Asia: The John Payne years

I think he has it in the press releases to 'beef up' his resume. I like some songs from the Payne era but I never liked his voice at all. There was some really good songs from that lineup up but Payne's voice is really terrible.

 

Oh, totally. It's just kind of laughable. Payne is far, far from the only person to use a tangental relationship with a bigger act to make their bio sound more impressive than it really was. That kind of worked, until we all had computers in our pockets and could research those claims in 60 seconds.

I crossed paths (for about 15 minutes) here in town with a guy who had claimed to be in/from Frankie Goes To Hollywood. When he kind of sucked at singing "Relax," I spent 5 minutes the next day googling that band with another friend who was on the same gig, and we learned he had fronted a completely fake version of the band some 15-odd years ago.

 

Yes now everything can be checked in sixty seconds. I remember when ELO Part 2 was formed and I never saw Payne's name on any official document so who knows what other bands or artists he has claimed to work with. This is probably laughable but I never could tolerate that stupid big hat he used to wear. I think just his image alone brought the Asia name down a few notches.

 

"Free" off Aura is one of the best things ever done under the "Asia" banner.

Steve Howe, Pat Thrall and Ian Crichton on guitars, Simon Phillips on drums...

 

I noticed he did play on Roger Daltrey's 'Under a Raging Moon' album but don't think he had any writing credits. It is a good name to add to his CV though!

 

I think Aura is one of Asia's best albums in general, and one of the few that really hold up well to the albums with the original lineup. Case in point, this is one of my favorites off of Aura:

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First Dukes of the Orient Video........

Dukes Of The Orient - "Strange Days" (Official Music Video)

I like it, very much a Payne-era Asia feel.

 

I like it too. Great keyboard and guitar solos.

 

That'll do!

It reminds me of Bob Catley's solo work.

 

I've revisited all the Asia albums because of this thread. The Payne years may be better or worse than the Wetton years (that's up to personal preference), but I do think the Payne stuff is more varied and interesting.

 

I wish the songwriting was stronger overall, but I can't disagree with this. The Wetton-led band had a sound, and basically stuck with it. The Payne band really went some different places sonically between Aria, Arena, Aura, and Silent Nation.

 

That's Guthrie Govan on guitar so I'll be getting this! He has worked with John Payne before in Asia plus Steven Wilson. My favourite guitarist !

 

Sounds like it would fit right at home with Arena or Aura. This is pretty good.

Though I must admit, that video is very cheesy.

 

That's exactly how I feel. By Silent Nation, it seemed to have run its course. Aqua is a little stronger than Aria, and I remember being shocked that they had Steve Howe guesting on some tracks. Arena and Aura are both quite good, but I think of it as being a different band.

 

I’ve purposely avoided watching the new video- assuming that it would be as bad as the one they released a few years ago for “Seasons Will Change”. I’ll just wait and listen to the album

 

I treat them as completely separate bands. The only overlap is the original era stuff done live by the Payne line up.

 

Yeah, from what I can tell is that the general consensus is that Arena and Aura are the pinnacle of the Downes/Payne collaboration. However, I do feel like Aqua is not as bad as everyone says it is. If you don't come in listening to it expecting it to sound like Asia, it's actually a pretty good album.

 

While "Aqua" has some good and even great songs ("Who Will Stop The Rain") it has way too many clunkers like "Little Rich Boy" and "Love Under Fire" and it sounds very incohesive to me. It's very obvious that the songs were written by a bunch of different people and played by an army of guest musicians.
"Aria" sounded more like a real band but the songs still weren't that great.
"Arena" and "Aura" were the highpoint of the Payne era. Great songs, great musicianship, nice sound quality and the band did not try to sound like Wetton's Asia anymore.
"Silent Nation" is a good album too but it's leaning a bit too much in the direction of generic hard rock for my taste.
However ALL of the albums have good stuff on them and this era of the band remains under-appreciated.
And let's not forget the great GPS album which is on par with "Arena" and "Aura" and fits right in with the Asia featuring John Payne sound.

 

Yeah, there are some songs on that GPS album that definitely feel like Geoff Downes could’ve been involved.

 

I though "Love Under Fire" was one of the highlights. Also loved "A Far Cry."

 

I don't think there were "too many clunkers". Little Rich Boy was only on the european release anyways, so for the majority of people, they wouldn't have been exposed to that song (And for what it's worth, the song is pretty cool live).

Lay Down Your Arms, Crime of the Heart, and Back In Town are the biggest let downs for me. Don't Call Me is very average, but it's not awful. Overall I don't think it detracts too much from the abundance of awesome moments like Who Will Stop The Rain, Someday. Far Cry, Love Under Fire, etc. etc.

Actually, part of the reason why I don't like Aria is because it doesn't quite sound like Aqua as much as I would've wanted it to, and Payne's vocal performance is probably his worst on that record (along with the song writing).

 

Well, he did co write three songs that ended up on that album that were supposed to be on the Silent Nation follow up.

 

Hi! Are those Demos from 2003 different from the what showed up on Silent Nation? I have been searching for these ever since I first heard them online.

 

Does anyone remember hearing versions of Silent Nation tracks with Billy Sherwood on guitar/vocals? I remember demos that were available at the time before Silent Nation but have lost track of them. I prefer the original demo version. If anyone has these I would love a copy. At a minimum I know I heard Ghost in the Mirror with Sherwood.

 

Didn't even know these existed! Maybe i'll try and track them down.