Artist: Asia Title: “Fantasia – Live In Tokyo” Label: Eagle Records Release Date: 6/26/2007 Genre: Progressive Rock Rating: 3.5/5
Twenty five years ago four Progressive Rock luminaries released an album that was nothing less than incredible. The bands name was Asia and their debut recording would use the same name and as soon as you heard it you realized that it didn’t need any sort of fancy title whatsoever based on what was in its grooves. “Heat Of The Moment” was the recordings signature track and it would find more airplay than any of the other songs these musicians had ever recorded before and the album as a whole was loaded with Arena Rock classics that all still stand strong in today’s music environment. Classy in it’s day, and classic now without a doubt. The core personnel of John Wetton, Geoffrey Downes, Steve Howe and Carl Palmer proved that the musicianship involved was nothing short of exemplary and what would you expect from former members of Yes, Emerson Lake & Palmer, King Crimson and The Buggles. The bands original lineup would not pass their second recording “Alpha” but the name would still continue on with a rotating cast of musicians for decades. Fast forward to 2006 where the original lineup decided to once again perform together and celebrate the amazing music that they created while members of Asia. This CD brings the listener to one of the reunion shows that were held in Japan and as far as concert recordings go you will find that this is a very good one. It’s clean in sound and has a pretty tight production and as far as the band interaction during the show it seems as though no real time has passed when in fact it has been some twenty years if not more. Continue reading “Fantasia – Live In Tokyo” by Asia→
Artist: Asia Title: “Gold” Label: Universal Music Release Date: 6/14/2005 Genre: Hard Rock Rating: 4/5
The idea of taking members of Yes, ELP and The Buggles might strike you as potentially bringing about the greatest Progressive Rock outfit of all time but the end result would be a far different project and the media splash that would surround it become nothing less than historic. That was pretty much the end result when Carl Palmer, Steve Howe, John Wetton and Geoff Downes formed this group with the assistance of Brian Lane (manager of Yes). The players and their legendary bands all had the support of the die hard Progressive fans but the music of Asia was so far from Prog and instead more a borderline commercial Rock outfit. In 1982 being “commercial” was not necessarily a bad thing and just guaranteed the group a more consistent level of radio play. At the time Rock radio ruled the airwaves and you would continually hear ELP, Yes and Triumph along with Zeppelin, Who and Stones. Disco had moved from a full movement to a scattering of supporters and Rock music was again on the rise. Soon “Hair Metal” and “Thrash Metal” would rise but now we find ourselves in ’82 (sorry I could not resist). To call the self-titled debut of Asia a blockbuster would be an understatement and the first single from the album “Heat Of The Moment” would be a chart-topping phenomena. The main reason for this occurrence would be the wide spread appeal that their music offered to the listener. Instead of long-winded displays of musical precision there were tasty hooks and catchy lyrics that just brought a wider audience into the bands camp. The other interesting thing would be the sizable female audience that this band won over for at the time Progressive styling was hardly something that the gender found much interest in. No less than half of the first album made it to regular rotation on stations and the album itself sold millions of copies giving the members the highest chart positions as Asia than they ever received in their other bands. Continue reading “Gold” by Asia→
