ASIA's first album [Archive] - Yesfans.com: Founded 4/01

RobAdams

02-07-2002, 10:53 PM

I remember I was upset when Yes disbanded, but happy to hear that Steve was going to be in a band with Carl Palmer, John Wetton and Geoff Downes. I thought, how could a band with Howe, Palmer and Wetton be anything less than amazing. ASIA's album came out, I bought it, took it home and was let down. The songs weren't too bad, but there was nothing truly amazing in the music. Steve always started to break into a solo at the point where the tracks begin to fade. My opinion of the debut album is kinder today, but when I bought it I was all psyched up for some good progressive Yes meets ELP meets UK. What a let down!!!
What do you think?

Flo

02-08-2002, 03:33 AM

I remember I used to like it when I bought it in the 80's but that was during my adolescent years. Later on, when I was much more into Yes, I let it aside. This album has some good moments but doesn't stand the comparison with Yes. It really lacks creativity. I view it as a purely commercial album which attempted to get immediate hits, with its easy and very accessible structure and compositions.

02-08-2002, 06:31 AM

I think it was that cool cover painting that won people over. The music was better than average for the early Eighties, but wasn't anything special.

What I don't understand is why Steve Howe wrote so little of those first Asia albums. It seems to me a tremendous waste that he wasn't used as a songwriter ...

RobAdams

02-09-2002, 06:16 AM

In a way I see ASIA as an extension of UK, which Wetton had been a part of for their short 3 album existence. The first UK album, simply called UK, was an incredible progressive rock album. It was released in 1978 and was more like prog rock than what YES or GENESIS were doing at the time. Eddie Jobson (keyboard & violin) has never sounded better than on that album. Allan Holdsworth added beautiful guitar playing and Bill Bruford provided very high calliber drumming. Ex-King Crimson bassist/vocalist John Wetton was the voice of UK. If you have never heard this first UK album, get it. Opens with the epic IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT, nearly 17 minutes long. The part subtitled 'Presto Vivace' had a very Zappa mixed with ELP sound, perhaps influenced by Jobson's short stint with Frank's band two years earlier. Other highlights for me, the fanfare ALASKA and NEVERMORE, which is a track where Holdsworth really gets your attention. By the time UK did their next album, DANGER MONEY, Bruford and Holdsworth were out. Terry Bozzio, who worked with Jobson in Zappa's band, came to UK to play drums. They never replaced the guitarist spot, and just used Jobson's violin to fill up the guitar solo spots. The three piece UK put out a much less impressive second album. Three of the songs, DANGER MONEY, THE ONLY THING SHE NEEDS and the albums highlight CARRYING NO CROSS were surrounded on the disc by music closer to pop than prog. Tunes like CAESAR'S PALACE BLUES, NOTHING TO LOSE and RENDEZVOUS 6.02 were less reliant on individual music skill and more reliant on 'being catchy songs'. The seeds for ASIA were now planted. A tour for this album produced the band's 3rd and last effort, the live NIGHT AFTER NIGHT. It featured live versions of songs from the two studio albums, plus 2 new songs,
AS LONG AS YOU WANT ME HERE and the title track. These two songs were even more like the typical ASIA tracks that were soon to come. After this album UK disbanded. ASIA's weak material seems to have come from Wetton, who was responsible for the overly commercial songs that took the fire out of UK. Why wasn't Steve more active as a writer for ASIA? Maybe he knew they were lame too. Didn't take long for him to leave ASIA. There must be a story in there somewhere.

bjm0rwo

02-09-2002, 01:02 PM

This is one of the few alblums that I gave away after listening to it the first time.With the personnel on this alblum I really expected much more than the end product.

ANTIOCH

02-10-2002, 08:56 AM

As has already been posted , "Asia" wasn't bad for what was being played in the 80's. It does have some good moments , but all in all was indeed a letdown.
If you think that's bad ; seeing 'Asia' was ( for me ) the true letdown !
Although Geoff Downes was more animated then he had been in YES , Steve Howe's playing was sloppier than I'd ever seen him perform in ALL my years of following YES.
It actually shocked me !!

YYY

02-10-2002, 02:36 PM

In a way I see ASIA as an extension of UK "QUOTE from i and i"

I wouldn't call 'Asia' an extension of 'UK'. I might suggest that they were the less aggressive and least adventurous brother of 'UK'.

