Asia

Looks like you bought it in the heat of the moment.

How could you have not heard anything by Asia? Anyway, I quite like them. They're a pop/prog band, so if you were expecting complex music, I suggest you try U.K. or King Crimson.

The merits of Asia's first album are: great vocals, nice melodies, & interesting keyboard sounds. Remember, it was 1982. So, for what it is and when it came out, it's a solid album. Just my opinion.

Stool Man, I'm kind of with Humor4u1959 here, that first album is quite OK, and some of the intros are really cool! But...it is their only bareable album. If you think that first one is too commercial and straightforward, wait until you get to the second one....although that probably won't happen now!

The first one is the only one I can stomach, and there is FAAAAAR too many other bands worth looking into before Asia again...like pretty much ANY other prog related band?!

I'm always very fascinated when prog musicians try to find a balance between prog and commercial, it brings about some interesting results! Asia, of course, tipped way too far one way!

I was like 13 when that debut album came out, and I was probably the ideal target audience for such an album.  I thought it was great.  I still enjoy it from time to time, either as an "80s nostalgia" piece or just a nice album from my youth, like 90125.  The followup "Alpha" was pretty good too.  

Like many others, I quite like the debut of this 'Supergroup', after that, it's all down hill .                                                                                                                

I like it as much as GTR 

I bought their debut album in 1982, purely on the strength of the cover art, and the fact that I recognised one of the band members on the back cover. (Carl Palmer- I hadn't got around to listening to Yes or KC at that time.) I instantly fell in love with the sound, and became a die-hard fan. For me, they were a gateway band, in that through researching the members, I became aware of all the other bands the members had played in. Some fans only stuck with the Wetton-era lineup, but I even loved the John Payne era stuff. Some of the music has flashes of prog brilliance, although much of it is mainstream AOR, but I love the stuff anyway, so sue me! I love melodic rock music that's well produced, has excellent musicianship, catchy tunes, and occasional flashes of prog, as well as true prog, so Asia fit the bill wonderfully for me. I got the chance to finally see them live in 2010 on the Omega tour, where I was blessed by possibly one of the best drum solos of Carl Palmer's career.

There are now two versions of the band- the 'original' Asia, which features Wetton, although Steve Howe has now left again to be replaced by Sam Coulson, and Asia Featuring John Payne, which has a twin-lead guitar sound that is just incredible. The 'original' band doesn't acknowledge any of the John Payne era stuff on their website (Although Geoff Downes is still quite proud of the work he did on that era) and don't play it live, but John Payne's band happily play anything from 1982 up to Silent Nation, plus their own new stuff.

richardh wrote: Later albums? Well Alpha was a big let down. A few good songs but it was a lot less appealing than the debut. Howe and Wetton were apparently at odds with each other and Wetton decided to leave. A press announcement was made that Greg Lake was the replacement ( very ironic if you know your prog history) and was to play in the up coming world wide live broadcast (later released on VHS as Asia in Asia). Clearly Lake was very uncomfortable singing Wetton's parts and the management asked Wetton to return which in turn resulted in Howe leaving to be replaced by Mandy Meyer. The resulting album Astra was barely any improvement on Alpha , more standard issue AOR.

I'd wondered what the history was behind Mandy Meyer replacing Howe. Thanks for that.

I bought "Astra" when it came out, and immediately fell for the lead single, "Go".  It's a good tune.

Edited by jude111 - May 13 2013 at 13:14

I knew prog-rock was going down the pipes from about 1975 onwards. However, when they put out Asia, that was the final nail in the coffin.