Aura and Arena are amongst the best albums I ever listened to in my life. John Paye could create vocal choirs on his own. Great vocalist!

I've always been a big fan of The Beatles' middle years, Beatles '65 through Revolver.

This---Beatles wrote perfect arty pop songs---I mean Howe is one of the greatest guitarists ever---and what he did on the first Asia album by reinventing his style was great---but not an Asia fan at all except for the nostalgia value of the first album.

Anything that remotely sounds like Toto, Journey, FOreigner, etc is not my kind of music. And I don't think Asia is exactly that but the big corny AOR ballad thing is not my thing.

artists I like.

 

No one would miss Asia if they never existed..

Had other bands performed the Beatles songs I might have gave those songs some attention..

This

He went from band to band only seeking popchart-succes. He couldn't find it with UK, King Crimson, Uriah Heep, Wishbone Ash, etc.

Finally settling for Asia, wich became more and more a solo-project. Just listen to Alpha, that's a Wetton-solo album, not a group album.

Asia was the worst of the worst of the worst possible group I can imagine. All the bad parts of cliched pastiche and bombast that prog had, combine with the worst possible form of pop-rock.

Journey and Toto and Boston etc. beat Asia on every level.

It wasn't until Downes paired up with Payne, that Asia finally became a great group with stellar songwriting and a balanced sound.

Still I wonder, why on earth do Progrock-fanatics hate popmusic so much? Rock is popmusic. All music that isn't jazz/blues/classical etc. is popmusic (popular music).

And the bands that are idolized on the forum (Genesis, Yes, Pink Floyd) are amongst the best selling artists in the world. Paired with Led Zeppelin, Queen, Beatles, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Elvis PResley.

Pink Floyd, Beatles and Led Zeppelin are in the top 10 of the world best selling artists ever!!!!

So if, progsnobs so desperately want to dismiss popular music, they'd better start to listen to Payne-era Asia instead of Beatles or Led Zeppelin. Because Payne-era Asia only sold maybe 100 albums in total. 

Evidently, you weren't around in the 60s. Reply back when you've actually done some research. Your comment is misguided to the point of embarrassment.

uduwudu wrote: Versus a bunch of guys who could play rings around most and did so in a format that had been universally approved. And their competition was ... well, their prog loving audience deserted for whatever reason and times meant laying epics in 5 mins. Time to may attention.

Their prog-loving audience deserted Asia because they became nothing more than an AOR arena band intent on moving product. Commercial pablum from high-end musicians out to make a buck.

uduwudu wrote: Apparently if one band plays songs with whatever guitar sound (Revolution? - ye gods!) then it's kisses all around, but when another band does the same (plays songs and with way more sophistication) then its hate and despise time. We are ever so inconsistent.

There is no inconsistency. As I stated earlier, every member of Asia played in bands (Yes, ELP, etc.) and composed music that was far more important and influential previously than the sell out they became. How you can even keep a straight face while listening to "The Heat of the Moment" is beyond me. As far as the Beatles, there legacy is in tact and their amount of innovations and compositional ability is well noted, so I won't waste my time here going over them.

P.S. That The Beatles influenced Yes is well documented in many interviews. There's a brief intro by Jon Anderson before Yes plays this Beatles' cover...

Only 500 for the US......better click BUY quickly, I am sure these will be worth $1,000's within a week.

 I went back and read it again and yeah, don't get where he was going with that. Maybe he can expound more clearly.

You are conflating eras, confusing musical styles, and even mixing metaphors. You also know little of The Beatles early discography. George Harrison had a career-long friendship with the great Carl Perkins, and the style they emulated on the few songs of that genre (like Perkins' "Matchbox") are referred to more as "rockabilly", but to infer they played Country Western, or that people who listened to Country Western listened to The Beatles, or that Country Western made it easier to accept or listen to The Beatles is patent nonsense. By the 1960s, those people who listened to Country Western wouldn't be caught dead listening to rock bands like the Stones or the Beatles. Oil and Water. You are referring to a previous generation of entertainers like Elvis Presley or Pat Boone at the inception of rock and roll, and you are referring to the appropriation of blues and R&B by marketable white performers in the 1950s, not the 60s (and the further the longhaired Beatles progressed, the more parents couldn't stand them -- the Beach Boys were the virginal rock ideal). Steve Howe was more into straight Country Western, noting on several occasions his love of Chet Atkins.

uduwudu wrote: Ah, but the audiences had deserted long before then. Clearly times had changed and Asia moved with the times. As did everyone else. Also the public perception was also analogous with the times. Audience sophistication was both more aware and more cynical. The boundaries of music and business had blurred.

The prog audience moved away from Asia like they moved away from Genesis, because they were no longer prog, but as soon as Yes reformed with Howe, the fans, including myself, went to sold out shows (like on the splendid Union Tour). Asia plodded on throughout the 1990s playing in bowling alleys and county fairs.

uduwudu wrote: And yes The Beatles have many fine compositions, very well done. They also came from a period in time where the sheer quantity of recordings was a lot less than 30 years ago (never mind now).

-------------
...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined
to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology...

It's that simple!!!

  Like MMEB bettered certain Dylan/Springsteen songs :) Jon Anderson & Co. made "Every Little Thing" stellar, Beatles could only dream of stuff like that. 

       Btw, Lennon admired "Whiter Shade of Pale" very high, wished he had written songs like it. Rick Wakeman´s instrumental version of "Eleanor Rigby" on a video (1989 ?) is brilliant. 

I give 3 stars to "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver" ´cos they are great pop records, but the album after these gets one. It´s like kids´music. Never took them as prog, just rock/pop band no more no less. And they just lost they magic when turning to too serious in musicianship, "Abbey Road" especially is just dull. Progressive ? Rock ? Give me a break. King Crimson, COLOSSEUM is rock. George Harrison´s "Something" is the only song I admire, one of most beautiful they did.

At the the same time real serious and way talented musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Keith Emerson, Gary Brooker were creating something really interesting and different "pop" music.

ASIA´s 2 first album are the very finest the utterly dull early 80´s produced. ASIA beats all AOR (-oriented) totoros by light years. Except Boston and Journey´s "Infinity" but these are from the 70´s actually. Anyway, they are as prog as possibly can get, that after-prog/NW/neo-pop or whatever BS music industry could ever produce.

They 2 are perfect albums in everything. And the most melodic from the 80´s. Huge respect since, especially for Carl Palmer, rock´s best drummer still going strong.

Where these silly contests arise ? Give me strenght.

John Wetton, you are the greatest :) RIP