RobAdams

02-10-2002, 02:38 PM

I stand corrected by a more accurate description! Thanks!! I do see the UK > ASIA extension because of the banal pop songs like "As Long As You Want Me Here" on UK's last album, which is the same style of writing that Wetton brought to ASIA. I think ASIA could have been awesome enough to put PROG ROCK back where it belonged. It didn't. I would have liked to see a very long epic on that first ASIA album.

xipetotec6

02-11-2002, 08:16 PM

IMHO, the guitar solos on "Asia" ( as well as "Drama") show Howe at the height of his "lead" guitar playing skills. I'm not talking acoustic, songwriting, or any other aspect of the guitar other than raw lead guitar playing. The solos during this period are absoulutely FIERCE! He has never done anything since that rivals that intensity, ASIA being his last hurrah for lead playing.

RobAdams

02-13-2002, 08:50 AM

It's just too bad they kept fading the songs on the first album just when Steve was beginning to work his magic.

bjm0rwo

02-26-2002, 08:10 PM

I am definitely in the minority here. I thought that this alblum was a real let down on what my expectations were.It was contrived and predictable. The very antithesis of what it could of been seeing the personnel on it.I could only listen to the 1st side before I stuffed it back into it's sleeve and gave it to an unwary bystander.

1yesfan

03-19-2002, 11:53 PM

I loved the first two Asia albums. Strange that not many Yesfans complain about Howe doing his take on the harder side of guitar playing. To me what he did with Asi is very similar to what Yes did with Rabin, made music to FIT the times!!!!

Jackaranda

03-20-2002, 10:40 PM

When the first Asia album came out, I was just elated. Although I felt it was a bit overproduced, and feel stronger about that fact today, there were some great songs and great playing on that album. 'Only Time Will Tell', 'Time Again' and several other songs on the album were great to listen to, and it made me proud to be a Yes fan, even though Yes was at that time officially disbanded.

So sad that Asia bombed after that, but it was basically the same problem that plagued Yes so many times: ego and control--plus the creative well ran dry.

So, to my utter delight, in 1983 we got a brand new and polished Yes.

How I wish that could happen again in 2002, whoever may or may not join.

yesskater

03-22-2002, 10:34 AM

Asia and Astra were both excellent albums. Steve Howe and Carl Palmer refined their playing to a concise but rich style for early-80s sensibility (kind of like what Yes did for 90125). "Cutting it Fine" and "Never in a Million Years" have poky little riffs by Howe. John Wetton and Geoff Downes are good musicians, but not spectacular.

I even remember seeing an Asia concert on MTV where Greg Lake took John Wetton's spot for the show.

I haven't heard any post-Astra Asia, nor do I have a strong desire too. I understand the band went in a Saga-type direction.

groovecake

03-24-2002, 05:12 PM

I have posted on another thread about my total dislike of Carl Palmer and his problems with keeping steady time and such with ELP.

However, on Friday, some friends of mine and I listened to a little Asia. I had never realized how poorly Palmer played on the first record also!

Take a listen to "Heat of the Moment." When Palmer comes in with the beat on the chorus...the whole tune starts to rush like CRAZY!

Listen to his main beat on "Only Time Will Tell". There is just no groove to be found! My friends (musicians) were dying laughing!

He is just not a good drummer.

yesskater

03-24-2002, 11:43 PM

Originally posted by groovecake
I have posted on another thread about my total dislike of Carl Palmer and his problems with keeping steady time and such with ELP.

He is just not a good drummer.

Palmer tried to play too fast and was a bit flashy on most of the ELP stuff. But on slower cuts like "Lucky Man" and Asia's "Voice of America," he compliments the music a bit better.

I will admit - "Benny the Bouncer" is one of the most IRRITATING pieces of garbage ever recorded. How much Jaegermeister did those three dudes consume before waxing that one.

Jackaranda

10-02-2002, 08:38 PM

The very first time I heard Owner, the send up of Heat of the Moment was what struck me the most. It was as if they were saying to Asia, TAKE THIS!!!

YYY

10-02-2002, 09:36 PM

ASIA was simply to commercial to me. Pop like tunes with a little prog flavor sprinkled in.

