Age of Reason

by Jonathan LewisJohn Farnham followed up his huge hit Whispering Jack with more of the same in the form of Age of Reason. This album was also hugely popular in Australia but did not match the success of its predecessor. In part this was because Farnham was no longer certain who his target audience was: a pop audience or an adult contemporary audience. As always, Farnham's voice was the weak link, although in many places this is disguised by the choice of some very competent backing singers in the form of Venetta Fields and Lisa Edwards. Musically, Age of Reason was not greatly different to Whispering Jack. In fact, the first single from this album ("Age of Reason") was an attempt to recreate the success of "You're the Voice," right down to the bombastic lyrics. Despite this, "Age of Reason" was still the best track on this album. It and "Two Strong Hearts" became Australian hits. Sadly, the rest of the disc is simply bland, commercial pop, culminating in an awful cover of AC/DC's "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)."