Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Asia Featuring John Payne
Label: Water Music Records
Release: 2014
Rating: 4/5
John Payne is best known to most lovers of good music as the longtime singer and bassist of the prog rock/AOR supergroup Asia. After helping create some of the best albums in the history of this cult band between 1991 and 2005, he got hit with a cold shower in 2006, when the members of Asia decided to reunite in the original/classic lineup and longtime collaborator, keyboardist Geoff Downes, left him ‘in the lurch’. Payne could not come to terms with the end of their partnership, so he tried to keep his version of Asia alive by any means necessary. In doing so, he also counted on the support of a smaller part of the Asia fanbase who preferred the era with Payne as singer and bassist.
In the meantime, under the name of his new band GPS, he released the album »Window to the Soul« (2006), which contained some material for a never-recorded Asia album titled »Architect of Time«. Longtime Spock’s Beard keyboardist Ryo Okumoto also played on that record, but he had no intention of becoming part of Payne’s Asia. After a grueling fight for justice, Downes, John Wetton, Steve Howe and Carl Palmer finally allowed him to run his band under the name Asia Featuring John Payne. The ‘alternative’ version of Asia thus came to life in 2007, when Payne joined forces with guitarist Guthrie Govan (yet another longtime member of Asia), drummer Jay Schellen and keyboardist Erik Norlander.
This lineup released the live album »Extended Versions« (2007) and re-recorded the Asia standard »Military Man«, which came out as an EP in 2009, after which Govan decided to leave. His guitar successor Mitch Perry didn’t work out. The collaboration with Bruce Bouillet didn’t last long either. In 2011, Payne fixed his guitarist troubles by inviting not one but two guitarists into the band: Jeffrey Kollman and Moni Scaria. In 2012, they released a new song called »Seasons Will Change« as a digital single and video, while the announced studio album was postponed several times over. The first Asia Featuring John Payne studio album was supposed to be called »Architect of Time«, then the title was changed to »Americana«, but we’ll see what the future (hopefully the near one) brings.
Many of Payne’s fans have gotten downright impatient waiting for the first studio album from his version of Asia, so he’s soothed them a bit by releasing the album »Recollections – A Tribute to British Prog«. It features covers of prog legends like King Crimson, Yes, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Moody Blues, Camel, Jethro Tull, UK, The Alan Parsons Project and Barclay James Harvest; all of them were key influences on Payne’s musical path, so he decided to pay tribute to them with covers of some of their most beloved classics. For fans of Asia Featuring John Payne, who are mostly lovers of progressive rock, AOR and classic rock, the most interesting part will be hearing how Payne and company reworked these prog evergreens, stamping them with a completely distinct sonic signature through modern production.
Asia Featuring John Payne don’t beat around the bush and kick off the list of covers with a quality interpretation of The Alan Parsons Project instrumental »Sirius«, one of the most pompous opening tracks ever, where the guitar lines are pushed even further up in the production compared to the original. A logical ‘segue’ into the big hit »Eye In The Sky« follows, which, with a slightly different intro arrangement, runs along the expected lines and as a whole comes off as very interesting in the hands of Payne’s crew, even if it somewhat lacks the original vocal nostalgia that only Eric Woolfson could conjure. Among the Yes classics, Payne and his comrades picked the commercially minded »It Can Happen« from the ‘pop’ era of that legendary band, which isn’t surprising given the stylistic kinship between the original Asia and Yes at the time. The oriental scales sound almost identical to the original version, while the high vocal harmonies are sung ‘just right’, which makes for an utterly faithful imitation of the original version of this Yes evergreen. The guest female vocal harmonies are an interesting addition as well.
