The daytime was fine, but when the twilight begins to loom over, due to the last lights of the setting sun, everything suddenly starts to sound better. When the night touched down above the shimmering lights of the city, it was time to get wild, it was time to Rock, time to be the opposite of brittle, and maybe the silence won't turn out to be so hushed after all. "City (Nights)" is being presented as the second part released by the French duo under the name of SILENCE after the early "City (Days)" album. With the darkness, a sort of change seemed to be overpowering the softness that was the band's signpost on the first part of "Days". Surprisingly so, SILENCE huddled under Hard Rock with little Metal signatures and less under AOR. Call it a big change? I would call it the ability to know that when it's dark, the music can stand as comfy as it was, it has to be different, more exciting and energetic. That is the main reason why this release was better than its daylight companion.

If "City (Days)" displayed music that resembled DEF LEPPARD and BON JOVI, don't come looking for it here. Not that the duo went too far extreme with their Hard Rock compositions but it was quite evident that SILENCE went just a tad Gothic in their approach while using the catchy elements of AOR for the creation of a line of silky smooth choruses. Sure that some of the rhythms were heavier than before yet still I felt that there is that sense of a boy band like the parallel album. Darkness or not, the soul underneath the shell might be slightly more brutish and rudimentary, it is still soft and AORish in nature. "Ghosts" is a work of art, along with what sounded to me somewhat close to the characteristics of the Finnish Gothic suicide runs of SENTENCED or TO/DIE/FOR when it came to the riffing and singing posture, a blistering chorus came rising filled with drama and such swell Popish features.

The lack of sleep of "Insomnia" presented another darkened features with intense lyrics and striking Hard Rock music with a pure 80s vein. I liked Venet's vocals and his slender raspy style that shed a new light on the entire album. He sounds less spongy and more passionate as if the night is his best friend. Listening to the ending ballad of "(Goodbye To) The Good Old Days" made me think of two good friends sitting together in a beach right before the last moments of the nightly freedom talking about the upcoming tomorrow and what will end up with them eventually. I know it seems like a popular movie scene, but in a way it is, and it is hard not picturing it. The track itself it beautiful, it's a simple and to the point ballad with a wonderful atmosphere. "Someday" and "Promised Land" are nice and touchy that sounded similar to late 90s Rock / Pop outfits such as SAVAGE GARDEN, but the feeling was quite good.

"City (Nights)" enabled me to feel the cold chill when the sun goes down in a spring afternoon right before the prickly evening comes down spreading a shower of stars and even a moonlight contraption. I think that the SILENCE duo created a wonderful thing. The first thing is two CDs in a single year, quite an accomplishment for such an unknown project. Second, the music is relatively diverse than normal 80s oriented AOR outcomes while serving a great tribute to the older gods of Hard Rock and AOR. In overall, I would recommend this release for the taking. Days and Nights, everything is here for you.