The NEW (old) ASIA ??? - Progressive Rock Music Forum

Why isn't Howe playing? That would make it more interesting and worth it, but no Howe and Wetton is hardly Asia.

I shook my head and smiled a whisper knowing all about the place

Man With Hat wrote:

Any Asia is a yawn inducing Asia.

Amen to that.

Marc is a very talented guy both as a guitarist and singer. He did a lot of good stuff with Emerson and has all the chops needed for this stuff. If they stick to mainly the debut and Phoenix then I'd love to catch them at some point. Also give some credit to Carl, now in his seventies but there are few guys out there even with 50 years on him that are better!

Interesting timing....let Asia rest in peace. A friend of mine wrote this nice eulogy to John Wetton...

Remembering JOHN WETTON on the 5th anniversary of his death..(January 31) 

Born John Kenneth Wetton - Willington, Derby, England (12 June 1949 - 31 January 2017).

Bassist, vocalist, songwriter: Mogul Thrash (1971), Family (1971-72), KING CRIMSON (1972-74), ROXY MUSIC (1974-75), URIAH HEEP (1975-76), UK (1977-80 & 2011-15), Jack-Knife (1979), solo, Wishbone Ash (1981), ASIA (1981–83, 1984–86, 1989–91 & 2006–16), Wetton / Downes (2003-09).

One of the very best. Not only as a singing bass player. But a progressive rock icon recording/touring with several heavyweight bands and recording numerous milestone albums. 

Plus sessions with the likes of Gordon Haskell, Peter Banks, Bryan Ferry, Brian Eno, Phil Manzanera, Roger Chapman, Eddie Jobson, Steve Hackett, Renaissance, ... 

He also released six solo studio albums and several live ones.

In August 2015, Wetton announced on Twitter that he was starting chemotherapy for an undisclosed form of cancer. Wetton died in his sleep at a hospice in Bournemouth, Dorset on 31 January 2017, from colon cancer.

I am not a Robot, I'm a FREE MAN!!

Asia is a brand. While I enjoy much of their music, they do not have much of a reason to mix the songs up, especially with only two original members. Bonilla and Sherwood will do just fine.

The world of sound is certainly capable of infinite variety and, were our sense developed, of infinite extensions. -- George Santayana, "The Sense of Beauty"

I really, really hope they do something interesting this time around.

JD wrote:

What do you think?

My biggest issue with any iteration of ASIA is that they don't really play around with the tunes. they need more of the prog extravaganza approach with more improv's. Make Heat of the Moment a 9 minute tune. That sort of thing. I think Mark Bonilla will be a good addition, I'm torn on Billy Sherwood. Would have preferred Tony Levin or Geddy Lee although I'm not overly familiar with his contribution.

http://www.carlpalmer.com/press/2022/ASIA-40th-Anniversary-PR.pdf

Not a fan of Sherwood, I think from a prog perspective he's a bit over rated. I don't think Geddy is ready for anything like this yet, if they were to go on tour 99% of the audience would be screaming for them to play Tom Sawyer.

Tony Levin would be a good one.

I was a big Asia fan back in the day, those first couple albums are excellent, I still spin them...

Tony Levin or Geddy Lee? Why would they join Asia? Confused

Not interested in this line-up. Downes has been uninspired for quite a while.

He shouldn't have got rid of John Payne and that line-up so... easily, unexpectedly and out of the blue, after that long and I dare say fruitful collaboration. He collaborated with a lot of great musicians in that era, now he's got Sherwood... 🤦‍♂️.

I listened to Bonilla in some collaboration with Keith Emerson but I don't remember much, which means I didn't find it that memorable or it would have stayed with me...

They should lay Asia to rest, but I guess they got contracts and bills to pay...