Asia
have released their latest studio
album, Omega (12 tracks, ~60 min.s
duration), out in Europe, the
US and Japan (on King Records, KICP1470). Samples
are
available
here. It was
produced by Mike Paxman (ex-Judie
Tzuke, worked
with
Uriah
Heep, Status Quo,
Nick Kamen) with Steve
Rispin returning as engineer and Roger and Martyn Dean returning to do
art (shown
here), which references the Chinese Year of the Tiger. Tracks:
"Finger on the
Trigger" (remake of the Icon song on Rubicon—in
Wetton's
words,
"Fact:Finger
On
The
Trigger
is
Frontier's
Boss
Serafino
Perugino's
favourite
Wetton/Downes
song
EVER
by
a
country
mile.I
think
we do it well, but I'm biased."; free
download
available)
"Through
My
Veins"
"Holy War"
"Ever Yours"
"Listen Children"
"End of the World"
"Light the Way"
"Emily" (bonus track with first
pressing
DigiPak only)
"Still the Same"
"There was a Time"
"I Believe"
"I Don't Wanna Lose You Now"
The Japanese
release omits "Emily", but has an additional piece, "Drop a Stone",
after "There was a Time". "Through My Veins" and "Light the Way" are by
Howe/Wetton and "Drop a Stone" is by all four members, with the rest of
the album by Wetton/Downes. Details in the
Yescography. Note the digital versions of the album all
appear to mistakenly move "I Don't Wanna Lose You Now" to the beginning
of the album.
The band entered the Japanese chart at #29 (#8 on the foreign albums
chart), the German chart at #56 and the Swedish chart at #47. It has
made #158 in France (2 May). It entered the top 60 in Switzerland and
entered the Norwegian chart too. It made #13 in the UK indie chart.
On 13 Jan
2010, Downes tweeted:
"In the studio with Steve Howe today (& tomorrow), laying down some
axes on the new album. Sounding good right now..." Wetton has also
continued with updates through Jan, including this rather odd message
on 25 Jan:
I
can tell you this-I've never felt so detached from a record, ever.
That's not pointing any fingers, but between record company and
producer, I feel almost no connection with this album, despite having
injected a fairly considerable slice of myself into its fabric. It's
like it is evolving by other hands, and it's a weird feeling.
Followed by:
I'm
not
trying
to
scare-monger,
or
point
fingers
at
all----Mike
Paxman
is
working
incredibly
hard
on
this
record
(as
is our tireless engineer,Steve Rispin), I'm just
expressing my lack of connection with the recording, the distance
between myself and what's happening, and the fact that I will never
record like this again.
He explained further on 27 Jan:
"Oh, it will be good, alright---I don't want you to get the impression
that there are any bad vibes, there aren't. Everyone is working super
hard, engineer, producer, band, management, but I'm saying I've never
felt so detached from an album, which really should have been put to
bed by Xmas." Downes tweeted on 27 Jan: "In studio putting final final
keys parts on new Asia album." He had tweeted on 15 Jan that "Album
gotta b done by 21.02.09!" On 1 Feb, Wetton described the album and
explained the name:
it
is
the
natural
balance
to Alpha---the yin and yang now complete, nearly three
decades later. Despite the title of one of the lead tracks, it's
a very up, optimistic
record----but then, so is Alpha. For anyone who thinks it means the
last one, I would say "-but
then Alpha was not the first".
Buy MP3
version from Amazon (US):
Buy European import from Amazon
(US):
Buy Japanese import from Amazon
(US):
Buy from Amazon (UK):
Buy MP3 version from Amazon (UK):
Mixing began
on 8 Feb. A Feb
2010 report described Howe as
"VERY enthusiastic" about Omega.
Asia
is
an
English
prog-rock
band
with
a
pop
edge,
always
has
been,
and
hopefully
always
will be. Accessible, melodic, anthemic songs with
great playing, luxuriating in a bed of lush orchestration, with lyrics
that strike a sympathetic chord in even the most cynical heart. There
you have it, Omega is a themed album in Asia's fine tradition, without
the millstone of a concept.
The songs always have a message, hopefully positive. My songs are
almost always autobiographical, so there is hope and experience in
there, too. The lyric will never leave you on a negative thought.
