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Asia: Asia

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s

Artist: Asia
Title: Asia
Released: 1982
Label: Geffen Records
Time: 43:54
Producer(s): Mike Stone
Appears with:
Category: Pop/Rock
Rating: ********.. (8/10)
Media type: CD
Purchase date:  2001.06.22
Price in €: 10,32
Web address: www.asiaworld.org

 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Heat of the Moment (J.Wetton/G.Dowes) - 3:50
[2] Only Time Will Tell (J.Wetton/G.Dowes) - 4:44
[3] Sole Survivor (J.Wetton/G.Dowes) - 4:48
[4] One Step Closer (J.Wetton/S.Howe) - 4:16
[5] Time Again (G.Dowes/S.Howe/C.Palmer/J.Wetton) - 4:45
[6] Wildest Dreams (J.Wetton/G.Dowes) - 5:10
[7] Without You (J.Wetton/S.Howe) - 5:04
[8] Cutting It Fine (J.Wetton/G.Dowes/S.Howe) - 5:35
[9] Here Comes the Feeling (J.Wetton/S.Howe) - 5:42

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


STEVE HOWE - Guitar, Vocals
JOHN WETTON - Bass, Keyboards, Vocals
GEOFFREY DOWNES - Keyboards, Vocals
CARL PALMER - Percussion, Drums

MIKE STONE - Engineer
ROGER DEAN - Design, Illustrations, Cover Design
BRIAN GRIFFIN - Photography

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


1982 CD Geffen 2-2008
1982 CD Geffen 20082
1990 CS Geffen 2008
1990 CS Geffen M5-2008
1997 CS Geffen 2008

Recorded at Townhouse Studio, London England.



This marriage of four players with impressive pedigrees proved to be the success story of 1982 when Asia's debut lodged itself at the top of the U.S. album charts for two months. The album spawned a massive number four single in "Heat of the Moment," a follow-up Top 20 hit in the sweeping "Only Time Will Tell," and a handful of other tracks that received heavy radio play despite going against the grain of the new-wave styling of the day. Produced by Mike Stone, Asia's strengths were the powerful vocals of John Wetton, the nimble, classically tinged guitar work of Steve Howe, Geoff Downes' majestic keyboard playing, and anchoring the band, Carl Palmer's propulsive drumming. The lyrics are overwrought at moments, but there's no denying the epic grandeur of the music which provided some much-needed muscle to radio at the time, and did so with style.

Tom Demalon, All-Music Guide, © 1992 - 2001 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.



When it comes to "super-groups" - a term most despised by many of the musicians so labeled - one is always a bit wary. After all, how many so-called aggregations have appeared and disappeared with a wink of the eye? The latest of the "super-groups" is Asia. If you guessed from the Roger Dean cover graphics that any former Yes members were involved you'd be right. Steve Howe is Asia's guitarist,and another Yes-man (though only on their final LP), Geoffrey Downes (also a one-time Buggle), is on hand. Rounding out the quartet is ELP's former sticks-man Carl Palmer and bassist/vocalist John Wetton - whose illustrious past includes U.K., King Crimson and Roxy Music. If you plan on looking to Asia for elements of its members' past you won't be disappointed. Wetton's voice should bring back many moments of `70s rock history to mind. And Howe's calling-card guitar flourishes punctuate nearly every tune on the album. Still, Asia's approach - as evidenced on side one's "Sole Survivor" - keeps tightly within the parameters of today's FM rock radio. And in Asia's particular case this has worked as a blessing in disguise. One must applaud the group's sensible and, more importantly, straightforward approach to the music it has produced for this debut LP. What's best about this album is the condensed (for these musicians) nature of the tunes. This brevity (all tracks are under six minutes) implores the band to compress its concepts into smaller spaces, thereby leaving out the unnecessary (and often overblown) instrumental passages so prominent in their past bands. In tunes like "One Step Closer," Asia has proven it has the smarts to produce good "commercial" rock without compromising essential musical values. Although Asia's music will sound familiar at first listen, it's important to remember that this is a new band and a debut LP. And it should be commended as such. With its ready-made audience, it won't be long before Asia takes over the world that will probably already have bought it.

Eric Chappe - Sep 27, 1982
CMJ New Music Report Issue: 1
© 1978-1999 College Media, Inc. All rights reserved.



More Like 4 and 1/2 Actually

I like this album a lot, a true supergroup. And for once, on these supergroup projects the band didn't over-indulge. Indeed, the songs are short and the showoff is minimal on this album, by progressive rock standards. But the music itself is still fine, highlighted especially by Geoffrey Downe's keyboards, Carl Palmer's top-notch drumming, and occasionally Steve Howe's guitar. The vocals of John Wetton are excellent throughout, although the lyrics sometimes veer dangerously close to cliche. The best songs include Heat of The Moment, Only Time Will Tell, Sole Survivor, Time Again, Wildest Dreams, and Cutting It Fine. The package is completed with Roger Dean's best ever album cover.

