ARENA

This is definetely one of the best albums Asia ever recorded. It is a mix of rock, pop, latin and a little bit of progressive and the result is awesome. At first I was not impressed with the album, but with time I realised that "Arena" has a stronger tracklist compared to previous albuns with john payne ("Aqua" and "Arena"). The production and song writing are top notch, The selection of musicians is business as usual for Asia, with high level names such as Eliott randall (from Steely dan), aziz ibrahim (from simply red) and Michael sturgis (from Phenomena). Luis jardim in percussion did a very good job too, specially in the opening track, "Into the arena".

It is sad that a very good album like this is so underrrated, especially with quality songs such as "arena" and "turn it around". Anyway, I highly recomend it to anybody who likes rock/pop.

RATINGS:

1. Into The Arena (9/10) - has a latin approach, reminds a lot of Santana. Very nice guitar work by Hotei tomoyasu 2. Arena (9,5/10) - follows with the latin style plus rock. Has a catchy chorus and inspired keyboard solo by geoff downes. 3. Heaven (8/10) 4. Two Sides Of The Moon (8/10) 5. The Day Before The War (9/10) - this can be considered a progressive rock song, definetely a highlight in the album. 6. Never (8/10) 7. Falling (8/10) 8. Words (8/10) 9. U Bring Me Down (9/10) - time to Aziz Ibrahim shine. Very good rocker with arabic influences. 10. Tell Me Why (8,5/10) 11. Turn it Around (9,5/10) probably the best song in the album. Could be a hit if Asia were a mainstream band at the time. 12. Bella Nova (8/10) 13. That Season (7/10)