The title 'Omega' [...] no more means 'final' than 'Alpha' means 'the
first' (which it wasn't). It's a great sounding/looking word, and a
bookend to 'Alpha'. In many ways, musically and conceptually, the two
albums share commonality.
With Downes saying: "We were
looking to create something different with Omega [...] the sound of the
4 band members of Asia will always have a certain hallmark when we play
together [...] But we approached the song writing with a mind to
getting a degree of variety into these compositions. Hence, you will
hear areas of textures where arguably we have never gone before."
In the aforementioned CRP...P
article, Howe answered: "There's such a harmonious feeling, so long
as time is put aside for the other things and there are still happy
faces in the audience, this could continue for quite some time." Downes
answered: "I've reached the conclusion that if it wasn't the
[original] four anymore, I would no longer want to do it."
Touring
Asia
are
touring
this
year.
They
played
15 European dates until 9
May. Planned initial dates in
Finland and Russia were cancelled following the disruption
to
air
travel
over
northern
Europe
from
the
Eyjafjallajökull
volcano, with Steve Howe and crew members unable to get to the
planned shows. Asia's official website announced the tour set
list as [SPOILERS—highlight
to
read] "Finger on the Trigger", "Only Time
will Tell", "Holy War", "Never Again", "Through My Veins", "Don't Cry",
Howe solo, "The Smile has Left Your Eyes" (parts 1 and 2,
including a Howe/Palmer instrumental jam), "Open Your
Eyes", "I
Believe", "Time Again", "An Extraordinary Life", "The Heat Goes on",
"End of the World", "Here Comes the Feeling", "Sole Survivor", "Go",
"Heat of the Moment", as was played at their first German
date (2 May,
Asschaffenburg), which sold out. The set has had slight modifications
elsewhere, e.g. 24 Apr in
Rome: "I Believe", "Only Time
will Tell",
"Holy
War", "Never Again", "Through My Veins", "Don't Cry" (Wetton and
Downes only), Howe solo (including "Mood for a Day"), "The
Smile has Left Your Eyes", "Open Your Eyes", intermission, "Wildest
Dreams", "Finger on the Trigger", "Time Again", "An Extraordinary
Life",
"The Heat Goes on" (including Palmer solo), "End of the World", "Here
Comes the Feeling", "Sole Survivor"; encore: "Go", "Heat
of
the
Moment". An earlier set list is shown here
and additionally includes "Days Like These", but
it is shown crossed out.
The 4 May show in Basel, Switzerland was recorded in HD for
international broadcast under a working title of "Asia's Omega Tour
Live in Switzerland". The show's intro music is the final part of Saint-Saëns'
3rd
Symphony. They
then played five dates in May in
Japan. Asia next played the High Voltage
Festival (London, 24 Jul)
at which the band plan to play [SPOILERS—highlight
to
read]Asia in its entirety.
Their set
was introduced by Roger Dean
and is available as a ConcertLive release.
An exclusive deal with the
Festival means there are no other UK dates in the short term,
but Wetton has suggested there are plans
for
UK tour towards the end of the year too. They then play three German
dates
29-31 Jul, before doing
29 US
dates from 2
Aug-8
Sep.
Discussing one aspect of
set lists in an Apr
2010 interview (forthcoming inFrench
magazine
Big Bang) with
Aymeric
Leroy, Howe said:
[when]
Yes
came
back,
so it was Yes/Asia/trio/solo. So the solo
became
part of my performance
with each group, you know - I'd play a solo
spot,
which kept me in touch
with my solo compositions for the guitar. Which
is very, very
important to me. So that's the only [...] saving grace for my
solo
work was that I could
also
do a spot
Later in the interview is the
following exchange:
Leroy:
With both Yes and Asia, sometimes the issue comes up about whether or
not to play some material from eras when you weren't in the band.
Usually you sit out of those...
Howe: I did. But now I don't.
Now I've shown that I don't do that [...]
Leroy:
With Asia, you've never
played anything from Astra...
Howe: [...]
We're
doing "Go" now. We also do know "Days
Like These" as well - we're not playing it at the
moment, but we
have practised that. So I opened it up a bit, and said yeah, I mean I
don't mind, you know... One or two...
Leroy:
But generally your
thinking is, "I wasn't a part of creating this song, so..."