Payne’s brotherhood is far more predictable when it comes to the King Crimson standard, picking from all possible songs their best-known one, namely »Court Of The Crimson King«, which English heavy metallers Saxon also covered in an interesting way in 2001. The ethereal flute arrangements are naturally missing from this version, but it’s still a decent interpretation, one that doesn’t fall all that far short of the original in length, even if it doesn’t fully manage to revive the original atmosphere. Norlander proves he’s just as at home on the mellotron as on other keyboards, while Payne manages to recreate the original mystical mood in the multi-voice chorus. It would be illusory to expect Asia featuring John Payne to pick anything overly complex among the Camel classics, so the choice of the commercially friendly standard »Highways Of The Sun« is no surprise. With its cheerful chorus, it’s tailor-made for a vocal interpretation by the longtime Asia singer/bassist. The Moody Blues are represented by a cover of the hit »I Know You’re Out There Somewhere« from their synth-pop era, which in Payne’s Asia version comes out quite faithful to the original shape of the composition, especially when it comes to the retro eighties synth sound.
One of the better covers, somewhat surprisingly, is »Rock And Roll Star«, which Barclay James Harvest used to perform. In the original version it’s sung by the ‘high-pitched’ BJH bassist Les Holroyd, while Payne, with his much rougher vocal approach, brought a bigger dose of potency to this melancholic standard. Excellent guitar harmonies and multi-part vocals add some extra nostalgic charm that you couldn’t feel in the original. It’s somewhat ironic that Payne decided to include the UK evergreen »Nothing To Lose« among the prog covers, a song originally sung by his Asia predecessor/successor John Wetton, which means that vocally it fits him like a glove. One of the few more commercially oriented UK songs, in Payne’s guise, sounds even more like classic Asia than it otherwise does, while the vocal harmonies sound almost even more dramatic than on the original version.
Many won’t be thrilled that out of all the possible Jethro Tull classics, Payne chose »Locomotive Breath«, their best-known evergreen, but in its own way the choice is fairly logical, since it’s one of the hardest-rocking Tull standards. In Payne’s interpretation it underwent quite a big transformation, as the flute was completely replaced by guitar passages and the rhythm became marked by electronic samples from Norlander’s synthesizers. The much shorter, modernist and electronic version of »Locomotive Breath« certainly won’t be to the taste of all prog traditionalists, but it’s at least reworked in a fairly refreshing way. The lovely ELP ballad »Lucky Man«, despite its seemingly simple structure, poses quite a challenge, as it’s very hard to recapture the original’s exceptionally touching atmosphere. Payne steered the original, distinctly melancholic mood toward epic waters instead and, with the help of good backing harmonies, managed to capture the lyrical essence of this evergreen. Norlander’s closing solo on the mini Moog is a decent approximation of Emerson’s original improvisation.
Payne’s version of Asia serves up a more-or-less successful but mostly pretty interesting set of covers of some prog rock classics on »Recollections«, which means fans will surely have an easier time waiting for their first studio album while spinning this collection. Some picks of prog evergreens come off very well in their new guise, while others are a bit too caught up in expected patterns to suit every taste. Payne and the other members of his Asia won’t exactly win a gold medal for these covers, which are more or less a kind of warm-up before the first studio album, but it’s still nice to occasionally see the charismatic singer/bassist remember where his musical roots come from.
Lineup
John Payne – vocals, bass guitar, guitar
Jay Schellen – drums, percussion
Erik Norlander – keyboards, backing vocals
Jeffrey Kollman – guitar, backing vocals
Moni Scaria – guitar, backing vocals
Production
John Payne
Track list
1. Sirius (orig. The Alan Parsons Project)
2. Eye In The Sky (orig. The Alan Parsons Project)
3. It Can Happen (orig. Yes)
4. Court Of The Crimson King (orig. King Crimson)
5. Highways Of The Sun (orig. Camel)
6. I Know You’re Out There Somewhere (orig. The Moody Blues)
7. Rock And Roll Star (orig. Barclay James Harvest)
8. Nothing To Lose (orig. UK)
9. Locomotive Breath (orig. Jethro Tull)
10. Lucky Man (orig. Emerson, Lake & Palmer)
