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Topic ClosedAsia is bad? Can’t be!

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valravennz View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2005 at 06:26

Well I like Asia and own several of their albums. I would not say they are progressive rock - more like 80's power rock with a bend towards commercialism in a very big way.

My favourite album is "Aqua" - easy listening with some v nice guitar work from Steve Howe. Not as hateful as everyone assumes, but each to our own ...


"Music is the Wine that fills the cup of Silence"
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2005 at 08:31

I love the albums Asia did- there, I've said it! I see nothing wrong with the music they did- if they had made a prog album, they'd have been pilloried by the music press for being 'old hat' and 'breaking no new ground'. However, by doing the AOR they did, they gained a lot of criticism for doing non prog material from fans. So, they couldn't really win!

I am not so worried about what they didn't do and choose to enjoy the band for what they were- if I want a prog album from these guys, I'll play Yes, ELP, King Crimson or any of the other bands they were in.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2005 at 13:38

That's what happens when four musicians think they're so great anything the do will be amazing.

 

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2005 at 19:04
Yes, I'm sorry.  Asia was indeed bad.

A great lineup does not guarantee a great album.  Every guy you name was past his prime when Asia got together.  In fact, none of them was involved in a highly rated prog album near the Asia period.  By all accounts, it was a pop effort banking on their big names to make some money.

A better name would have been "Alimony" 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2005 at 19:25
Whats wrong with making obscene money.....that's the Tory party for you.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2005 at 19:38
At least they don't put out naff music at the same time though eh?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2005 at 19:58

The problem of Asia is that their stuff is not bad, only weak, but for that level of artists weak is bad. If any 80's POP band would have done this stuff everybody would consider it good, but for this guys is simply not enough.

Quote So now, I can't imagine these guys being bad. You have been owned.

  • GTR: Hackett & Howe together, any prog' fan dream, but it was a nightmare
  • Three: Keith Emerson, Robert Berry and Carl Palmer, the three are great musicians but the album is terrible.
  • Yes Union: Anderson, Wakeman, Bruford, Howe, Squire, Rabin, Kaye and White, almost all trascendental Yes members (except Moraz) together, but the result couldn't be worst.
  • Kino:  Arena, It Bites, Marillion and Porcupine Tree members together, but again not the expected.

So, Asia is not the only case in which supergroups don't work.

Iván

            
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2005 at 22:38
saying that a band is good only because the musicians are good, is like saying food is good only because it has only the most expensive ingrediants. In order to make a good dish you must have a good combination of tastes and flavors, if you just put all the rarest and most sought after spices it will taste terrible. Music is very similar.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2005 at 23:15
Originally posted by Tiresias Tiresias wrote:

If you blend Crimson, Yes and ELP alumni, but make them play pop, they are gonna suck



Actually...that’s not the problem. The line-up certainly had the ability to make good pop music. But they chose not to, or rather, didn’t care to. It’s the difference between Genesis’ Duke and Genesis’ Invisible Touch. Prog snobs who pretend anything vaguely poppy is crap will tell you there is no difference, but that’s not true.

The problem with Asia was that their hearts weren’t in it. They didn’t make the music they made because they enjoyed it. They made it because they were thinking, “this will put another Rolls Royce in the garage.”

The sad thing is, they were absolutely right. There’s nothing wrong with music that just happens to be commercially successful/viable if the people making it genuinely enjoy the music they’re making; that will communicate itself to the listener. It’s when someone makes commercial pop music purely as a moneymaking venture that it becomes tragic.
[IMG] http://www.denness.net/rpi/u/Progbear/fs/8/w/500/cp/2/s/5/si g.png">
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2005 at 23:28

SOLE SURVIVOR & HIT OF THE MOMENT

 the only songs that I have listened

very pop.! but not bad


The Beatles
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Rob The Good View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2005 at 07:49
To be honest, I REALLY like Asia...but they're not Prog. I don't mind - I like to let my hair down once in a while.

Edited by Rob The Good
And Jesus said unto John, "come forth and receive eternal life..."
Unfortunately, John came fifth and was stuck with a toaster.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2005 at 08:06
I bought the first two albums when they came out. They're OK, I like
some of the stuff. Haven't really bothered with them ever since.

Their current guitarist - Guthrie Govan - is a superb player!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2005 at 08:49
As an AOR band, Asia is great, one of the best bands. As prog-rock, they are probably the greatest deception of all time.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2005 at 19:25
It isn't just bad, it's motherf**kin bad... Jesus...

ELP is awful, so Asia doesn't really surprise me being even worse...

Damn, Wetton was a member of one of the best bands ever! He should treat the people with more respect!


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 14 2005 at 20:59
Love the first two albums. It's not prog but is good 80's Rock.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 15 2005 at 05:06

This line-up and great Roger Dean covers must have lured many proglovers like yourself into buying their albums expecting to hear great things. I still sense some hard feelings towards this band because of that. If they would have put a removable sticker on the cover, saying "File under pop/rock", they would still have been succesful and their old fans would not have felt betrayed.

I suggest you buy all their albums to learn an important lesson about how statistics relate to music. GTR is another fine example.

 

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 15 2005 at 05:39

ASIA SUCKS!!!!!

there's nothing much to say about this, becasue everything that needs to be said is said. Just make a brief search in the forum. There are several threads on this, and one colloborator had even given some historic facts about how the hell Asia was formed, and what happened since then (with record companies, etc...)

I suggest freakmeeko to keep the hell out of Asia! Not knowing this awful band is far better than knowing it and hating the individual members for this crappy project, despite the great work they put forward before!

Listen to Turkish psych/prog; you won't regret:
Baris Manco,Erkin Koray,Cem Karaca,Mogollar,3 Hürel,Selda,Edip Akbayram,Fikret Kizilok,Ersen (and Dadaslar) (but stick with the '70's, and 'early 80's!)
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 19 2005 at 14:25
I think the cooking metaphor is very fitting. You can take the best ingredients available and mix them, but don't expect to always come out with something wonderful - it's a question of chemistry as well. In the case of Asia, there was indeed a lot of pressure from Geffen, but also the desire of some members (Wetton in particular) to make lots of money. Then, it all happened in the Eighties, one of the worst periods of all for good music. Look what happened at Genesis and Yes (though I like 90125)...
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 19 2005 at 15:29
Originally posted by Bilek Bilek wrote:

ASIA SUCKS!!!!!

there's nothing much to say about this, becasue everything that needs to be said is said. Just make a brief search in the forum. There are several threads on this, and one colloborator had even given some historic facts about how the hell Asia was formed, and what happened since then (with record companies, etc...)

I suggest freakmeeko to keep the hell out of Asia! Not knowing this awful band is far better than knowing it and hating the individual members for this crappy project, despite the great work they put forward before!



Yup.  And so gimicky!  Let's start the name of every album with "A," whether it's a good name or not!

Like I said, the album name should have been "Alimony," cause I'm sure that's why the album was made! 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 19 2005 at 15:30

Why did so many great bands seem to crap out in the 80s?

 

Damn punk movement and hair metal.

www.myspace.com/thepianowar
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