ALPHA

Asia's follow up to their multi-million selling eponymous debut was Alpha. Alpha, in many regards, was much like their debut. However, it showed even more of a leaning towards commercial music, particularly with the use of more ballads. It received mostly indifferent criticism at the time, didn't fare as well on the charts or on the radio, but still managed to reach platinum status. Apparently John Wetton was either forced out of the band due to poor sales (how is platinum status poor?) or quit (according to the band). He would get replaced by Greg Lake for a famous concert they had in Japan in December 1983. Lake would leave in early 1984 while Wetton returned for their next album called Astra in 1985.

Again, this is AOR music comparable to the likes of Boston or Journey. It was mostly the product of John Wetton and Geoff Downes, with Steve Howe and Carl Palmer being mostly left out of the writing process. This caused some tensions in the band, even causing some fans to be disappointed in their supposed treating of Howe and Palmer as similar to session musicians. Alpha might actually fare pretty well on a mainstream rock site, but at a prog site such as this, it just doesn't have any music on it worthy to make note of. Two stars. For collectors and fans only.