ASIA

There are so many reasons to hate this album. For one, it is full of that disgusting, modern simple pop sound. It's the kind of thing that some of us thought that we were escaping from when we starting our "progressive journey", so to speak. It is completely deficient of anything complex (lyrically or musically) which we have become accustomed to with King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Yes. It also seems these songs were simply written for the masses (though that argument can be debated to death). Also, unlike some former prog pop groups (Genesis, for example), this music is almost 0% prog (the key word being "almost". At times small glimmers of prog shine, but are quickly veiled).

But despite all these wonderful reason to hate this album, the big one for me is that it is simply boring. It's bland! Nothing fresh or renewing about it. Sure, it's completely different than the sort of music these fellows were putting out before Asia, but it is still a miraculous waste of time to listen to this album. I can't say I ever get anything out of it. It doesn't engage my interest, it doesn't get adrenaline flowing, it doesn't have any emotionally uplifting moments. And, at the bare minimum, you would expect these top-notch musicians to show off their skills - but we don't even get that. This music does nothing for me! Even as a pop album I wouldn't give it more than two or, at the most, three stars. As a prog album, I give it much less.

To me, prog is experimenting with familiar methods, trying to break the boundaries of enclosed music, but most importantly, prog was something that stirred you up inside and made a profound impact on you. Or if it didn't do these things, then it at least had great musicians making complex music. Asia accomplishes none of the above.