Asia’s Back, But Does Anybody Care?
Tuesday, April 15th, 2008
Asia is a funny band. While they were the first supergroup of the 1980’s and sold a ton of records with their self-titled debut, history does not look back fondly on the combination of John Wetton (King Crimson), Carl Palmer (Emerson Lake and Palmer), Geoff Downes (Yes and The Buggles), and Steve Howe (Yes). A lot of people (include Yes fans of which I am one) despise the band for their pop leanings and their blatant attempts at commercialism. The original line-up fell apart by 1985, leaving Downes holding the reigns with a revolving door of other faceless players until 2006 when the group reunited and successfully toured theatres and halls around the world. I saw the band when they hit the Docks (now Sound Academy) last year. While the gig was sparsely attended (blame the long weekend and some poor promotion), the band performed well, playing their “classics” along with songs from their previous groups.
With that success, Asia decided to head back into the studio to record “Phoenix”, their first album with the original line-up in 25 years. Recorded in the wake of heart surgery for John Wetton and Carl Palmer, the album is in shops today. A few months back I heard a few new tunes that were streaming, and honestly, they just seemed boring to me. Kind of like how all their earlier stuff sounded to me too. There really is quite the difference between all the bands the members have been in and what Asia is. The songs from the past are just “ok” in my book. But I’m clearly in the minority, since the band has been selling out venues on their tour in support of “Phoenix”. And credit to Asia, they’ve even managed to score some major label support for the album when other, more high profile acts are losing theirs.
Check out new songs “Never Enough” and “An Extraordinary Life” from Asia’s “Phoenix” and let me know your thoughts. You can also use the band’s name for today’s bonus code.