Comments for Asia, Arena

This album is incredible. It somehow successfully combines the harmony power from _Aria_ with the more driven _Aqua_ - yet also incorporating some things totally new to Asia. I couldn't believe my ears when I first heard this -- it has a little something for everyone, including a few very, very progressive tracks. Perhaps this is the synthesis everyone was looking for from the 2 previous albums. Whatver it is, it works. There is incredible depth to not only the songs (much longer than usual) but the album as a whole. Included are 2 instrumentals, the 2 really prog tracks, a few ballads, and one song even has a reggae part. Everything is a little bit different, but everything is really good.

Well... I'm sorry to disagree almost totally with my long time e-mail friend BFS... This album is the definitive lost of ASIA, of what this name has always meant to me. It's been another group since Aqua on, but while Aqua was a kind of transition between two eras and enjoyed the last appearances of Steve Howe and Carl Palmer with this band, Aria and Arena are almost totally alien to the former ASIA's attitude. Wrong arrangements (first 2 tracks, horrendous), wrong ideas even though limited (reggae !?, rap !? RUBBISH !), awful way of singing and interpreting the songs by John Pain. The rest, something good from Geoff's keyboards and from Elliott's guitar. Two decent songs could be "The day before the war" and "Bella Nova". A huge disappointment for all those die-hard fans who gave ASIA another chance after Aria... it's been lost. For those about to flame me: listen again to Wildest Dreams or Time Again before being so sure, please... GUG

This is a high water mark for the group. There is art here, folks; an aesthetic if you will. The addition of Elliott Randall and Aziz Ibrihim truly create an international sound. Goeff Downes is back with a vengeance, and his crowning piece is "Day Before the WaR." It has a great symphonic-synthetic lead in. Buy a truckload of them, people.

Though I was hesitant after hearing Mr. Payne's voice on samples of Aqua and Aria (on which he puts ridiculous amounts of chorus on his voice and tries to sound like Tina Turner), I finally bought the damn thing tonigh, and have decided it's exceptionally good. Up until today, I was more of a fan of Asia because of their first (and always best) album, when they still had their roots in progressive rock. Though Arena seems excessively "poppy" at times, there's some wonderful songs (especially U Bring Me Down), and wonderful musicianship to back it up with. Speaking of which, on some songs, Payne's vocals sound quite good (most notably when he mellows out on the vibrato and chorus). What's really impressive about this album, however, is that they god Elliott Randall (Steely Dan) and Aziz Ibrahim (Simply Red) to play on it! In any case, Arena totally accelled my expectations of what Asia was capable of doing these days.

By far one of Asia's most impressive works, if not their best! I was totally amazed by the level of musicianship on this album. Upon first hearing it, it quickly became one of my all-time favorites. What I really like most about this masterpiece, is the variation in techniques found throughout! In many respects, it reminds me a great deal of later period Rush with the inclusion of reggae and middle-eastern rhythms added to the mix! I would give this album an overall rating of 10!

By far one of Asia's most impressive works, if not their best! I was totally amazed by the level of musicianship on this album. Upon first hearing it, it quickly became one of my all-time favorites. What I really like most about this masterpiece, is the variation in techniques found throughout! In many respects, it reminds me a great deal of later period Rush with the inclusion of reggae and middle-eastern rhythms added to the mix! I would give this album an overall rating of 10!

I recommend anyone reading this should read my other reviews of albums "Alpha", "Astra", and "Aqua". I have read some of the reviews for this album out of curiosity and they have made me somewhat curious but I have pretty much given up on Geoff Downes'' version of Asia! I am holding out for the original line-up to reunite. I heard that Geoff, Carl, and John were going to reunite but at the last moment Geoff backed out so now John and Carl are going to form a group together. I''ll check that out! It just seems to me that after 8 or 9 years of being the man in charge Geoff doesn''t want to take a back seat to John again, after all, Asia was formed by John. Asia had one last chance for greatness, barring a reunion. Geoff and John Payne were rehearsing some new music with a guitarist named Ian Crichton. He is the lead guitatist for one of my favorite groups....Saga. He would have truly been a fitting replacement for Steve Howe. Ian is every bit as proficient and stylishly unique as Steve. I would have anticipated this incarnation of Asia but that didn''t come to fruition, unfortunately. Anyone out there not familiar with Saga should definitely check them out, they''re awesome! I recommend "Worlds Apart", "Heads Or Tails", "Behaviour", "The Beginner''s Guide To Throwing Shapes", "Generation 13", "Pleasure & The Pain", and their new album "Full Circle".