The 1982 Listening Post - Asia - Asia

 Reviewed by Stephen Romone Lewis

Released: March 18 1982 Asia Asia Genre: Pop Allen’s Rating: 4 out of 5 Stephen’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Highlights: Heat Of The Moment Only Time Will Tell One Step Closer Here Comes The Feeling Prog rock is like Taco Bell. People either love it or they hate it. Also, Taco Bell uses only 7 ingredients but has 30,000 menu items and prog rock uses only 7 guys but has 30,000 bands. As of 10/1/21 the 4 original members of Asia have collectively played in 46 of those 30,000 bands. They paid dues with prog-rock powerhouses Yes, ELP and King Crimson, as well as, The Buggles, Roxy Music, and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. If you hate prog rock then you will love Asia’s eponymous debut because this is the “prog” album that nearly killed prog. How? With hits. Legit hits like “Only Time Will Tell” and “Heat of the Moment” and the AOR hit “One Step Closer”. I don’t mind prog bands having hits. Genesis went pop and had a lucrative, and well deserved, post Peter Gabriel career. A year after Asia hit the charts, Yes reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Owner of a Lonely Heart”. I could not be happier about that. My problem with Asia having hits is: hits make money and, sing it with me now, “Money changes everything!” Geffen record executives put many Colombian drug lord’s children through college on the success of “Heat of the Moment”. Non-Geffen record executives like cocaine too. They called all the prog bands on their rosters and demanded hits. “No more 15 part 40 minute songs! No more songs with incomprehensible titles. No more rocking out on classical music. No more songs with gong solos!” Once the industry got it stuck in their pinheads that prog bands could actually make them money and not just earn them a little prestige, things got tough for prog bands. According to Wikipedia’s Timeline of Progressive Rock there were 48 progressive albums released worldwide in 1980. That number dropped to 36 the year after Asia’s debut and then wallowed in the low 30s for a decade. The bean-counters couldn’t take the odd time signatures away from King Crimson, but they could keep prog from reaching the pressing plant. I don’t blame Asia for that. I’ve heard it suggested that John Wetton, Steve Howe, Geoff Downes and Carl Palmer made a calculated effort to go commercial. I doubt it. Except for “Heat of the Moment” all the songs on their debut are longer than four minutes: a pop radio programmer’s no no. And, if they could just conjure up hits by force of will, wouldn’t they have done it again. Asia went on to have the same number of chart toppers as Captain Beefheart and G. G. Allen. I’m thinking the success of the album Asia by Asia was a fluke. So how does Asia’s debut sound? Great! The first side is a collection of poppy tunes tinged with clever musical flourishes like Carl Palmer’s stuttering drums in the fade out to “Heat of the Moment” or Steve Howe’s guitar flourishes throughout. It’s clear the band has chops, and the non-hits nestle themselves in your ear after a second listen. There’s no single on side two, but the tunes rock with the exception of hair-metal ballad “Without You”. It wraps up with the arena-friendly, hold-up-your-lighter-and-sway anthem “Here Comes the Feeling”. I just have to sing-a-long. LONG LIVE ROCK-N-ROCK IN ALL ITS GLORIOUS FORMS!

The 1980 Listening Post - John Wetton - Caught in the Crossfire

John Wetton - Caught in the Crossfire

#58

1980 Housekeeping

John Wetton

Caught in the Crossfire

Genre: Power Pop Prog Rock

3.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Turn On the Radio

I am not an Asia expert, I’ve heard Astra and Alpha and we all know that big big hit. So, I don’t really know Wetton’s past work with Roxy Music or UK. But he was also in Uriah Heep and Wishbone Ash and King Crimson and Roxy Music so, either John was a great contributor or he had access to the best drugs. Or he is the Cliff Richard of Prog Rock.

This is so close to being what that first Asia record will sound like. He needs a producer. 

When I hear songs like “Get Away” what I think is that this is what it would have sounded like if the Moody Blues had a producer like Mutt Lange in the 80s. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPMVPRcLIDA

The 1985 Listening Post - Asia - Astra

Asia - Astra

#463/ 1096

November 19 1985

Asia

Astra

Genre: Stadium Rock

2.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Go

Dammit, I like this kind of stuff. I don’t know why. It’s like candy. I’m not supposed to have too much of it but it’s hard to resist. The stupidity of “Voice of America”…yeah, I like that. This isn’t good. Or is it? Isn’t that subjective? The heart wants what the heart wants, I guess.

Dammit. 

The album gets awfully treacly in the second half. Like even they are bored by this pap. In the end, as we all already know, one Asia album is more than enough. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/astra/1444083022

The 1983 Listening Post - Asia - Alpha

Asia - Alpha

July 26 1983
Asia
Alpha
3.35 out of 5

Highlights:
Don’t Cry
Open Your Eyes

I’m so tempted to call Asia “Pop Yes” but that’s just to irritate Yes fans. Everything about this band screamed “formula!” with their debut. So, when you have a successful formula, don’t New Coke it up.
Would it surprise you to know that Asia (in various incarnations) put out 13 albums? Me too.
All that said, for the second time in a row Asia hits many of the right (more-rock-than-prog) prog-rock notes.