Howe: Generally,
but
I think that's a little
restrictive, so... to open up the bands
There was touring
in support of Phoenix
in 2009; the band were
represented by the William Morris agency.
Asia supported
Yes on a US tour Jun-Aug—see
details
on the main
Yes
page. The typical set was "Wildest
Dreams", "Only Time will
Tell", "An Extraordinary Life", "Video Killed the Radio Star"
(originally by The Buggles), "In the Court of the Crimson King"
(King
Crimson), "The Smile has Left Your Eyes" (semi-acoustic),
"Don't
Cry"
(semi-acoustic),
"Fanfare
for the Common Man" (ELP's
arrangement, with Palmer drum solo), "Sole Survivor", "Heat of
the Moment". At the
three shows 28-31 Jul, Ian
McDonald (ex-King Crimson, ex-Foreigner, 21st Century
Schizoid Band) joined the band on flute and backing vocals on
"In the Court of the Crimson King". In his blog, ELP
archivist Tony Ortiz described filming the 28 Jul show for a future DVD
release. He manned one of three digital cameras used. Asia next headlined the Cambridge
Rock Festival in Aug 2009. Set: "Wildest Dreams", "Only Time will
Tell", "Time Again", "An Extraordinary Life", "My Own Time", "Open Your
Eyes", "Fanfare for the Common Man", "Here Comes the Feeling", "Never
Again", "The Heat Goes On", "Sole Survivor", "Don't Cry"
(normal, electric version), "Heat
of the Moment". The show was recorded in HD
5.1 for future, as yet unspecified, use.
They played a free
show with a very similar set
in Hamm, Germany on 29 Aug, sharing a bill with Mia.
With respect to further touring,
manager Martin Darvill said this to Wetton's website in Jun 2009:
In response to disappointment
from
certain areas in the fan base, Asia has no boundaries as to where it
will visit to play. [...]
The only limits are imposed by
promoters who decide whether or not they are sufficiently financially
comfortable to offer a deal to Asia's agents.
Asia employs one of the world's
largest agencies, messrs William Morris, to negotiate with
promoters. The band is travelling many thousands of miles from
home to the venues, and between venues, and it is a precondition that
promoters are financially robust, have status, and are capable of
delivering upon commitments to enable us to bring an Asia production
from the UK to USA, Europe, Japan, South America or anywhere else in
the world.
We are sorry that some territories
have been omitted from the forthcoming Yes Asia tour. This is
because promoters have been unable to reach agreement with our agents,
or because the timing was unfortunate regarding availability of venues,
or feasibility of routing.
On the other hand, we're pleased
to be visiting new regions and look forward to meeting those of you who
will be supporting the shows.
We also confirm that the band is
already planning international activity for 2010, so if you wish to
lobby your local promoters, please go ahead.
As for set list changes, Howe has floated the possibility
of
performing
GTR's "When the Heart
Rules
the Mind".
On tour, Asia have
been promoted
as "All Four Original Members of Asia" in order to clearly define who
is
appearing; the four now jointly own the Asia name. Paul Silveira
(worked with Yes, Rick Wakeman,
Anderson
& Wakeman) was the tour manager; Tim Stark was the
guitar
tech and Ricky Nelson, keyboards tech.
On Rockline (US radio)
in Jul 2009, Palmer described Asia and Yes touring together as "a
blueprint for the future". Asked by Classic
Rock
Presents... Prog (#1, Mar 2009) whether the reunion
line-up is back for good, Palmer answered: "I think so. [...] We're
even looking at an idea of mine called Asia: Family and Friends for
[2010]." In Jun 2009, Wetton said on his
forum of this plan, "Carl has come up with an excellent and viable
idea [...] for next year [2010] which has been greeted
positively and with much enthusiasm", and then explained it would be a
UK/European joint tour featuring Asia, iCon,
the
Steve
Howe Trio and the Carl Palmer
Band. However,
it appears these plans have not come to fruition, and note also Wetton
saying in Feb 2010 that "There is no plan for any more Yes/Asia shows."
Note also that in the
Sep 2009 article, Palmer discussed plans for ELP to reform in 2010, an
idea that had been abandoned in 2009 because of Keith Emerson's medical
problems with playing. On 8 Oct, Palmer said more to
Classic Rock:
[Emerson] hasn’t been able to play
more than a 35- or 40-minute set. [...]
