “Doo-wop classic” DJ “Sh-Boom” “seems fated to have been stumbled across on a street corner or in a subway station.” DM Member James Keyes destroys the myth, however, saying, “we never sang on the street corner, period. The Chords rehearsed at each other’s houses and over at P.S. 99 in the Bronx.” SJ Still, in the history of doo-wop, The Chords, came closer than any other group to being discovered on a street corner. Joe Glaser, who worked with leading black talent agency Associated Booking, saw them harmonizing as they walked into a subway station. DM He gave them a card and when they came to his office, his associate, Oscar Cohen, took them over to Atlantic Records. SJ Atlantic Records’ Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler “immediately snapped the group up, because its harmony style seemed tailor-made for the new style of R&B then finding a market among white teenagers.” DM The group had worked together several years DM and expressed a fondness for “any good singers,” SJ basing their sound on R&B harmony groups like the Ravens and the Orioles, but also on white jazz and swing groups like the Modernaires and Four Freshmen. SJ Still, when it came to “Sh-Boom,” everyone at Atlantic reportedly hated the song. AH It was only recorded at the insistence of the Chords and released as a B-side. Then it started to hit with DJ’s. It’s hard to imagine now that the record company didn’t embrace the song at first. “Sh-Boom” “is, in many ways, an absolutely typical doo-wop song.” AH The genre “was basically an extension of the Ink Spots’ style. You have at least four singers, one of whom is a very prominent bass vcaolist who sings nonsense words like ‘doo wop’ or ‘bom bom da bom,’ another of whom is a high tenor who takes most of the leads, and the rest sing harmonies in the middle.” AH The genre was significant for introducing black artists to white audiences in the early days of rock and roll. However, in a time when racism was prevalent on the charts, record companies typically turned to white artists to produce sanitized versions of the original songs that were “appropriate” for the pop charts. In the case of “Sh-Boom,” the Crew-Cuts, “a white group with the closely cropped hair,” TY1 were the offenders, even getting credited with “the first rock and roll number 1 hit.” DJ It topped the Billboard Best Sellers, Disc Jockey Hits, and Jukebox Hits charts. However, the Chords’ original could not be denied. It still went top 5 on the pop charts – an “unprecedented achievement.” SJ In fact, it was the first R&B record by a black artist or group to reach the Billboard pop charts’ top 10. AH Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Chords DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Crew Cuts AH Andrew Hickey (2019). A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs: Volume 1. Pages 199-210. DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 171. DM Dave Marsh (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. New American Library: New York, NY. Pages 374-5. SJ Bob Shannon and John Javna (1986). Behind the Hits: Inside Stories of Classic Pop and Rock and Roll. Warner Brothers, Inc.: New York, NY. Page 170. TY1 Don Tyler (1985). Hit Parade 1920-1955. Quill: New York, NY. Page 160. First posted 8/7/2011; last updated 4/1/2023.