GPS, no not global positioning satellite, but rather the initials of the three founder members of the band, namely Guthrie Govan, John Payne, and Jay Schellen. In case you have had your head in the sand Payne, Govan and Scheelen were, until earlier this year, members of Asia. Payne indeed had been with the band since 1992 and had featured on five studio and umpteen live albums in that time. This all came to halt early this year when a reformation of the original Asia was announced, much to many peoples surprise given the history of all concerned.  So whilst the original Asia are off playing the nostalgia game the other guys dusted themselves down, recruited Spock Beard's keyboard player Ryo Okumoto and recorded this album.

Now cards on the table time, when it comes to Asia I’ve always been a John Wetton era man myself. Most of the Payne era material did not connect that well  with me for whatever reason until that is the last release, the excellent Silent Nation. So I was hoping for  something along the lines of Silent Nation Part 2 with 'Window To The Soul', now whilst that is true to some degree the album actually offers much more than that. 

Judging by the song writing credits all the material was  written before  Ryo Okumoto became involved and perhaps this has led to a more guitar orientated approach that was evident on previous Asia albums. Perhaps even more surprisingly GPS have come up with a record that has more in common with the Wetton era of Asia than with the time Payne spent fronting the band. Check out the intro to 'Written On The Wind' for instance and then go back and listen to 'New Jerusalem' and tell me that could have come from the debut Asia album, it’s that good. Another reference point that came to mind when listening to this was Gary Hughes' Ten.  Not in terms of the songs perhaps but in some of the guitar refrains and general sounds employed. Strange perhaps but there you go...

After all the mention of guitars in the above paragraph you may be led to believe that the keyboards are under utilized, but this is not the case. What  Ryo Okumoto manages to accomplish here is to fill the sound out as required and also lead the music when that is required but without, at any point, overpowering the songs.  

All in all with 'Window To The Soul' GPS have produced an album that is a must for any , and all,l Asia fans out there whilst also offering a slice of music that will appeal to anyone with broad tastes and an open mind when it comes to their choice of listening material. More than anything though this is simply a great album and one that firmly kicks the ball into the Asia camp and states “right  then do better than this!!!”

Let us know your views on 'Window To The Soul''

Track List

Window To The Soul
New Jerusalem
Heaven Can Wait
Written On The Wind
I Believe In Yesterday
The Objector
All My Life
Gold
Since You’ve Been Gone
Taken Dreams

Line Up

John Payne  - Vocals/Bass/Guitar
Guthrie Govan - Guitar
Jay Schellen - Drums
Ryo Okumoto - Keyboards