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New Asia album "Omega"...meh

Dave2112

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I was pretty stoked to hear of another new release by the original line-up of the supergroup Asia, one of my favorite bands of all time....

...until I listened to it.

When Asia reformed the original four members to tour the 25th anniversary of the landmark 1982 self-titled smash album, the concerts sold out, and the resulting DVD is on my front row of concert discs. When I heard they were actually going to do another album, I got really excited. And 2009's Phoenix didn't disappoint. It was a return to the feel of that first album, with several tracks (most notably the blistering track "Never Again") sounding as if they were lifted off those recording reels.

This release, however...I was really disappointed in. Now, I love Asia...I really do. I can probably safely say I'm the only one here (for sure the only one in my own group of musically inclined friends) who followed Asia all through the John Payne years. When John Wetton left the band and Payne took over, they lost a lot of fans, but I thought they were putting out some great music. Yes...they were pretty much just John Payne, keyboardist Geoff Downes and a constantly revolving cast of guest musicians...but Asia put out a series of very adventurous albums. In fact, 1992's Aqua is still not only one of my top 3 Asia albums, but one of my favorite progressive rock albums of all time. I still have songs like Who Will Stop the Rain?, Lay Down Your Arms and Crime of the Heart on my MP3 player.

(I know this is supposed to be a review of Asia's new album, but as a side note, if you never checked out any of the John Payne-era Asia, do yourself a favor and do so. John is still preforming with the band "Asia featuring John Payne"...after an amicable decision between John and the original members to retain his 14 year legacy with the band. When Geoff Downes decided to rejoin the original Asia, Payne retained a large portion of the rights to the name, and being the longer-tenured vocalist...he got to keep the amended name. While the original Asia only performs material from their own catalog, John Payne's Asia performs material from the entire Asia history.)

Ok, anyway...I can't say that Omega is a bad album, per se. It has some decent songs, catchy hooks and I will say that John Wetton's powerful voice has not aged a day since his King Crimson years. However...it's not a great album. There isn't really a stand-out song that defines it, with the released single "Finger on the Trigger" sounding like pretty much everything else on the album. It's kind of like an album full of the "other" songs that bands like Journey and Styx would wrap their hits around back in the 80's. No memorable riffs from Steve Howe, limited experimental textures by Geoff Downes (who mostly provided synth chords ala 1985) and drumming from Carl Palmer that really could have been recorded by anyone. The ballads, while well-written from a lyrical standpoint, are rather plodding and predictable...and the "politically aware" tracks are FAR removed from such protest-type classics like Wildest Dreams, Countdown to Zero and After the War.

As to the title, John Wetton states that "Omega" doesn't mean the end, but was meant to be a bookend of sorts to their 1984 release Alpha, which he says this album is similar in feel to. While I dig John Wetton, I gotta disagree with this completely. Alpha was arguably Asia's finest work in their history, in my mind even surpassing their mega-platinum debut. But Omega has nothing to compare to such prog masterpieces as Don't Cry, The Smile Has Left Your Eyes, The Heat Goes On, or Open Your Eyes. That album ranks third on my list of prog albums, right behind Rush's A Farewell to Kings and Genesis' The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. This "bookend" doesn't even make the top 100...not because it's that bad, but because anything that could be called "progressive" has been stripped out of it.

For hard-core Asia fans, Omega will find a place in your collection. Like I said...it's not that bad, it surely doesn't suck...but it's not what I'd call a strong effort. The guys sound good after all these years and it's good to see them still going, and I'll still go see them on tour. It's just not that special an album at all. I was really disappointed.
 
I love their debut album today just as much as the first time I heard it back in 1982. The intro to 'Sole Survivor' immediately sends me back to hot sunny days and arcades...so many great memories. Sublime.
 
I love their debut album today just as much as the first time I heard it back in 1982. The intro to 'Sole Survivor' immediately sends me back to hot sunny days and arcades...so many great memories. Sublime.

I have not kept up with their music since that debut album in 1982, but it's a classic. The early 80's were in many ways the best years of my life.


Sorry Dave, I don't mean to disrupt the thread. I now shut my mouth. 🙂
 
No to John Payne....two bit bar band singer....

I like some of the stuff on Omega....especially "Light The Way"...I think it's uplifting
 
I haven't listened to the new album, but I saw ASIA in concert last summer and they put on a phenomenal show. I went nuts when they played "Days Like These" since they didn't seem to typically play that song live from the previous setlists I checked out for their tour.

If you are an ASIA fan, don't hesitate to check them out live. :thumbsup:
 
"Days Like These" is probably my favorite song of any ASIA song, and probably my top 5 of any genre. It's one of those songs that can't not get you motivated and pick you up no matter how low you mighy be feeling!
 
@ Rich P - No love for Payne, eh? Yeah, like I said, a lot of people refused to follow Asia through that change. To be honest, I didn't at first. Also to be honest, he's nothing like Wetton in the vocal department and some of Asia's Payne-era releases weren't all that great. However, I still think Aqua is a great album all-told. And kudos on "Days Like These" (nice catch, Amish!)...it really did well for a song that was one of four new tracks on a "greatest hits" album. If you want to see a good live version of it, get the DVD "Asia in Asia" from their 1990 shows in Russia. Pat Thrall played guitar (Steve Howe had rejoined Yes), but it was a great show when the guys were still relatively young. Awesome tune...completely agreed!

@ Knox - That debut album still remains as the #1 selling debut album by a rock band. If you like that first album, get the DVD "Fantasia - Live in Tokyo". It was the first tour of the boys reuniting for the 25th anniversary of that album. They play their debut album in its entirety, including an acoustic version of the rarely-heard b-side "Ride Easy" which was dropped from the album, but appears in the "Anthologia" box set. Also done acoustically (and brilliantly I might add) is "Don't Cry". Of special note in this show, Asia performed one song each from the previous band of each member. You get to hear Asia doing wonderful renditions of Video Killed the Radio Star, Roundabout, Fanfare for the Common Man and Court of the Crimson King. That last one is ironic, as King Crimson actually never even played it live while Wetton was in the band.

@ Bugman - You didn't disrupt the thread at all, bro! Nice to hear from folks who remember the truly great music of a sadly bygone era.
 
and Genesis' The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.

I saw them live at Memorial Hall in Kansas City when they were touring off that album. If memory serves they played every song from it. One of the best concerts I've ever attended. With all due respect to Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel will always be the voice of Genesis in my mind.
 
The early 80's were in many ways the best years of my life.

Mine, too. Despite the loneliness. The music just...well...there are times when, in the wee hours of the morning, I'll just run a playlist which is like ten hours plus long, all early '80s, and I close my eyes, and lo and behold, I have hair again, and I'm in an arcade with my :gbtoast: friends on Atlantic Avenue in Virginia Beach, playing til God knows when. Asia's on that playlist.

Thank you, Dave.
 
Wow Dave. I thought I was the only Asia fan who knew who John Payne was. I have all the original band albums including Anthologia, but I could never get into Payne's voice of Asia (although Crime of the Heart is an awesome song). I have Omega but it's in my Asia playlist on my itunes na dI only heard a few songs more than once. I'm going to listen to it this weekend and let you know if I agree with you or not.

The problem with some bands is that they don't know when they should stop making new albums and play the stuff their fans want.
 
Well, Asia generally does. Even after this album and the much-better comeback album (2009's "Phoenix"), the bulk of their live show is classic Asia.
 
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