“The last I heard [...] [Emerson
and Greg Lake] were doing some writing together and thinking of making
an album together. I’ve got so much on my plate, but am ready to look
at any situation [...]
“I also have the idea that maybe
we could get guests singers and musicians to play with Asia, people who
have connections to the individuals in the band.
“It’d be kind of a family rock
tree, putting a show together that way. Justin Hayward would be great,
or one of the guys from Supertramp. I mean, Justin Hayward singing
Nights In White Satin with Steve Howe backing him on guitar – wouldn’t
that be marvellous?
“I thought that might be a
situation where Keith Emerson could play, and we’d have Greg Lake as
well. So we’d have those two on stage and Asia. We could play things
like Fanfare For The Common Man and Lucky Man. [...]
[...] I don’t know if Emerson
would do it, as he has an ego the size of Wembley football stadium.
ELP have since played a one-off
reunion for a London festival in
Jul 2010 and Asia also appeared.
Wetton is planning work on a new
solo album (produced by Billy Sherwood)
from around Sep 2010, indicating a break in Asia activity. However, he has also said the band will be doing
another album.
Phoenix
2008's Phoenix was released
in Europe on Frontiers
Records; in North
America on
CD and digitally through EMI America Records;
and
in
Japan
through
King
Records.
See details in Yescography.
Early versions of "Wish I'd Known All
Along" and "Over and Over" from the album can be heard on Howe's Homebrew 4
release.
Other news
Greg Lake's From the Underground
Vol. I and From the Underground
Vol. II—Deeper Into the Mine
are being re-released by Cherry Records' Lemon label on 17 May.
The former includes "Heat of the Moment" from Lake's brief period in
Asia in 1983, with Downes, Howe and Palmer. The latter includes three
tracks by Lake's Ride the Tiger project
with Downes, including "Love Under Fire", which Asia re-recorded for Aqua.
Wetton has
talked to Alan Simon about participating again on the latter's third Excalibur album. On his guestbook in
May 2010, Wetton said, "I have the song in question, as usual,it is
very good, and I would be delighted to perform it, should he so
require. I believe that one or two of my band-mates would also be
welcome to also, er,.... jouer, if they are so inclined. Nous voyerons,
n'est-ce pas?"
Wetton and Downes are also continuing
with
their iCon project in parallel to Asia—see
details
under Downes.
In May
2007,
Payne/Govan/Schellen announced the formation of Asia Featuring
John Payne (MySpace
page), with Erik
Norlander
(ex-Ayreon) later announced on keys. Both
these groups play Wetton-era and Payne-era Asia material live. The Asia
Featuring John Payne name was
contractually agreed with the reunion band in May 2006.
In late 2005/early 2006,
Downes/Payne/Govan/Schellen had been working on a new Asia album for
InsideOut to be
called
Architect
of Time, with tracks including "City of Lost Angels",
"Written
on the Wind", "I Believe in Yesterday" and "Since You've Been Gone". Some of this material was
recycled
for Window to the Soul, although
Downes was not credited on that
album. For example, the last three of
those
songs appear on the GPS debut. In an Apr
2007 interview, Payne said:
Interviewer:
Were
some of the songs on ‘Window To The Soul’ originally planned as Asia
songs?
Payne: Yes, some of
the songs
were originally written for Asia. If they had been recorded as Asia
songs,
they would have been shorter with bigger harmonies and smoother
production.
We decided that, with a few days rehearsal, these songs could be made
to
sound very different to Asia songs. About 50% of the songs were
actually
written for ‘Architect Of Time’.
Interviewer: If it
had been
completed, how would ‘Architect Of Time’ have sounded?
Payne: It would have
been
basically in the style of previous Asia albums but we had made an
attempt
to stretch the songs a bit longer and to make the sound more retro, a
bit
more seventies. The actual track ‘Architect Of Time’ was completed with
Ryo playing keyboards, though I don’t know if it will ever be released.
It’s a very long track, about eight or nine minutes long. Maybe one day
it will be released.
[...] [Schellen] was very
keen to
play in different time signatures. Jay is very influenced by UK, so I
imagine
‘Architect Of Time’ would have been a mixture of classic Asia and UK.
