ASIA

At a glance, this superb line-up (a 'super-group' of sorts) of high calibre prog musicians would suggest a high quality release - I don't mean to reiterate, in a round-about way what's already been said, but the music performed here is the sort of thing these guys can do with their eyes closed and hands tied behind their back - all that aside, as long as one doesn't expect mega complex prog mini-epics, this album stands on its own as a strong pop/rock album with occasional spurts of technical flash. All songs are quite catchy, melodic and memorable - maybe too much so. The few points worth mentioning about the individuals involved (Carl Palmer - drums, John Wetton - bass, Geoff Downes - keys and Steve Howe - guitar) is that Wetton really gives his all with the vocals but he's relatively sedate with the majority of his bass parts, Howe performs as he does with Yes, maybe a bit 'heavier' even. Geoff Downes has a large array of keyboards and synths (somewhere I read his rig consisted of 23 different keyboards) , and somehow manages to utilise all of them at some point throughout the album. Carl Palmer's role is strictly perfunctory as he is capable of so much more, but then the songs don't call for extravagant playing in this department, though he can throw in some double bass and well placed fills here and there. The songs, in a nut-shell, range from arena-rockers (Heat of The Moment, One Step Closer) to power-ballads (Only Time Will Tell, Without You, Here Comes The Feeling) to a more accessible prog style with the tracks Sole Survivor, Time Again, Wildest Dreams and Cutting it Fine, all very, very good songs. All in all, the album is definately decent enough (3 stars), but after this release, it was all down-hill. I gather the intention behind this project was never to be full-blown Prog, but to hit the airwaves and, well, sell out. I think they succeeded.