VoodooLord7 from Oklahoma, USA, June 11, 2000



One-time serious musicians opt for AOR

When this album first came out, I have to admit I was surprised. Some of the tracks were really quite ... dare I say it, catchy. And there was even a Top 30-friendly single on the album ('Only Time will tell'). But wasn't this Carl Palmer -- he of the 70s triple album and serious devotee of classical percussionist James Blades? And wasn't this also Steve Hose -- he of another 70s triple album and several serious solo albums. And hadn't John Wetton starred on the seriously serious 'Red' in 74? How could the three come together yet produce this Adult-Oriented stadium Rock?

Let's not forget Palmer's beginnings in the Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Atomic Rooster. Or Wetton's bizarre phase with Uriah Heep. And Geoff Downes was nominally half of 'Buggles', whose minimal output was unashamed pop. The style of this, Asia's debut album wasn't a million miles from UK's eponymous LP of 1978, although it was distinctly more mainstream.

I like this album, the best of all the Asia output that I've heard. I would have preferred the music to be a little more ambitious; there's a sense in which it's all been concocted to maximise the commercial return, which you couldn't say of UK. But it's a good, undemanding listen.

Gavin J Wilson from Basingstoke, Hampshire United Kingdom, December 17, 2000



Fell short of expectation

With talent like Steve Howe and Carl Palmer aboard, and with prior knowledge of the album's more commercial leanings, I was hoping this album would demonstrate some tremendous blend of prog and pop. From these expectations, I was a little surprised at how far flat this one fell. The prog elements are minuscule, and, in my opinion, the song-writing is shockingly bland for a commercial album. I was already familiar with the songs "Only Time Will Tell" (which I really liked) and "Heat of the Moment" (which I kind of liked), but aside from giving me these two hits, the album offers little else. Some songs have promising intros and/or verses only to be ruined with some of the worst choruses I've ever heard. The repetition and blandness of the refrains in such songs as "Sole Survivor" and "Wildest Dreams" are almost intolerably annoying, with other songs' choruses being only a little more inspiring. The vocals are also a little too dry for my tastes. Fortunately, a few above-average songs such as "Time Again" and "Here Comes the Feeling" keep the album from completely sinking below mediocrity. A decent album, but I was expecting so much more.

Matt from www.prog.web.com , May 18, 2001



I know why...

I know why so many critics panned (really slammed!) this album so hard. When it was released, this was NOT where rock/pop was heading...you had a collision of punk, techno, and rockabilly, while the sound that Asia was producing was/is very traditional rock. However, as countless reviewers have pointed out, this album is pure artistic and technical wizardry. When you have such a confluence of superb musicians as this band does, they really could not go wrong. The mere fact that so many rock aficionados are still talking about this album 20 years after its release is evidence of its legacy. Buy it, listen, enjoy.

A music fan from San Francisco, CA United States, April 6, 2001



Ein grandioses Debut

1982 beschlossen 4 Musiker mit Rang und Namen, eine eigene Band zu gründen: Drummerlegende Carl Palmer (Emerson Lake & Palmer), Gitarrist Steve Howe (Yes), Bassist und Sänger John Wetton (King Crimson, UK) und Keyboarder Geoffrey Downes, dessen Band The Buggles mit Video killed the radio star zuvor einen Tophit gelandet hatte. Asia trafen mit ihrer Musik den Nerv der Zeit. Sie verbanden den Pomp der 70-er Jahre mit der Melodik der 80-er. Alle Titel dieses Debutalbums sind eingängig und kommerziell, aber dennoch anspruchsvoll. Die Musik wird mit viel Power und Spaß rübergebracht. Asia ist ein Album ohne einen einzigen Durchhänger - ein Album, dessen Kauf sich gerade für Einsteiger lohnt.