After the split with Downes, it was initially
announced
that Payne/Govan/Schellen were continuing to work on the album for a
possible release on InsideOut,
but
probably not under the Asia name. Subsequently, Architect
of Time material was used for the GPS album and no more was heard
about
an Architect of Time release for a period. In
Sep 2007, it emerged that Payne is planning to release an album under
the Asia Featuring John Payne name of that name, but it has been
unclear how a
release now of this album will
handle
the use of material on Window to the Soul, or whether Downes
will receive any credit. In a Nov 2007 press release, the band said
they had
"commenced recording"the album
and in early
Feb 2008, it was reported that
Payne has been writing with Norlander.
By
Jun
2008,
GPS
webmaster
Michael
Milbourn
said,
"Work
on
the
new
album
is
still
progressing,
but
John
[Payne]
says
there
is
a
lot
of
work
to
be
done.
I
believe
all
the
songs
are
written.
Now
they
are
being
record[ed]".
In Sep 2008,
Payne said they had completed 3 tracks for the album and were
currently
working on recording another, entitled "Strange Days". Rodney
Matthews is to return to do the cover. AFJP have signed to Sony in
Japan and to Favored Nations
in the US, with release now due Jun/Jul. In Oct 2009, it
was announced that the
new album was to be called Arcana
instead, with Payne using the
'Architect of Time' name for an unrelated solo project, although Payne
has since said he may use another
name.
In an Apr
2008
interview, Norlander's comments suggested a long-term future
was planned for Asia Featuring John Payne:
John
Payne emailed me late [2007] and told me that he had parted ways
with Geoff Downes, but that he still wanted very much to continue with
ASIA. John asked if I would like to join the band as keyboardist and
co-writer. [...] John and I have been writing songs for the new album,
and I'm very excited about what we've come up with -- this is some very
quality stuff. Very high energy and compelling music with both nice
melodic and symphonic elements. There is so much great ASIA from the
past, from both John Payne's era and from the 80s, I feel very
privileged to carry on with this band and hopefully move it forward
into a new era. We have a lot to say, musically, and we're all excited
to get this new music out there very soon. Tour dates are in the works
Payne himself said in Jun 2009:
ASIA
FJP want to tour all over the world but where we play is not under my
control. I would be happy touring 11 months of the year. However
touring is really expensive, flights alone for the band and crew can
cost thousands and then agents, management and promoters need
paying. Also gone are the days where record companies gave tour support
money, in fact they now try to get a percentage of the concert fee.
Since the split of GD and myself there have been legal issues that are
now resolved but it has taken a while to get back up to speed
An EP
has been recorded with new recordings by the band; tracks: "Military
Man (2009 version)",
"Long Way from Home (2009 version)",
"Neurosaur (2009 version)"
(composition originally on Norlander's solo album Threshold), "Military Man
(radio edit)", "Long Way from Home
(radio edit)". Artist
recording royalties are benefitting the USO.
Release
through
Payne's
DevGel
label
(on
Voiceprint)
has
been
long
delayed,
but
the
EP
is
now
out.
Asia
Featuring
John
Payne
play
live
with
a
set
list
covering
both
the
Payne
and
Wetton-eras
of
Asia,
although
in
comments
to
a
fan
in
Jun
2008,
the
band
indicated
they
plan
to
phase
out
the
Wetton-era
material
in
future.
Their
first
ever
show
under
this
name
was
in
Jun
2008.
A
14
Nov show
was attended by Billy
Sherwood, Tony Kaye and Keith
Emerson. Govan left the band in 2009. AFJP
played 12 US dates Jul-Sep 2009, with Mitch
Perry (worked with
Aerosmith, Cher)
now on
guitar. Set on 14 Jul: "Long Way from Home", "Only Time will Tell",
"Who will Stop the Rain?", "Silent Nation", "Days Like These",
"Desire", "Go", "Time Again", "Neurosaur"/Schellen drum solo, "Don't
Cry", "Different Worlds", "Military Man", "Heat of the Moment", "Sole
Survivor". Official tour promo
video here.
Payne
also
performed
a
few
Asia
songs
("Desire",
"Who
will
Stop
the
Rain?")
while
guesting
live
with
Norlander's
the
Rocket
Scientists
in
Mar
2009.
2010 North
American
dates from Apr-Jul have been announced, with more expected.
A May
show had an audience of ~300.