ASIA

To me this is undoubtably the best Asia album to hit the streets. Some may argue that tracks like "Heat Of The Moment" and such carry too much of a popish touch, and while that might hold some truth to it I do acknowledge that even those songs are highly melodic and (perhaps most importantly) has the typical Asia sound as well.

Something I keep rediscovering even today is how well the nice guitar work from Steve Howe complements the vocal lines. Many things makes this album one-of-a-kind, but at the end of the day I think that what once caught my attention was the sound - everything on the album sounds so alive, and not in any way mixed to death. If you're at all into AOR with *really* strong melodies and a touch of progressive rock, you should definitely have this album in your collection.