UK were much cooler, hipper and "progressive".

ycantibu

10-06-2002, 01:15 PM

I've always liked John Wetton. I lurve his voice and his lurve-angst lyrics. I used to think it would be such a great idea to hear a Wetton/Rabin song - it could be really depressing.

Dale Cleary

11-10-2002, 12:57 PM

I can however comment on the Asia live DVD with Pat Thrall.
What an absolute pile of ^%$$#@((*&*.
I keep forgetting to bring it into the city so I can sell it back to the record shop.
This is the worst DVD I have seen and that Pat fella is an embarrassment !

MIG

06-22-2003, 08:23 PM

Actually, I thought it was a pretty good album. Sole Survivor and Without You are outstanding songs as far as I'm concerned. I used to like Time Again but now to me, Wetton kinda sounds like someone's whiny mother "Time and time again I have told you to clean your room mister. Now you're grounded!" Although the little jazz breaks are great in that song. I agree that Howe on ASIA and Drama was allowed to cut loose and heavy. As far as the fade outs, I think that's Howe's doing, Think Siberian Khatru and Starship Trooper.

I remember going to high school football camp and on the bus the team was collectively voting for Asia over Tubes and Sammy Hagar. Everyone loved it. No doubt the artwork, power chords on "Heat," and Sole Survivor was exactly the kind of thing high school football players loved. That album was marketed perfectly, at the perfect time and to be honest, I didn't have any hangups on Mr. Howe being a celebrity for a change (People magazine, remember?).

Not really a bad album, either. However, when Alpha came out, it was the first time an album from any of the prog boys really, really let me down. I thought they'd expand on ASIA but instead they went with "Don't Cry." It broke my heart. I, in fact, cried. Well, not really cried but, ya know. I even liked Tormato up to that point but now Tormato doeas sound dated, like Rick trying to use the latest keyboard just to take it for a spin and the whole "Star Wars," "Close Encounters...," exploitation as in Arriving UFO.

Times change and views change, but a lot of what these guys do, stand the test of time.

cinderella

07-03-2004, 11:56 AM

I loved Asia and the albums by Asia! I wore them out. I have 3 copies of each one. Picture discs also. John Wetton's voice was one of the best I ever heard, and of course being a big fan of ELP, Carl Palmer being on drums was a bonus.

Originally posted by jack gowen

The very first time I heard Owner, the send up of Heat of the Moment was what struck me the most. It was as if they were saying to Asia, TAKE THIS!!!

Funny you should mention that.

When asked during an interview about the opening power chords of "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" - and if that was a jab or nod to "Heat of the Moment", Trevor Rabin answered, "Yes, it was! It was just a tongue and cheek thing. We used to rehearse "Heat of the Moment" and have kind of a chuckle."

Braniff92

07-03-2004, 01:14 PM

Asia was all about John Wetton and to a lesser extent Goeff. Steve wanted more progressive sound to the music but was constantly overruled by the team. That's what eventually led to Steve's exit from the band. I personally like the first two albums although I didn't consider them progressive in any shape or form. I was just glad to see Steve, Geoff and Carl doing something together.
As a side note, if you haven't heard Asia's last studio album (Aura)(2001) you should. I really enjoyed it. Al.

Nellsalot

07-03-2004, 04:33 PM

Being a person who has recently discovered this stuff and was not around when Asia first came out, I enjoy the Asia album for entertainment purposes and I do enjoy much of the guitar playing on there, but it's not like it was their artistic breakthrough. It is kind of nice to have music that is super dated cheesy '80s power rock but with splashes of my favorite prog. It satisfies some ridiculous part of me that nothing else does. I haven't gotten any of the other albums and suspect I wouldn't like them. I might get Alpha someday.

Has anyone seen the music videos? They are AWFUL, even for '80s pop music.

Dr Yes

07-07-2004, 03:27 AM

I LOVED IT!!!

I remember the whole band being invited onto Tommy Vance's Friday night rock show to premier it in the UK and it was just awesome when those power chords came in for Heat of the Moment. Okay, it was totally different to Yes, but I didn't care. I still thought it was a great album. I was just getting really into the guitar and bought the two Guitar Player magazines in which Steve talked all about the recording of the album. At the time he was mid-stream in receiving five consecutive "Best Overall Guitarist" awards in that prestigious publication and given a lot of time and coverage. But then the second album failed to excite (me), except for Midnight Sun and after that it was well . . . sh1te.