Eine Hörerin oder ein Hörer aus 85296 Rohrbach , 28. März 2001



Rückkehr der Bombastrocker

Als 1982 die erste LP von Asia erschien, war der Progressivrock a la Yes und ELP mittlerweile die verpönteste Stilrichtung im Pop-Genre gworden. Und als sich bei Asia mit Steve Howe, John Wetton, Geoff Downes und Carl Palmer bekannte Musiker von Yes, ELP und King Crimson zusammenfanden, um einen Power-Rock a la Boston zu kreieren,war das Kritikergeschrei gross. Die Platte wurde in den meisten Rezensionen in Grund und Boden gestampft, erwies sich aber kommerziell als Megaseller. Schon nach kurzer Zeit waren 3 Millionen Platten verkauft, die Spitze der US-Charts erklommen sowie mit "Heat of the moment" ein massiver Single-Hit gelandet. Die Platte klang durchaus frisch und die altgedienten Recken trieben sich noch einmal gegenseitig zu Höchstleistungen an. Palmers Power-Drumming sowie die geschickt eingesetzten Keybords sorgten für das Gerüst der Platte, die mit "Sole Survivor" "Time Again" und "Wildest Dreams" ihre Höhepunkte aufwies. Eine umjubelte, aber zwiespältig beurteilte Welt-Tournee folgte, in der sich alle vier Mitglieder noch einmal solistisch austoben konnten. Doch der Abstieg setzte schon mit dem darauffolgenden Album "Alpha" ein und aus der damaligen sogenannten "Supergruppe der Superstars" ist heute eine kaum noch beachtete Randnotiz des Rockgeschehens geworden.

bfhoffmann@netcologne.de aus Köln, Deutschland , 12. März 2001



Episch klingende CD mit grandiosen Songs !

Dies war natürlich die Erste von Asia und zugleich auch der internationale Durchbruch für die Band, vor allem wegen dem Song "Heat of the Moment". Asia hatten gleich mit ihrem Ersten Album ihren Stil gefunden, den bombastisch, episch klingenden Rock. Ich würden ihn den Bombast-Rock der melodischeren Art nennen. Die Songs auf dieser CD sind richtig gelungen, sie bringen verschiedene Gefühlslagen gekonnt zum Ausdruck. Diese Scheibe hätte eigentlich die Höchstbenotung bekommen, wenn auf ihr nicht kleinere Schönheitsfehler wären. Diese sind in erster Linie, eben die Tatsache, daß nicht alle Songs restlos überzeugen können, da mit Zwei der letzten, nämlich "Without You" und "Here comes the Feeling" auch gleich Zwei schwächere vertreten sind. Zum anderen, sei gesagt, daß der ehemalige große Hit der Band, "Heat of the Moment", doch arge Verschleißerscheinungen aufweist, sprich er klingt nach all den Jahren doch zu veraltert. Trotzdem, ein klasse Album.

stained89@hotmail.com aus Walldorf, Hessen , 16. November 2000



Mehr als einfach Rock

Asia war der erste Band, der ich "meine Lieblingsband" genannt habe. Durch Asia habe ich meine spätere und jetzige Lieblingsband Yes kennengelernt.

Der Einfluss von Yes scheint auf diesem ersten Album der Band durch. Es ist besonders deutlich im Nachspiel zu »Cutting It Fine«.

Aber es ist hauptsächlich ein Rock-Album. Manche nennen es Prog Rock - aus irgendeinem Grund - stimmt aber, daß es etwas mehr hat als einfacher 1980'er Rock. Es hat ein "touch", es hat mehr Seele. Bombastischer Rock ohne Hardrock zu sein. Wirklich hörenswert!

Meine Favoriten auf diesem Debütalbum sind »Wildest Dreams«, »One Step Closer«, und natürlich der erste Single »Heat Of The Moment«.

Bjørn H.B. Clasen (bclasen@interway.lu) aus Lëtzebuerg-Belair, Luxemburg , 10. Januar 2000
 

 L y r i c s


HEAT OF THE MOMENT

I never meant to be so bad to you
One thing I said that I would never do
One look from you and I would fall from grace
And that would wipe this smile right from my face

Do you remember when we used to dance
And incidence arose from circumstance
One thing lead to another we were young
And we would scream together songs unsung

[chorus]
It was the heat of the moment
Telling me what your heart meant
Heat of the moment shone in your eyes

And now you find yourself in 82
The disco hotspots hold no charm for you
You can't concern yourself with bigger things
You catch the pearl and ride the dragon's wings

[chorus]

And when your looks are gone and you're alone
How many nights you sit beside the phone
What were the things you wanted for yourself
Teenage ambition you remember well

[chorus x2]


ONLY TIME WILL TELL

You're leaving now
It's in your eyes
There's no disguising it
It really comes as no surprise
To find that you planned it all along

I see it now
Becomes so clear
Your insincerity
And me all starrey-eyed
To think that I would have know by now

[chorus]
Now, sure as the sun will cross the sky
This lie is over
Lost, like the tears that used to tide me over

[Only time will tell]
One thing is sure
That time will tell
[Only time will tell]
If you were wrong
The brightest ring around the moon
Will darken when I die

[chorus]

[repeat first verse]
[repeat second verse]
[chorus]

[Only time will tell]
You're on your own
Inside your room
[Only time will tell]
You're claiming victory
You were just using me
And there is no one you can use now

[Only time will tell]
One thing is sure
That time will tell...


