ASIA

Funny thing about supergroups, they tend to be over-hyped and in some ways Asia reminds me of Bad Company, supergroup from other bands that made a few albums together, then members fall out and a different lineup would ensured or sometimes the original members return.

Asia came from various prog rock bands, John Wetton played in King Crimson, UK and Uriah Heep, Steve Howe from Yes, Geoff Downs from The Buggles and Yes and Carl Palmer from ELP and I guess you would call their first album Prog Pop although that deep sound came from the late Mike Stone adding plenty of overdubs here and there to create something more than just four guys.  Their first album remains their best although Heat Of The Moment and Only Time Will Tell have been ran into the ground on the classic rock radio.  How dare me to rate this an A album but it's a album I can listen start to finish with wonderful tracks like Wildest Dreams, Sole Survivor and Here Comes The Feeling again.  This record got plenty of play on my stereo.  You may be excused from here on out to read the rest of the story.

Alpha was a let down. Don't Cry and The Smile Has Left Your Eyes were overplayed on radio as well but crowd pleasers like Open Your Eyes and The Heat Goes On plus the ultra beautiful Never In A Million Years make the record not so much a bust, but side 2 really really drags.  And then confusion came calling, Wetton left, Greg Lake replaced him, but on Astra Wetton returns and Steve Howe leaves replaced by Mandy Meyer whoever he was.  The record tanked, but to me it was a better effort than Alpha  although there's much more darker songs on this outing but standouts include Go, Voice Of America, Love Now Till Eternity and the angry Too Late.  Some songs didn't make much sense Countdown To Zero (with a corny ending) and After The War showcase a war paranoia.  But nothing was heard much from Asia after that and Geffen pieced together a collection of greatest hits and outtakes for Then And Now to which they had a minor hit with Days Like These and even had David Cassidy cowrite a song.

Wetton leaves again and Geoff Downes finds an able replacement that is willing to stay onboard in John Payne which begins Asia Part 2, the Downes/Payne years and Aqua is bizarre and boring most of the time. Although Steve Howe and Carl Palmer are listed, outside of Who Will Stop The Rain, there's not much I can recommend on this although there's a couple songs that Greg Lake did write.  The Payne era I haven't paid much attention to although Aria had a few more moments but still sounded like a hair metal band.  Basically after that it was the Payne/Downes show up till Wetton, Howe and Palmer reunited with Downes, and left Payne in the dust (although Payne was allowed to use Asia featuring John Payne).  Phoenix the first new Asia original since Astra was more stripped down, by then Mike Stone was dead so they produced it themselves. It might be their most progressive rock album ever although I really haven't played it much. Omega came out in 2009 produced by Mike Paxman (Status Quo) and it returned them more to the earlier hit sound of the 80s although no new hits were taken off it, radio ignored it since they're considered a dinosaur act.  In 2012 they recorded XXX which is a return to sound of the first album and reviews of this were pretty good but again radio wanted nothing to do with it.  Really a shame, since Omega and XXX are good in their own way.

Asia also benefits from having more greatest hits and anthologies than actual albums and basically this is where buyer beware comes to play.  Anthologia  The 20th Anniversary collection has ALL of the Geffen albums into a nifty two CD set, which means you get the first three albums plus B sides Ride Easy and Daylight which would have made their respective albums that much better.  Heat Of The Moment-Very Best Of Asia I would have recommended but Sole Survivor and Here Comes The Feeling Again are edited version and a bad butcher job at that but has Ride Easy and Daylight and is preferable over Then And Now or the 20th Century Masters Collection.  And then there's the 2 cd Gold collection and the Definitive Edition to boot.  Inside Out US, issued Anthology which deals with Payne era.  There are countless Live Asia albums that only the hardcore fan will pay attention but I'll give two of them that I do have, Asia Live In Moscow and Live In Nottingham, which features Pat Thrall playing guitar, The Moscow side is interesting of John Wetton doing a couple of King Crimson numbers, and Downes playing Video Killed the Radio Star.  The Nottingham Live show has Prayin 4 A Miracle which is rarely played.

They're not a critic's favorite, prog rock fans think less of them but they have managed to carve out a career on the strength of Heat Of The Moment or Only Time Will Tell.  But I grew up listening to them and managed to seek their albums from time to time.  And their first album is one of the 80s albums that defined that era like it or not.  John Payne may be a dedicated musician to the cause but the original Asia had better players and Wetton is a better singer.  And he had the hits too.

Asia (Geffen 1982) A-
Alpha (Geffen 1983) C+
Astra (Geffen 1985) B+
Then And Now (Geffen 1989) B
Live In Moscow (Rhino 1990) C+
Live In Nottingham (Renaissance 1990) B- 
Aqua (Great Pyramid/Rhino 1992) C-
Aura (Mayhem 1994) C
Heat Of The Moment-Very Best Of Asia (Geffen 2000) B+
Anthologia (Geffen 2002) A- (Later repackaged as Gold)
Phoenix (Frontiers 2007) C+
Omega (Frontiers 2009) B
XXX (Frontiers 2012) B+