And I agree with others, that it was pretty much a final hurrah for Steve and electric lead guitar playing.

Dave.

jimmygtr

07-07-2004, 03:40 AM

It's 80's cheese whiz to be certain but it does have a few good tunes. It's just hard to understand how the some of its parts became such a pop band. I guess Wetton was tired of the prog rock of Crimson, UK, and Roxy Music and fought for at the time was a contemporary sound.

Bo Locks

07-07-2004, 03:58 AM

To generalise... why do we 'love' Asia so much when we 'hate' Tormato and Drama and 90125 and Big Cheese Grater??? Me no understandee...

jimmygtr

07-07-2004, 04:19 AM

To generalise... why do we 'love' Asia so much when we 'hate' Tormato and Drama and 90125 and Big Cheese Grater??? Me no understandee...

Speaking for myself (yeah right), I think the production quality of Drama and 90125 (and Big Cheese Grater to a lesser extent) were excellent and the albums still sound strong and fresh (BG sounds a little muddled at times).

Tormato suffers from 70's style production as Asia suffers from 80's style production. What that means to me is when you listen to those albums they sound like period pieces from the get go (but that's just me....) :anielf:

bbb

07-07-2004, 08:10 AM

Does anyone else think that Heat Of The Moment has exactly the same tune as Video Killed The Radio Star?

You can sing one over the other....

cinderella

07-09-2004, 06:19 PM

They sound nothing alike to me. :shrug:

Stever

08-05-2004, 05:11 PM

I didn't place a vote because of too much personal overlap in the choices, but here's my notes:

Terrible album, waste of great talent -
No.... Not a terrible album, but Yes...it WAS kind of a waste of huge talent involved.

Not terrible, but it was a let down -
Agree....Not terrible, however I was not let down by it, because it's release took me by surprise, and I had no pre-conceived expectations about it. I couldn't be let down.

It's okay, but nothing special -
No, it's better than just "okay", I'd say perhaps, very good, but correct....nothing particularly special about it. Very good Power-pop/rock album representative of contemporary acts of it's time. (I guess it's remarkable for the interesting twist that it was put together by traditionally progressive/art rock musicians).

Loved it -
Didn't "Love" it. I enjoyed it for what it was for a couple of years. Like the Journey, Styx, etc. out around that time. Listened to it a lot when it first came out, then dwindled off over the years.

Mr. Holland

08-06-2004, 09:25 AM

I always quit liked "Heat of the Moment" for what it was, a nice rock/pop song. I had never listened to anything else from Asia, up till last year, when the first album was on the shelves for 5 bucks. So, I bought it and have listened to it a couple of times now. In all honesty, it didn't meet my expectations, but it was still o.k. Nothing really special though, so that's what I voted.....

Steve St Thomas

01-25-2006, 02:01 AM

They sound nothing alike to me. :shrug:

No?
Still?

Okay, listen to the guitar break of Video Killed The Radio Star before the final fade out choruses, then listen to Asia's Heat Of The Moment. Basically, in sounds and design they might as well be the same, just like the sounds of Release, Release from Tormato carried over into Drama, and Danger Money carried over into Asia's 1st album. UK, The Buggles and Drama era Yes are very similar sounding most likely because they share so many things in common!! I guess I've always heard the similarity :shrug:

cinderella

01-25-2006, 10:51 AM

No?
Still?

Okay, listen to the guitar break of Video Killed The Radio Star before the final fade out choruses, then listen to Asia's Heat Of The Moment.

I just didn't notice any outright resemblance. There may be a couple chords or two that are similiar, but that's true of many songs.

I'll listen again. I'll have to download Video Killed The Radio Star. I only have it on vinyl and haven't listened to it for several years.

The Whale

01-25-2006, 11:07 AM

Nice to see an old thread come back! I recently fell in love with Asia. I always liked em' but after going on a huge KC kick I couldn't get enuff of wettons voice so I picked up a bunch of Asia. I love it!

cinderella

01-25-2006, 11:23 AM

I couldn't get enuff of wettons voice so I picked up a bunch of Asia. I love it!

