Disc 1 1 Heat Of The Moment 2 Only Time Will Tell 3 Sole Survivor 4 One Step Closer 5 Time Again 6 Wildest Dreams 7 Without You 8 Cutting It Fine / Bolero 9 Here Comes The Feeling 10 Daylight 11 The Smile Has Left Your Eyes 12 Open Your Eyes 13 The Heat Goes On / Drum Solo
Instantly labelled a super-group at the time of its formation, a group of musicians hailing from the progressive rock bands; Yes, King Crimson, Emerson Lake & Palmer, and Uriah Heep formed Asia in 1981. Earlier that year, John Kalodner, the top A&R man at Geffen Records, had brought King Crimson bassist and vocalist John Wetton and former Yes guitarist Steve Howe together. At this point in time, the great progressive rock bands such as Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer had folded, so many eligible musicians were available to join the pair for a proposed super-group. They were eventually joined by drummer Carl Palmer, and finally by Howe’s recent Yes cohort, keyboard player Geoff Downes. Asia’s eponymous debut album, released in March 1982, has since long been considered a supreme AOR (adult-oriented-rock) effort, produced by Mike Stone in the grandiose classical Rock tradition and packaged complete with distinctive Roger Dean sleeve artwork. The album spent an impressive nine weeks at the top spot on the American Billboard charts and consequently sold nine million copies, with the singles “Heat of the Moment” and “Only Time Will Tell” reaching the charts in the UK, Europe and the U.S. Though it was impossible for future albums to exceed the enormous sales of the first affair, over the next three decades Asia nevertheless released an extensive oeuvre of triumphant albums, supported by recurring successful worldwide tours. The current members- now recognised as the classic line-up- are still Geoff Downes, John Wetton, Steve Howe and Carl Palmer, but over the years the line-up has seen many changes, with celebrated musicians such as most notably Pat Thrall, Greg Lake and John Payne popping in and out of the group. Though not always achieving the critical acclaim one would expect in view of their respectable rock pedigree, Asia has garnered a near fanatical loyal following of fans that love the band’s blend of melodic AOR with progressive rock flourishes and virtuoso soloing. On May 5, 2008, at the Grand Ballroom of the Regency Center in San Francisco, California, Asia revisited their iconic debut album, performing it live in its entirety, with the songs in the same running order as they formerly appeared on the original studio album. Three of the four live bonus tracks, recorded during the same concert, originally appeared on Asia’s sophomore album: “Alpha”, the fourth song, “Daylight”, a B-Side of one of the singles culled from the studio album, was also included on the cassette tape of the album release in August 1983. Their second reunion studio album (since John Wetton left in 1983), “Omega,” the follow-up to 2008’s acclaimed “Phoenix”, was released in April of 2010. The legendary Roger Dean was once more recruited to design the cover artwork, while the renowned Mike Paxman (Uriah Heep/Status Quo) was in the producer’s chair. Asia toured Europe and Japan throughout April and May of 2010 and played the UK’s “High Voltage” festival in July 2010, later releasing a live album of their performance. In 2011 they toured the United States and for 2012 Asia have already announced they will be headlining the 2012 edition of the Weyfest Festival on Sunday 2nd September. The Heat Goes On, and on and on, and on ...