Wetton/Downes - Icon (2005)

European import

And to the surprise of absolutely no one, this sounds remarkably like an Asia album.

It's a little more poppish than Asia, but the overall sound is quite familiar. I like it good enough, but will I ever pick one of the subsequent releases by this duo? Only time will tell.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: Highlights are God Walks With Us and the chorus of I Stand Alone. The only true misstep is Far Away which is an attempt at a midtempo prog-pop ballad in the vein of latter-day ELO; a more successful ballad is the lullaby Sleep Angel. I'd have liked a real rocker or two, but ya get what ya get.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: none, but on a related note, I recently caught "The Buggles" opening for Seal on his current tour. Sadly, Geoffrey Downes was not present. Was Downes invited to rejoin Trevor Horn for the dates? I can't find any evidence either way, but my gut feeling says no. Maybe it was because Horn wore a tshirt that read "Solitary Buggle" while the rest of the band had shirts that read "Best Buggles (Ever)".

Asia - XXX (2012)

Italian Import

Note: the CD I listened to was the Deluxe Edition with 2 bonus tracks and a DVD.

Never EVER do a Google image search for "Asia XXX". Sickos. The XXX of the title refers to the 30 years that had passed since the band's debut album.

Still riding the dragon's wings. This isn't the best complete album the band has released since their original members reunited in 2007 (that would be Phoenix), but it does contain some of the best songs the band has written since the early '80s. In fact, if this had been released in 1984, it would have smoothly continued the band's tradition of catchy 5-6 minute prog-pop songs with bad lyrics. I think Mike Paxman's production is much better on this disc than Omega, but still yearn for a little harder edge and more guitar. Speaking of guitar, Steve Howe recently left the group again, but the band hired a new guitarist and will carry on. For me, that means when a new Asia album is released, I'll be listening closely to samples before purchasing instead of blindly buying new releases unheard.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #134

Tracks:  The best songs are Tomorrow The World, Bury Me In Willow, and Face On The Bridge. Skip the tracks Reno (Silver And Gold), Ghost Of A Chance, the "Midnight Mix" of I Know How You Feel, and the silly call-and-response of Al Gatto Nero.

The bonus DVD contains a 20 minute "making of" featurette that looks like it was shot on an iPhone with an Instagram video app. Also included are music videos for Face On The Bridge and Faithful. Only need to watch once and I'm guessing all of this disc can be found on YouTube anyway. I should have just bought the regular edition.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Omega (2010)
Phoenix (2008)
Fantasia: Live in Tokyo (2007)
Alpha (1983)
Asia (1982)

Asia - Omega (2010)

Italian import

The second studio album from the original band members' second go round (which has lasted longer than their first go round). The songs here aren't as good as 2008's Phoenix and, as a result, this album hasn't gotten much playing time since its purchase. In fact, I just noticed that I've never even gone to the trouble to rip it to iTunes. It's not terribly bad, just not particularly memorable. On a prog rock/pop continuum, this music definitely skews to the pop side, but I'm good with that. I would have liked to have heard what the band's original producer, the late Mike Stone, could have done with these tracks. This album would definitely been helped by bringing out Palmer's drumming and cutting back on the uncharacteristically cheesy keyboard sounds chosen by Downes. So I don't love it, but I don't hate it like this guy.

According to the band's official website, a new studio album is due later this year. Yes, I'll buy it [shrug]. Let's hope the music and album cover are an improvement over this.

Tracks: Of the 12 here, I'll listen to Holy War, I'm Still The Same, I Believe, and Don't Wanna Lose You Know (the band's best ballad since The Smile Has Left Your Eyes, if that means anything). Prog rock fans should be happy with There Was A Time (me? not so much). Asia has never been known for strong lyrics, but even I was surprised to hear a song about a man's unrequited love for a lesbian on an Asia album. That tune, Emily, actually contains the line, "I was blind to the signs of your sexuality. Now it can't be denied, you bat for the other side." I normally don't pay attention to lyrics, but those caught my attention and were quickly followed by an eyeroll.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Phoenix (2008)
Fantasia: Live in Tokyo (2007)
Alpha (1983)
Asia (1982)

Asia (1982)

GEOGRAPHY WEEK (JANUARY 8-14, 2012)

Note: this release was originally purchased as an LP, later replaced by a CD.

Take some prog-rockers from the '70s, form a supergroup, get the producer of Queen and Journey on the boards, tell the band not to noodle and to write pop-rock songs, and this is the result. Put a Roger Dean picture on the cover, package it, and sell it to millions. The album was #1 for most of May - July 1982 and was the best selling album of the year, so I guess somebody liked the formula (me included). To me, the only things that are prog-rock about this album are the album cover, the coda of Cutting It Fine, and the Middle Earth lyrics that probably appealed to the teenagers who thought a trip to the local Renaissance Festival was the best day of their lives. I doubt it will ever happen, but this CD could use a new remastered version. The sound on this CD isn't as good as it could be. Maybe they'll release a 30 year deluxe edition with remastered sound and the b-side Ride Easy included.

