ASIA

In a few words this is one of the best albums of the 80's and not only for progressive rock music. A perfect combination of the core elements of progressive rock with the inevitable but decent AOR or even pop influences of those years-no problem at all for me...! Great musicianship, excellently structured songs, a lot of keyboards and guitars in their right place and time, great vocals, vocal harmonies, powerful drumming, crystal clear production, catchy choruses, few drops of jazz(Time Again). Can all these make an album great? Not necessarily if music is not great too, but in that case we have great music! Just think how many years have passed since then and compare this album with of today's progressive rock scene and for not being misunderstood i mean a really great album with the diachronism of that one...we still listen to it and say...that's a big one,anyway, everything is subjective and opinions vary. In my opinion Asia along with some others like Marillion, IQ, It Bites, Pendragon kept progressive rock alive in those years and that alone gives an extra star to this album.