tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post7032656781396337423..comments2024-03-02T07:40:22.786+03:00Comments on Only Solitaire blog: Asia: OmegaUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-28572813039850717192019-02-21T00:36:02.399+03:002019-02-21T00:36:02.399+03:00This comment has been removed by the author.trfesokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12631886869696528704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-24551522578373304112019-02-21T00:33:16.208+03:002019-02-21T00:33:16.208+03:00Well, I liked the longer, proggier tracks on the l...Well, I liked the longer, proggier tracks on the last album, so I don’t think this one is quite as interesting. It does have its moments, though. Wetton is continuing to write more interesting lyrics than he used to. You never would heard a Beatle-esque number about falling in love with a lesbian (“Emily”) on their first album. The Beatles influence also shows up on "Don't Wanna Lose You Now", too. “There Was a Time” sort of carries a folky vibe that then gets heavier, which they hadn’t really done before. I think that Wetton let Steve Howe sing the lead vocal on the introductory verse to “Light My Way”, the only time that happened on an Asia album. I think that “Finger on the Trigger” was a good, catchy choice to open the album. It’s actually a remake of a song Wetton and Downes had done on their 2nd duo album four years earlier. The disadvantage is that the Asia version loses a nifty keyboard intro; on the other hand, we’ve got Howe leading the guitar here, so that definitely wins out. On the whole, there isn’t anything here that would have brought newcomers in in 2010, but a lot that old fans will enjoy.<br /><br />trfesokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12631886869696528704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-929057016007427582012-08-24T06:26:36.256+04:002012-08-24T06:26:36.256+04:00This may seem crazy, but I do love a bunch of this...This may seem crazy, but I do love a bunch of this album- it took me a really long time, though. However, I believe two of the songs on here are among Asia's best, and another IS Asia's best. See here- "End of the World" has an absolutely wonderful call-and-responsish chorus, and "There Was a Time" feels as epic and gorgeous as the best Asia moments, but "I'm Still the Same" REALLY takes the cake. I mean. Its chorus is one of the best I've heard this side of "From Genesis to Revelation" (HIGH PRAISE) and its coda, with the predictable-but-still-exciting key change and the two lines from the chorus repeated over and over with Steve and Geoff both going crazy...wow. Wow. When I'm not listening to it, it's in my top 100 songs; when I AM listening to it, it's in my top 5. Please just listen to this one song again. Please!Ross Dryernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-83228566482808894262012-04-01T17:52:34.645+04:002012-04-01T17:52:34.645+04:00A world without Asia is, after all, a much more lo...A world without Asia is, after all, a much more lonely place than a world without Europe, don't you agree?(c)<br /><br />I do not. And i'm not a glam metal/AOR fan at all... <br />George, did you actually have a chance to hear Europe ? No, i don't mean Final Countdown song and album. Please, start with the last couple of albums (2006/2009). You will give them your thumbs up, i have a feeling. And more deserved ones, then a couple of last Asia albums. The cheese is very limited (if any), the ass kicked hard, it's mature and competent, rooted in classic 70'es hard rock (well, modernized), and of course no signs of Bon Jovi-glam-cock rock or whatever else you hated about 1986. Hey, even the first couple of albums (1983/84) before they gone commercial, show they had some talents even while being teens. At very least they invented scandinavian power metal back then. Don't believe ? Listen to "Seven doors hotel" from 1983, and then to any Stratovarius goddamn record from late 90'es. It's that same cold "nordic" sound, speed, neoclassical influences and high pitched singer, before anyone else was in that game...Cardiac Arrestnoreply@blogger.com