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "perfect fare for AOR"
• Record World: "a hook-laden LP"
• CashBox: "the band lives up to its billing"
• Rolling Stone (★★½): "talented players rolling over and playing dead"
• Stereo Review: "highly accomplished balloon-headednes"
• Robert Christgau (C-): "schlock in the grand manner"
• Musician: "most unalloyed prostitution of instrumental ability and musical technology committed to vinyl in recent memory"

Plus, here's a humorous review of the album from the LA Times: http://yesmuseum.org/AsiaPomp1982.txt

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #1
• Billboard Rock: #1
• CashBox: #1
• Rolling Stone: #1

Tracks: This album got a lot of playing time in my life during 1982, so I have a difficult time separating the music from the nostalgia. I can't really tell anymore if the songs are any good because I've listened to them so many times. However, my favorites haven't changed in the last 30 years: Heat Of The Moment, Wildest Dreams, and Here Comes The Feeling.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: In spite of being a New Waver, I became a huge Asia fan in the spring of 1982 when I first heard a cassette tape on a friend's Walkman (having a Walkman was a HUGE deal at that time). Within a week, I had purchased the album, which had yet to hit big. Soon I had a concert poster on my bedroom wall (like the one below) and buttons on my shirts (which I still have). Looking back, I really geeked myself out.

When I finally saw the band in Dallas in 2008, most of the songs from this album were in the setlist (below). That made me happy.

1. Daylight
2. Only Time Will Tell
3. Wildest Dreams
4. Never Again
5. Roundabout
6. Time Again
7. Steve Howe - Solo
8. The Smile Has Left Your Eyes (acoustic)
9. Ride Easy (acoustic)
10. Voice Of America (acoustic)
11. Open Your Eyes
12. Fanfare For The Common Man
13. Without You
14. An Extraordinary Life
15. Court Of The Crimson King
16. Video Killed The Radio Star
17. The Heat Goes On
18. Heat Of The Moment
19. Don't Cry
20. Sole Survivor

Previously revisited for the blog:
Phoenix (2008)
Fantasia: Live in Tokyo (2007)
Alpha (1983)

Blog post #500

Asia - Alpha (1983)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a cassette tape, later replaced by a CD.

A prime example of a sophomore jinx. Not much prog-rock here; the band sticks pretty much to a pop-rock formula. The music has the same sound as the band's 1982 debut album, but the writing isn't good and guitarist Steve Howe is practically a no-show (maybe those are related?). Even if the band hadn't split after this release, I'm not sure I would have bought any subsequent releases. I had the cassette version which contained a bonus track, Daylight, which wasn't on the LP and also, curiously, not on this CD. What's up with that? It's a shame because Daylight was one of the better tracks on the tape.

Interesting side note: as of today, the CD can be purchased for $2.82 from Amazon while the mp3 download for this music is $7.38. Hmmm...

Press of the time:

• Rolling Stone (★½): "No sense of passion, mystery or excitement"
• Smash Hits (7½ out of 10): "some beautiful melodies and dazzling musicianship"
• Stereo Review: "a response to the dictates of the marketplace and the law of supply and demand"
• Billboard: "very much of a piece with Asia's top-selling debut"
• Musician: "these guys aren't failed art rockers - they're just Toto with more ego."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #6
• Billboard Rock: #2
• CashBox: #5
• Rolling Stone: #8

Tracks: To be honest, it's hard to be objective because I listened to this album so often after it was first released. The better tracks are Don't Cry, The Last To Know, Midnight Sun (with it's mellow verses in 7/4), and the closer, Open Your Eyes, which is about as prog-rock as this album gets. Music that I thought was awesome at the time, but hasn't aged well: Never In A Million Years and My Own Time. True Colors was skip-worthy back in 1983 and remains so today.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: This came out in late July, 1983* and I'm sure I bought it immediately. It reminds me of driving the Markmobile (sans a/c) to summer band practices in August of that year. Admittedly, I may be remembering it wrong, but I seem to remember having practice 5 mornings and 1 night each week for the 3 weeks prior to school. If many of my friends hadn't been in band, I'm not sure I would have endured that. And how different would my life be if I hadn't endured those practices and quit the school band?!?

*further research indicates a release date of August 3, 1983 (see Billboard magazine, 8/6/83, page 4).

