This is not your father's Asia.
In its beginnings Asia was a band frequently called the first progressive rock supergroup, although that title really belonged to Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
The Asia of old actually had an arena rock sort of sound that, while espousing prog elements and textures, was pretty much straightforward rock.
At times the band was definitely a bit formulaic.
As Asia has continued on, with members coming and going, the tone of the group has changed.
The bandmembers seem to struggle a bit with direction, not going completely prog, but certainly not eschewing that direction altogether.
This disc reveals one element that could definitely be seen as an improvement over the old days, though: the music has lost much of its slick and almost contrived texture.
Sometimes the cuts here come off a bit like they are adrift, but they really seem more real and less contrived than a lot of the classic Asia catalog.
All that said, the disc is very listenable and has some definite strong points, calling to mind the classic Asia era at times as well as other groups, including Trevor Rabin-era Yes and Dream Theater.
The lineup on the disc is John Payne, Geoff Downes, Elliott Randall, Aziz Ibraham, and Michael Sturgis.
Luis Jardim guests on one cut.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Into the ArenaGeoffrey Downes, Tomoyasu Hotei, John Payne, Elliott Randall | Asia | Play | 02:59 | 6 MB | 17 MB |
| 2 | ArenaGeoffrey Downes, Andrew Herod, John Payne | Asia | Play | 05:16 | 12 MB | 35 MB |
| 3 | Two Sides of the MoonGeoffrey Downes, John Payne | Asia | Play | 05:22 | 12 MB | 38 MB |
| 4 | NeverGeoffrey Downes, John Payne | Asia | Play | 05:32 | 12 MB | 38 MB |
| 5 | FallingGeoffrey Downes, John Payne | Asia | Play | 04:57 | 11 MB | 31 MB |
| 6 | WordsGeoffrey Downes, John Payne | Asia | Play | 05:18 | 12 MB | 37 MB |
| 7 | Tell Me WhyGeoffrey Downes, John Payne | Asia | Play | 05:14 | 11 MB | 33 MB |
| 8 | Turn It AroundGeoffrey Downes, John Payne, Michael Sturgis | Asia | Play | 04:28 | 10 MB | 29 MB |
| 9 | Bella NovaGeoffrey Downes, John Payne | Asia | Play | 03:10 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 42 mins | 96 MB | |||||
| 42 mins | 284 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Asia | Primary Artist |
| 2 | John Brough | Engineer |
| 3 | Brian Burrows | Design, Layout Design |
| 4 | Roger Dean | Logo |
| 5 | Geoffrey Downes | Composer, Keyboards, Producer |
| 6 | Andrew Herod | Composer |
| 7 | Tomoyasu Hotei | Composer, Guitar |
| 8 | Aziz Ibrahim | Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Rhythm) |
| 9 | Luis Jardim | Percussion |
| 10 | Dave Ling | Liner Notes |
| 11 | Rodney Matthews | Artwork, Cover Art |
| 12 | John Payne | Bass, Composer, Engineer, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Producer, Vocals |
| 13 | Elliott Randall | Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic) |
| 14 | Michael Sturgis | Composer, Drums |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |