ASIA

Asia is a prog rock band formed in 1981. It was a super group formed by four members that came from three different prog rock bands of the 70's. Wetton came from U.K. (previously of King Crimson), Howe came from Yes, Downes came from Yes (previously of The Buggles) and Palmer from Emerson, Lake & Palmer (previously of Atomic Rooster).

As many of we know, the 80's were very difficult times for the progressive rock music. Some bands disbanded like Gentle Giant and Van Der Graaf Generator, some nearly died like Yes and Kansas and others changed direction and became major pop acts like Genesis. But despite the decline of interest for the prog rock music some artists, with the progressive roots, managed to form new progressive rock bands. Maybe the best example of these bands was Asia.

And now a little bit of history. Downes and Trevor Horn, from The Buggles, joined forces with Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White, to replace Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman on Yes. The result was "Drama" and a world tour. But, soon became evident that Yes' faithful fans would not accept Horn as a replacement for Anderson, and then Yes dissolved for a while. Coincidently, U.K. has dissolved too. Originally U.K. was a quartet formed by John Wetton, Eddie Jobson, Alan Holdsworth and Bill Bruford. After U.K.'s debut studio album, Bruford and Holdsworth left U.K. The two remaining members brought in the drummer Terry Bozzio and U.K. continued as a trio and released a second studio album. Still, due to internal difficulties between Wetton and Holdsworth, U.K. disbanded too. Meanwhile, after the big failure of their album "Love Beach", Emerson, Lake & Palmer decided to disbanded too. It was in this context that was formed Asia.

The line up on "Asia" is John Wetton (lead vocals and bass guitar), Steve Howe (vocals and guitars), Geoff Downes (vocals and keyboards) and Carl Palmer (drums and percussion).

"Asia" has nine tracks. The first track "Heat Of The Moment" employs several basic rock techniques. This opener was the signature song on the album and its biggest hit, reaching #1 on the pop charts. This is a great track that rather sets the tone for much of what lay ahead. The second track "Only Time Will Tell", despite was composed by Downes and Wetton, the mocking guitar of Howe throughout makes this a real centrepiece for this album. The song contains instrumental rudiments and the guitar licks all above. The third track "Sole Survivor" displays a definite 80's sound, but with an interesting build in the beginning and a nice keyboard solo during the middle part. This is another rock song with great energy and style and with enough small variations to keep me interested. The fourth track "One Step Closer" contains a good beginning which is a hybrid between the Yes and Kansas sound. With the harmonized verse vocals, this song is a true showcase on the album. It has a nice jazzy feel and easily some of Howe's best work ever. The fifth track "Time Again" is perhaps the fastest of the album's songs, very energetic, and with stronger lyrics. Howe's guitar solo here is perfect, Palmer's drumming is great, the bass is very strong and the keyboards are very nice too. But, if there is any place on Asia where a hardcore prog rock fan can find some solace, I''s on the second side of the album. The sixth track "Wildest Dreams" is perhaps the closest thing to progressive rock on this album. It contains some abrupt changes between verse and choruses and provides an extensive drum showcase for Palmer. This is an excellent track. The seventh track "Without You" is a pleasant ballad, mellow throughout with interesting, moody parts. The lyrics are strong, the moody keyboard opening and vocals are haunting. The entire song is excellent, a great combination of emotion and technical skill. The eighth track "Cutting It Fine" is the most interesting here with an acoustic beginning and an extensive piano instrumental by Downes in the coda. It has a great opening and an emotive instrumental close, although the lyrics aren't properly great. The ninth track "Here Comes The Feeling" is a song with a strong melody. A heavy synthesizer dominates the song, as the guitar played by Howe is played so nicely. The vocal harmonies throughout are excellent too. The music truly sounds fresh to me, even now. It's an optimistic way to close the album.

Conclusion: Whether we like it or not, the debut eponymous studio album of Asia was a very successful album in the 80's. It contains their biggest hit "Heat Of The Moment", which reached #4 in both the Canadian Singles chart and on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. However, for progressive rock fans it was, somehow, a deception. With so four talented progressive rock artists, which are responsible for some of the most important and brilliant pages in the progressive rock music, we progressive rock fans, expected much more. However, we mustn't forget that the 80's were very difficult times for progressive rock music. In those times there was no more space for lengthy compositions and big conceptual albums, so usual and loved in the 70's. However, "Asia" remains a great testament of the progressive rock music in the 80's. That said though, it's a fine album, which most aficionados of progressive rock music will probably enjoy a bit.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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