ASIA in 1992 - Aqua

Could the introduction of the John Payne era of ASIA
been much more accepted by the band's existing fanbase in 1992
if the AQUA album was simply released with a better track selection ??
As it exists, about half the album is very difficult to embrace.

Below is my alternate track listing ...
consisting of some songs that did end up on the official album
along with a few outtakes/demos recorded around the same time period or earlier
that were eventually released on the ARCHIVA compilation albums.

Armenia
Who Will Stop The Rain
Someday
Obsession
Heaven on Earth
The Higher You Climb

Aqua Part 1
A Far Cry
I Can't Wait a Lifetime
Lay Down Your Arms
Love Under Fire
The Voice of Reason
Aqua Part 2

 

I think the John Payne era was pretty well accepted among Asia fans considering it was an almost completely different band.
"Aqua" is IMO the weakest album of this era. The only really good song on it is "Who Will Stop The Rain" and that song sounds not like Asia at all.
The albums would get MUCH better though, the highpoints being "Arena" and "Aura".

Your tracklist is better than the real tracklist of "Aqua" but I miss "Heart Of Gold", another pretty good song.

 

I use to have this disk but sold it years ago. I remember liking "Who Will Stop The Rain" and not much else (wasn't their a lone Howe acoustic strack on this?).

 

Heaven On Earth is my favorite Asia song from the John Payne era.

 

Really good album but they got much better after this.

Pat

 

It's been some years since I listened to it, but I recall very much liking the album when it first came out. So much so, that it reignited my interest in the band at the time. I remember we used to play it in the music store I was working in then, too, and would usually end up selling a copy whenever we did. Those customers were often surprised to find out that what they were hearing was Asia, when they asked who we were listening to, but they still dug it enough to buy it.

I think I only ever got one John Payne era album after Aqua, possibly Arena, but I don't remember enjoying it as much. Could have just been because of where my head was at musically then, but now I think I'm going to have to re-investigate more of that time, and see what I think.

 

I definitely would agree that not having tracks like "Back in Town" would have improved my generally negative reaction to that album. But I don't think it would have completely changed my mind, because I just could never get past Payne's pop metal vocal style (sort of Bon Jovi meets Whitesnake, with faux southern US pronunciations, gratuitous grunts and groans, etc.). I think he probably has a fine voice for that style, but it was/is like nails on a chalkboard to me. The fact that Wetton was always my personal favorite rock vocalist--in part because he sounded so unlike the usual American rock vocal cliches--made my resentment of JP's embrace of those cliches all the more pointed. Obviously, there were fans who accepted the Payne era and even preferred it, but I suspect a big chunk of Asia's original fan base felt as I did, which is that JP sort of symbolized the rejection of precisely what had made the original Asia somewhat unique within the more typically macho world of arena rock.

 

I had this CD when it was released and quickly got rid of it.
Shark sandwich.

 

Can anyone tell me about the 2004 2cd set offering "Aqua" and "Aria" together? It's on the Recall UK label, according to Amazon. Are they straight re-issue's of the original discs, or are they "remastered" and possible made worse? I do see that the "Aqua" CD in this release has 14 tracks, adding back "Little Rich Boy" and a track "Obsession".

 

Really like the Payne-era, but wish it had been under a new band name rather than Asia. The band's sound was taken in a proggier direction that didn't always suit the "brand" and so Downes and Payne could have chosen to restart afresh.

Philip

 

I don't have this release but I did pick up the remaster of Aqua a number of years ago. I think the original sounds better. I picked up Archive 1 and 2 for the B-sides when they were first released.

Pat

 

I'm sorry folks, bought this when it was new and hated it. I agree with those who said they should have changed the name.

 

I understand about the name, but I don't care what the band was called. I still like the Payne version of Asia a lot.

Pat

 

To each his own I guess. I will say this, I really enjoyed the Payne era show I saw in the early 90s - Steve Howe came out for the 2nd part of the show. Club Bene in N.J.

 

Only Payne-era album I still have is Aura (and that's only because of the guest musicians.) I checked out about a half-dozen other studio and live Asia albums with Payne and they did nothing for me.

 

Aura is a really, really good album.

Pat

 

I still like the original and reunion albums better, but it does seem like an effort was made to raise Asia's profile with Aura.

 

Remember when Night Ranger put out an album without Jack Blades around the same time? File Aqua with that one and quickly flush the file. Some bands don't know when to quit. Thank god both bands reunited their classic lineups and redeemed themselves before repeating the same sin yet again.