ASIA

In the eighties times and music have changed. To survive, many prog bands and musicians had to listen to record label executives to continue working. So, Asia was one of the new bands, a supergroup, which had to make compromises to record albums. One of these compromises was to record an album with a mixture of pop and prog rock. So, this first album was recorded with both markets in mind: the long time prog fans and the pop fans (a new market to conquest). And the results of this album are very good. This album still has some progressive arrangements. It seems that Steve Howe was really "inspired" in this album. His guitar work is superb. Carl Palmer was playing very good too. John Wetton had a great voice and played his bass good. Geoff Downes brought his pop influence from The Buggles to this album, and his keyboards shine too. I liked this album very much when it was released, and now that I have the CD I still like it very much. In 1982 I was 17 years old, I was in High School and I played drums in an amateur band, and I also bought an Asia t-shirt with the cover of this album printed in it and I went to play some gigs with this t-shirt. I was a teenager then, and I smile to those years. Asia was part of those years and it brings me good memories.As this album is not entirely progressive, it is not essential for extreme progressive fans, but it is a good choice for people who understand neessary changes in music styles to keep music alive.