ASIA

What a stellar line up and what a great debut for Asia. How best t to describe the music on this album? I'd say prog lite AOR, showing that a British band can do it better than the template made by famous American AOR bands like Boston etc.

First we have the packaging, and what a wonderful thing it is to behold, a brand new Dean logo and new cover art. The whole thing is very eye catching with the Asia Logo probably being his best thing since he created his "Yes" one.

Starting procedures we have "Heat of the Moment" which is pretty straightforward rock tune. Sole Survivor is another stand out with a nice instrumental section within. In fact all the tracks are excellent, but the proggiest are probably "Time Again" and "Wildest Dreams" both, especially the latter having exceptional drumming by Palmer. In fact the whole band plays very well throughout and I must make special note of Howe's guitar playing. He just makes that guitar soar sometimes, makes you feel good inside.

When I first bought this album I couldn't stop playing it, I felt it was that good, but unfortunately the second album failed to deliver in the same way... But that is another story!