Previously revisited for the blog:
Phoenix (2008)
Fantasia: Live in Tokyo (2007)

Asia - Phoenix (2008)

"OLD DOGS, NEW TRICKS" WEEK (MAY 1-7, 2011)

Rip Van Winkle Presents...

In 1982 & 1983, Asia put out a fantastic debut self-titled album and an okay follow-up. After those two releases, band members began leaving. In 2008, the four original members got back together and released Phoenix. Like Steve Carell's character in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, I had an Asia poster in my wall when I was in high school and I was a big Asia fan. Sort of interesting since I was never a prog-rock kinda guy. I still don't like much prog-rock and while I like this CD, I don't much care for the multi-part suites that appear on it. Still, this CD sounds like music that could have been released in 1984. The band is in top form and the songwriting (mainly by bassist/singer John Wetton and keyboardist Geoff Downes) is as good as it was in 1982; they can still write big arena-rock hooks. (I want credit for never using the phrase "rising from the ashes" in this post.)

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #73 (May 3, 2008)

Tracks: I like Never Again, Nothing's Forever, Shadow Of A Doubt, Wish I'd Known All Along, and An Extraordinary Life. The beginning of Alibis is just ok, but it comes back with a fantastic instrumental coda completely unrelated to any earlier part of the song. As cheesy as it is, I can't help but like I Will Remember You. I find the ballad Heroine skipworthy. Ever heard of a band named Globus? Me, neither, but the band chose to cover one of their songs, Orchard Of Mines. Skip that one, too. As I said earlier, the 'suites' are lacking: Sleeping Giant/No Way Back/Reprise and Parallel Worlds/Vortex/Deya.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I saw the band on the supporting tour for this CD. My high school friend Scott and I caught the band on April 27, 2008 at The House of Blues in Dallas. John Wetton struggled to get to the high notes, but I'll give him a break because he's aged and he didn't take the easy road and lower the keys of the songs. Someone behind us in the audience said that Steve Howe looked like the Cryptkeeper. That's cruel, but hilarious.

Asia - Fantasia: Live in Tokyo (2007)

"LIVE IN CONCERT" WEEK (FEBRUARY 7-13, 2011)

Recorded in Tokyo, Japan, March 8, 2007.

I was never a big progressive rock fan, but I was an immediate Asia fan when I heard their debut album in 1982. No, I didn't start playing Dungeons & Dragons, making chainmail, or go out and buy a cape and monocle, but I did listen to their music a lot while I was in high school. Band members started leaving the group after their second album and I lost interest. The band eventually became a convenient punchline (see the movie, The 40 Year Old Virgin). But the original members got back together in 2006 and toured, releasing this Tokyo concert as a DVD (which I haven't seen) and this 2 disc CD. Hearing that the original members were together again rekindled my interest in the band, so I picked this up and found that the musicians hadn't lost a step (except for Wetton's voice, which shows its age at times). Even if the band's setlist isn't great, for a live CD, the sound quality is stellar (although sometimes the mix is uneven and muddy).

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: 18 tracks, 9 on each disc. All nine songs from the band's 1982 debut album are here as are 3 from their 1983 follow-up, Alpha. The band also plays songs from the band member's past bands: Yes, King Crimson, Buggles, and Emerson, Lake, & Palmer. Add one B-side, Ride Easy, and you've got an interesting set. Most of the band's original songs sound almost exactly like their studio versions with the exception of two songs, The Smile Has Left Your Eyes and Don't Cry, which are done in stripped-down versions. Also, The Heat Goes On gets the concert's obligatory extended drum solo. Palmer is an excellent drummer, but I've never been a fan of the drum solo, although I think that puts me in the minority. The band (especially Geoff Downes) does a great job with Roundabout, originally recorded by Yes. Howe's solo piece, Intersection Blues, is a fun diversion as is Video Killed The Radio Star, which is almost as far away from an Asia song as you could get. I always thought ELP's butchering of Copland's Fanfare For The Common Man was ridiculously cheesy and, unfortunately, Asia has decided to play it just as ELP did. Selecting King Crimson's In The Court Of The Crimson King is an interesting choice because none of the members of Asia performed on the original recording, although Wetton was briefly in the band after the song was recorded. If I had been at this concert, I would have gone to the bathroom then bought a beer while they were playing that song. Also, I would have preferred that the band play Heat Of The Moment straight up, but I'll give them some leeway with that one. Two of my favorite Asia songs are Wildest Dreams and Here Comes The Feeling; the band plays both well here.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: After purchasing this CD set in early 2008, I was listening to it in my truck one day when I picked up my youngest son from school. He heard Roundabout and just absolutely loved it from the first listen. When we got to the house, he immediately put it on his iPod. Interesting choice for a 10-year-old.