Age of Reason (album)

Age of Reason is the thirteenth studio album by Australian pop singer John Farnham. It was released through BMG 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 eight times platinum, indicating sales of over 560,000 units. It is also critically considered one of Farnham's best albums, with the title track "Age of Reason" and "Beyond the Call" being about the urgency for the world to wake up and solve its problems.

Age of Reason
Studio album by John Farnham
Released	25 July 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
"Age of Reason" Released: 4 July 1988 "Two Strong Hearts" Released: 26 September 1988 "Beyond the Call" Released: 14 November 1988 "We're No Angels" Released: February 1989

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic

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".

The album was re-released on vinyl on 18 August 2017 by Sony Music.

Background

Farnham released Whispering Jack in October 1986, becoming the highest-selling album by an Australian act in Australia and peaked at No. 1 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 8 × platinum indicating sales of over 560,000 units.^[7] Renewed interest in Whispering Jack returned that album 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 features, 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".

ARIA awards

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]

Bonus tracks

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".

Popular culture

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" (Todd Hunter, Johanna Pigott) – 5:08
2. "Blow by Blow" (Dave Stewart, Olle Ormo, Brian Harrison) – 4:37
3. "Listen to the Wind" (Brent Thomas, Jon Stevens) – 4:26
4. "Two Strong Hearts" (Bruce Woolley, Andy Hill) – 3:35
5. "Burn Down the Night" (Bill LaBounty) – 3:32
6. "Beyond the Call" (David Batteau, Darrell Brown, Kevin Dukes) – 4:43
7. "We're No Angels" (Ross Wilson) – 4:52
8. "Don't Tell Me It Can't Be Done" (Chris Thompson, Andy Qunta) – 3:35
9. "The Fire" (Thompson, Keith Reid, Jed Leiber) – 4:26
10. "Some Do, Some Don't" (Stephen Hague, Mark Mueller) – 4:19

CD bonus tracks:

11. "When the War Is Over" (Steve Prestwich) – 4:50
12. "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" (Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Bon Scott) – 4:11

Personnel

• John Farnham – vocals
• David Hirschfelder – keyboards
• Brett Garsed – guitars
• Angus Burchall – drums & percussion
• Wayne Nelson – bass
• Venetta Fields – vocals
• Lindsay Field – vocals
• Jon Stevens – guitar on "Listen to the Wind"
• James Morrison – trumpet on "Some Do, Some Don't"
• Bill Harrower – sax on "Blow by Blow"
• Thomas Metropouli – mandolin & piano accordion
• Lisa Edwards – additional vocals
• Ross Hannaford – additional vocals
• Joe Creighton – additional vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1988–89)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[11]	1
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[12]	14
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[13]	51
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[14]	6
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[15]	9
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[16]	4
Canada Top Albums (RPM)^[17]	72

Year-end charts

Chart (1988)	Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[18]	13
Chart (1989)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[19]	71

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)^[21]	11× Platinum	780,000^[20]
New Zealand (RMNZ)^[22]	Platinum	15,000^^
Sweden (GLF)^[23]	Gold	50,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

• List of number-one albums of 1988 (Australia)

References

General

• McFarlane, Ian (1999). . Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 5 April 2004. Retrieved 8 February 2010. Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.

Specific

1. McFarlane (1999). Encyclopedia entry for . 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. "John Farnham discography". Australian charts portal. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
4. . 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. . Passagen.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 27 November 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
6. "John Farnham – Age Of Reason". Australian charts portal. Hung Medien. 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. . Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
10. . Sonymusic.de. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
11. "Australiancharts.com – John Farnham – Age of Reason". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
12. "Offiziellecharts.de – John Farnham – Age of Reason" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
13. "Dutchcharts.nl – John Farnham – Age of Reason" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
14. "Charts.nz – John Farnham – Age of Reason". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
15. "Norwegiancharts.com – John Farnham – Age of Reason". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
16. "Swedishcharts.com – John Farnham – Age of Reason". Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
17. Canada, Library and Archives (16 April 2013). "RPM". www.bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
18. "1988 ARIA ALBUMS CHART". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
19. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Albums Chart – 1989 (61–100) (from The ARIA Report Issue No. 1)". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Retrieved 15 December 2016.
20. . Sydney Morning Herald. 1 January 2013. Archived from the original on 12 January 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
21. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1997 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
22. "Official Top 40 Albums". Recorded Music NZ. 18 December 1988. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
23. (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2022.