Age of Reason (album)

Age of Reason
Studio album by John Farnham
Released 25 July 1988
Recorded 1988
Genre Synthpop, rock
Length 52:50
Label Sony BMG, RCA, Wheatley
Producer Ross Fraser
John Farnham chronology
Whispering Jack
(1986)		 Age of Reason
(1988)		 Chain Reaction
(1990)
Singles from Age of Reason
  1. "Age of Reason"
    Released: July 1988
  2. "Two Strong Hearts"
    Released: October 1988
  3. "Beyond the Call"
    Released: December 1988
  4. "We're No Angels"
    Released: February 1989
Professional ratings
Review scores
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Allmusic

Age of Reason is a studio album by Australian pop singer John Farnham. It was released in Australia on 25 July 1988 and debuted at No. 1 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Albums Chart in August and remained on top for eight weeks. It was the follow-up to his previous No. 1 album, Whispering Jack, and was the highest selling album in Australia in 1988. As of 1997, it was 11x platinum indicating sales of over 770,000 units. It is also critically considered one of Farnham's best albums, with "Age of Reason" and "Beyond the Call" being about the urgency for the world to wake up and solve its problems.

The first two singles from the album were "Age of Reason", which peaked at No. 1, and "Two Strong Hearts", at No. 6. Two further singles were released, "Beyond the Call," which reached the top 50, and "We're No Angels," which did not.

Background

John Farnham released Whispering Jack in October 1986, it became the highest-selling album by an Australian act in Australia and peaked at number one on the Australian Kent Music Report Album Charts for a, then record, total of 25 weeks.[1][2] Ahead of his follow-up album, in July 1988, he released the title single, "Age of Reason", which peaked at No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart,[3] It was written by Johanna Pigott and Dragon member Todd Hunter.[4] The album, Age of Reason, which was produced by Ross Fraser,[5] debuted at No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart in August and stayed on top for eight weeks.[3][6] It was the highest selling album in Australia from 1988,[1] and, as of 1997, it was 11 × platinum indicating sales of over 770.000 units.[7] Renewed interest in Whispering Jack returned it to the Top Ten in August, nearly two years after its initial release.[3] As of December 2008, "Age of Reason" remains Farnham's last No. 1 Australian single.[3] Other charting singles from this album were, "Two Strong Hearts" which peaked at No. 6 and "Beyond the Call", while a fourth single, ""We're No Angels" did not reach the top 50.[3] Age of Reason had international success peaking at No. 4 in Sweden,[6][8] and No. 9 in Norway.[6] The album featured, apart from Farnham's regular band, many special guest artists including singer Jon Stevens on the track "Listen to the Wind" and trumpeter James Morrison on "Some Do, Some Don't.

At the 1988 ARIA Awards, Farnham won 'Best Male Artist', 'Best Adult Contemporary Album' for "Touch of Paradise", and the 'Outstanding Achievement Award'.[9] In March 1989, Farnham was in Moscow, USSR to promote Greenpeace album Rainbow Warriors, as part of an international ensemble including David Byrne (Talking Heads), Peter Gabriel, Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders), Annie Lennox (Eurythmics) and The Edge (U2).[1] Farnham found time to record "Communication", a duet with Dannielle Gaha, as part of the National Drug Offensive's anti-drug campaign.[10] The song peaked at No. 13 in August 1989.[3]

The CD version of Age of Reason has two bonus tracks including Farnham's covers of AC/DC's "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" and Cold Chisel's "When the War Is Over".

The lead single off the album, "Age of Reason", was used in a promo for Australia's Channel Seven News in 2000.

Track listing

  1. "Age of Reason" (T. Hunter, J. Pigott) – 5:08
  2. "Blow by Blow" (D. Stewart, O. Ormo, B. Harrison) – 4:37
  3. "Listen to the Wind" (B. Thomas, J. Stevens) – 4:26
  4. "Two Strong Hearts" (B. Woolley, A. Hill) – 3:35
  5. "Burn Down the Night" (B. LaBounty) – 3:32
  6. "Beyond the Call" (D. Batteau, D. Brown, K. Dukes) – 4:43
  7. "We're No Angels" (R. Wilson) – 4:52
  8. "Don't Tell Me It Can't Be Done" (C. Thompson, A. Qunta) – 3:35
  9. "The Fire" (C. Thompson, K. Reid, Leiber) – 4:26
  10. "Some Do, Some Don't" (Stephen Hague, Mark Mueller) – 4:19

Bonus tracks on the CD version:

  1. "When the War Is Over" (S. Prestwich) – 4:50
  2. "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" (A. Young, M. Young, B. Scott) – 4:11

Personnel

Chart positions

Year Chart Position
1988 Australian Recording Industry Association Albums Chart 1

References

General
Specific
  1. 1 2 3 McFarlane (1999). Encyclopedia entry for 'John Farnham'. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
  2. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "John Farnham discography". Australian charts portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
  4. ↑ ""Age of Reason" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA ). Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
  5. ↑ Holmgren, Magnus; Reboulet, Scott; Albury, Lyn; Birtles, Beeb; Warnqvist, Stefan; Medlin, Peter. "John Farnham". Passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 27 November 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 "John Farnham – Age Of Reason". Australian charts portal. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 6 July 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
  7. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1997 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 17 June 2010.
  8. ↑ "Discography John Farnham". Swedish charts portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
  9. ↑ "Winners by Artist: John Farnham". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 17 June 2010.
  10. ↑ "John Farnham - Biographie - Sony Music Entertainment Germany GmbH". Sonymusic.de. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
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