ASIA

I still remember when I bought this album back in 82. A lot of my friends at the time received my action with disapproval. To them those guys were ´traitors´ of prog and they wanted nothing but money. To me, everything that really counted was the music. And Asia´s music, pop or prog, was good. So what? I liked many different types of music, so what was wrong with them? At least they were making first class pop with many prog influences. That was my thoughts then and I still think the same thing. Compared to much of the pop music at the time, Asia´s debut album sounded energetic, creative and very well played.

I grew up in my teens loving Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, ELP, etc. But I also liked good, simple, melodic songs that were the birth of prog music (like it or not, pop WAS the craddle of prog. Just see Yes and Genesis first albums, to mention just two examples). If prog outgrew its orignal mold, that´s alright. But still, it was pop music at the start. And good pop music, not just commercial junk. I think there´s still a lot of prejudice in melodic, simpler tunes.

Back to Asia´s debut album: it was by far the most pop oriented music produced by its members until then. But it never meant it was bad or disposable stuff. In fact I loved how they blended simple pop melodies with lush prog arrangements. I still think it´s a worthy album even a quarter century after its release. All songs are good and Steve Howes trademark guitar lines made all the difference. Production was very good and the songwriting at the time was more of a group efford.

With time this CD got some `cult´ status, which I think it deserves. It´s good. not really essential for progsters, but a good album anyway. I still have it, by the way. If you like melodic music in general, give it a try. AOR? Pop? pop-prog? Hard pop? I rather think it´s just good melodies played by some of the best musicians around.