SOLE SURVIVOR

When I ran from the hounds of hell
Twist my foot, I nearly fell
I was lucky I was alive
One look back I could have died

[chorus]
I was the sole survivor
Sole survivor
Sole survivor
Solitary fighter

When I saw it I was amazed
One time glory right in my gaze
I saw the sorrow, I saw the joy
Right in the darkness none could destroy

[chorus]

And from the wreckage I will arise
Cast the ashes back in their eyes
See the fire, I will defend
Just keep on burning right to the end

[chorus]


ONE STEP CLOSER

Loneliness, a constant friend and lover
I know well
Crowded rooms the iron bar
That surround me
Trying hard to catch your eye
Just once, you see
Knowing from this moment if you did
We could be

[chorus]
One step closer
Closer than we are
One step closer
Closer than before

So many lines, you've heard them all
A lie in every one
From men who never understand
Your personality
And though we never even met
No talking needs to be done
The hum of conversation will disolve you
Into me

[chorus x2]
[chorus]


TIME AGAIN

Fate looks certain but there's nothing guaranteed
Want for nothing, but is nothing what you need?
Always pushing but you're never satisfied
I did believe you 'til I found out that you lied

[chorus]
Time and time again
Time and time again again

For what I give you I get nothing in return
Can't forgive you watching all your bridges burn
All day long I sat and watched you do it wrong
Have to say that's how you did it all along

[chorus]

But others wouldn't see things you could only see
And someone showed you, then why was it always me
You knew the limit you were always out of bounds
How could I trust you when I caught you messing 'round

[chorus]


WILDEST DREAMS

They decorated all the generals
Who fought the wars behind the lines
They had forgotten all the soldiers
The brandy put them way behind the times

Insanity has found its way to TV screens
Vision seems impossible to me
They fight [they fight] for king [for king] and country
I never would have thought this in my

[chorus]
Wildest dreams
Wildest dreams
Wildest dreams
Wildest dreams

The evening comes, we sit and watch the VJs
Clips and rushes come from who knows where
From Washington across to California
With fighting breaking out in Leicester Square

We see the soldiers moving on to victory
And children trampled under marching feet
They fight [they fight] for king [for king] and country
How many millions will they put to sleep?

[chorus]
Fly away...

No, not in this world
No, not in the next
No, not in my wildest dreams

They recommended euthanasia
For non-conformists anywhere
Some men's dreams for others turn to nightmares
This never would have happened in my

[chorus]
Fly away...

No, not in this world
No, not in the next
No, not in my wildest dreams...


WITHOUT YOU

Gazing at our sunrise
Reflected in your clear eyes
Misty morning forest smoke fires

Make our way through the broken day
I couldn't stand to stay
Without you

We must keep moving
While the light is clearing
Leaving your dark world behind you

You have to run
Life is just begun
I'll never be alone
Without you

One chilling thought
Come screaming through the dark
I saw a yellow moon at midnight

And now you woke
Glowing in the smoke
I'm suddenly alone
Without you

Wanting things the way they used to be
You don't know what that can do to me
One more day, maybe never
Might as well be forever

Outside the light,fading as I write
And another night reminds me

As I sleep, memory that I keep
It's just another night
Without you

It seems so long
I've been holding on
Since I felt my arms around you

Time will go, both of us will know
Never be a day
Without you


CUTTING IT FINE

The door swings open but you won't go it
You hate the movie that you haven't seen
You couldn't see what I have in mind
I see you laughing but you're
Cutting it, cutting it fine

You never should have done those things to me
There's one thread left 'tween you and history
And while our temperature is rising high
I'm warning you that you are
Cutting it, cutting it fine

Cutting it, cutting it fine...

You gambled all on one important game
Now take the debt and don't complain
Your game was up, I saw it all the time
I saw that vice, girl, you're
Cutting it, cutting it fine

Your sole advisor watch out for yourself
You never listen to anyone else
You were the one who ignored the signs
Dancing on a fine line
Cutting it, cutting it fine

Cutting it, cutting it fine...


HERE COMES THE FEELING

All through the winter I thought I'd never see you again
Oh God where were you when I needed you
I know that you, no, you would never have betrayed me
I thought I'd die, why? All the reasons still evade me
But you're back

[chorus]
Now I can see you
Now I can feel you
Now that I want you
Now I can touch you
Next to me
Here it comes

Here comes the feeling
Here comes that same old feeling
Here comes the feeling
Here comes that same old feeling

This is for real, I never felt so good before
I see the world through different eyes
Now that you're back, nothing in the least can overcome me
Misery gone, plus all the doubt that overran me
But you're back

[chorus]

[repeat first verse]
[chorus]

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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