I know. His voice gives me goosebumps. It's beautiful.

relayeire

01-25-2006, 12:31 PM

Asia was an interesting experiment that has somehow lasted over two decades... the first album was very good... after years of long, complex pieces, the guys were all due a break... and they got to enjoy crowds of screaming girls once again, as they had when they started in the biz...

there are actually very good arrangements in there - Time Again and Without You stand out... the playing and vocals are top-notch... strange to hear Steve play CHORDS like that... it's a shame that incarnation didn't last a little longer... ideally, they would have done another album or two, then split up, leaving Howe to find his way back to Yes... I have to give credit to Geoff for his persistence, but I lost interest in them a long time ago... they became a pseudo-metal-prog band - Asia should not be a hair band!!!

Squireaholic

01-25-2006, 12:32 PM

I know this is slightly off where the conversation is, but I can't help the serendipity of this tidbit. It so happens that last night, I saw the old South Park episode where Cartman is speaking before Congress, and they all start singing Heat of the Moment!

Sonoacustico

01-25-2006, 03:40 PM

they became a pseudo-metal-prog band - Asia should not be a hair band!!!

Maybe you just heard Aqua and Aria relayereire, you should try Arena, Aura and Silent Nation, they're nothing alike Aqua and Aria, and the very first 100% Progressive Asia tracks (imho) started to appear in those albums.

About the first album, as Geoff Downes and John Wetton have said, it became "the Asia style" but for the wrong reasons, because the record company pushed the Wetton/Downes writting away from the original concept.
Anyway I loved it, it's not prog rock, just a few bits of it overall, but i loved it.

Greetings

Claudio

cinderella

01-26-2006, 01:52 PM

I listened to a couple of songs from Silent Nation.

They're okay, but I miss John Wetton's voice.

heartofthesunrise

01-26-2006, 01:56 PM

Asia got me primed for being obsessive with a band. At the time, I was just getting my feet wet with Genesis and ELP, had knowledge of Yes, so Asia was the prefect stepping stone into the wonderful world of prog. And boy, was I obsessive. I can remember being on a 8th grade French field trip to Montreal, and whle all the clique-y girls were doing the hotel chase game (you run after the boys through the stairwells), I was in the room listening to an Asia special on Canadian radio, reading the article about them in People Magazine (I still have it).Time and Time Again is the best song, period. Oh, all those MTV specials for Alpha and the Don't Cry video! That poster of the four of them that had a royal position next to my huge Rush poster! Alas, all good things had to come to an end, and I sadly lost interest after Astra. But I still throw on the first one from time to time.

Hed G.

01-26-2006, 02:12 PM

I've copy-pasted this from another thread:

I just pulled out the first album for the first time in 10 years!
Technically, it's a very good album. Musically, well...
It's a mish-mash of the individual member's backgrounds, which doesn't
always gel properly, resulting in a hybrid freak of a concept!
Wetton seems stuck in U.K.; Carl Palmer is a shadow of his magnificent
self, playing with much less creativity than in former years; Steve
and Geoff seem to be reviving leftover ideas from the Drama days
(the similarity between the opening of Time Again and Machine Messiah
cannot be coincidential!); overall - a corporate-driven supergroup
with very little promise. The best parts could have been used by Steve
and Geoff for the follow-up to Drama, had the both of them decided to
stick with Yes (one of the great "what if"s of prog!).

BUT: I still like it (somehow). For no particular reason.

pedro skychaser

01-26-2006, 02:23 PM

rgfudd99

01-26-2006, 02:33 PM

Loved the first Asia album.I was very into the band and saw them in NYC on that very first tour. It was great. I thought that the band (with Steve) would last a long time. I recently listened to the ASIA show from Tokyo with Greg Lake during that short time that he was in the band and I thought that he was a perfect fit. But that didn't work out either. Back to the album, as far as Steve's playing , what you hear on Asia really sounds like a natural progression for him when you listen to his guitar sound from Drama and from Tormato before that.

pedro skychaser

03-02-2006, 09:49 PM

when i first heard "free" off aura-i thought this is what YES should do -features stunning jazz electric from the hovian maestro+/under wicked howling from pat thrall-really heartstopping stuff+the reason i suggest downesy keeps @ it-playing small clubs in bulgaria,slovakia,norway etc...

gee ,did i reall say that?,,seems a long time ago,a gentler time,more innocent...oh well the new asia cd/dvd/tour should be good...

petermcguiness.tripod.com