ALPHA

Asia’s second suffers from a one-dimensional contribution by John Wetton who provided all the lyrics, although Geoff Downes is given co-credit on all but the cheesy ballad “The Smile Has Left Your Eyes”.

This is a much more commercial album than the debut, which was itself a pretty sanitized work. Alpha generated five hit singles in the American radio market, one fewer than the debut, including the b-side radio hit “Daylight”. The novelty of reconstituted 70s proggers trying to compete with younger and less talented (but more visually appealing) new-wave and pop entertainers was fast wearing thin by 1983. Asia would yield only three more hit singles after this, and their albums would continue to slide in sales rankings until they disappeared altogether. Steve Howe would get while the getting was good and leave following this album to form the just-as-cheesy GTR, followed by a stint in the underachieving Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, and Howe.

The frustration with this album is of course due to these guys all being consummate musicians who were certainly capable of putting together a truly impressive piece of art, and should have had the capital clout even in the artistically-castrated 80s to do so. But they chose to refine their sound even further and serve up a record executive’s dream in 1983 – a hit album that promised appeal to old and new fans alike, without exactly satisfying either.

There are a few interesting moments here, most notably Howe’s guitar and Downes’ keyboards during an all-to-brief instrumental passage on “The Heat Goes On”, which are quite good. Carl Palmer is his usual pompous self on drums throughout the album (and I mean that in a good way), but he just feels like he’s on autopilot for the most part, and especially on “The Smile Has Left Your Eyes” and “Never in a Million Years”. His flourishes on the album-ending “Open Your Eyes” are the most pronounced contribution to the album.

Steve Howe seems to have already checked his interest and contributions at the door, offering perfunctory performances, with the exception of the aforementioned “Open Your Eyes”, which in my mind is the only really interesting track with its slightly mystic feel, emotive keyboards, and innovative guitar.

The only other songs worth a mention are not in a positive sense. “The Smile Has Left Your Eyes” is a power ballad by Wetton that even in 1983 I thought would have sounded better covered by Barry Manilow (and I don’t mean that in a good way). “The Last to Know” also falls into this category, except I picture the really angsty guy in Tears for Fears singing this one. “Midnight Sun” is the most forgettable song the band would ever record, although it is the only one that doesn’t appear to have a relationship with some woman as a theme. But at least the band gets credit for a very tasteful album cover.

Overall this is a definite step down from the debut Asia album, which I actually felt was about the best we could all hope for considering the musical landscape of the time. While I was quite happy to pick up the first album and played it incessantly, this second one is still in pristine in my collection simply because it hasn’t spent the time on the turntable that the first one did. By the time this came out we had Marillion to give us new hope for a brighter musical future, and Asia no longer held that promise. As a result, the band was largely relegated to endless lineup changes and nostalgic live compilations, and this would be the last Asia studio album I ever bought. Two stars.

peace