HEAT OF THE MOMENT: THE VERY BEST OF ASIA 1982-1990

We all know that some of the greatest prog-rock groups of the 70s like Yes and Genesis made dramatic changes to their sound in the 80s, and enjoyed great success as pop-rock bands. But how does one rate good pop-rock albums such as 90125 and Invisible Touch on a site such as this? Is it fair to savage our gods just because they are good at more than one type of music? I for one, grew up in the mid-80s and loved songs like That's All and Land Of Confusion, a fact I still haven't quite reconciled with my now far greater love for Peter Gabriel-era Genesis. Commenting on some of Genesis' poppier material therefore leaves me with something of a dilemma.

With Asia though I have no such conflicts. The truth is that if it wasn't for its personnel, Asia wouldn't even qualify for inclusion in a prog-rock site. The fact that three giants of prog ... Steve Howe (Yes), Carl Palmer (ELP) and John Wetton (King Crimson/Roxy Music/Uriah Heep/UK/Wishbone Ash) ... got together with Geoff Downes (Yes) to make trite commercial rock should merely be a footnote in the biographies of Asia's parent bands.

I was foolish enough to check out this 18 track album, under the illusion that it was impossible for musicians of such pedigree to play unattractive music ... and I got the slap in the face I deserved. The vast majority of Asia's material is deadly dull (although I make allowance for the possibility that this record doesn't contain some of the group's more creative tunes). There are some catchy upbeat pop-rock songs like Heat Of The Moment, Don't Cry, Lying To Yourself and Only Time Will Tell that stand out among the rest of the rubbish, but frankly even these cuts barely match up to the low standard of groups like Survivor or Def Leppard, and make Toto seem like masters of prog.

Progressive moments are few and far between ... usually only the intros of songs, in fact! Ride Easy, Time Again (which is quite decent but has an awful chorus) and parts of Open Your Eyes may intrigue the desparate, but by and large, this is drivel. ... 20% on the MPV scale