WINDOW TO THE SOUL

After reading South Side Of the Sky´s review of this album I went looking for this CD. After all, I liked Asia with John Payne and the prospect of an album with such great musicians as two former Asia members (guitarrist Guthrie Govan and drummer Jay Schellen) and with the participation of Spock´s Beard keybordist Ryo Okumoto, promised great things. And I was not disappointed. In fact, apart from a couple of Okumoto´s synth solos (more on the fusion side), Window to The Soul could be easily mistaken for a long lost Asia record. And a very good one by the way! In fact, I´d put it shoulder to shoulder with Payne´s best efford with that group (Silent Nation).

All tracks are good, the production is excellent and the band is really smoking. I really don´t understand why PA labeled it as neo prog. There is nothing like that here. What we have is the usual AOR/melodic rock with a few prog hints here and there, played by skillful musicians and sang with passion and conviction by Payne. Prog related would be much more fitting, I guess. So I´m warning you: if you´re looking for neo prog stuff, forget it. On the other hand, if you like catchy, melodic tunes with great hooks, jump on it! Maybe the best feature on Window To The Soul are the strong compositions, with not a single weak track on the entire CD. Best songs: New Jerusalem, Heaven Can Wait and Written On the Wind.

Rating: if this was an AOR/melodic rock site, Window To The Soul would be a five star CD. Since PA is not and there is so little prog on the album, I can´t do it. However, due to the high quality of the songs, the excellent perfomances and the brilliant production, a less than 4 star rating would be unfair. Definitly recommended to any Asia or melodic rock fan. Like the previous reviewer said, GPS should not be overlooked. A very good surprise.