Both Asias hitting the road for the 40th

Seriously?

 

We truly are living in a golden era. What a great time to be alive!

 

I know Asia is kind of a best of band with various lineups but without Wetton AND Steve Howe it just feels cheap. Wetton was such a great singer.

 

I love the original lineup, but Payne's Asia deserves some respect. This one (Arena) gets my vote as the best of the Payne years:

 

2 asia's

2 yes's

2 trans siberian orchestra's

what's next.

 

Two Barclay James Harvests?

 

Agreed. Excellent album. I like them all well enough though.

 

I'm still trying to find a reasonably priced Aura CD -not easy! That's another favorite, but yes, each has something to offer worth hearing.

 

In their defense I will say that this is the first Asia lineup, since the original and the Greg Lake era, that satisfies the original concept of being a prog supergroup where all four members have a notable history in the prog world. I'll include Bonilla there based on his excellent work on the Fallen Angels tour.

The Payne band, to my mind, doesn't even count. They had virtually no profile since Downe's departure, before turning up on this tour. I'm sure Payne is a nice guy and all, and I kinda liked his album of prog covers, but...

 

How about two Queensryches? Two Ratts?

 

Aura and Arena were probably best of that era. I also like a lot of Aqua. Kind of activity DISLIKE Aria. That was a major disappointment. I don't really have a problem with Payne's songs. He could be solid in that area, but the sheer sound and tone of his voice? Really difficult to take. It's as if John Cafferty or Bruce Springsteen were singing lead for Asia, and that's just not a fit. Those kinds of lush songs require a warmer vocal.

 

A third touring lineup called Both Asias would be awesome!

 

Always interesting to me that there is virtually NO TRACE of any Asian music influence in the music of Asia.

 

I agree regarding both Aria and Payne's voice fitting the music. Its notable that on Arena and Aura he changes his singing approach on some songs and the results work better. Aqua does indeed have some nice songs mix in with some more generic material (well recorded too!).

 

I think we have two Great Whites... one with “Jack Russell” tagged on the front.

I could easily see multiple Kiss lineups when Gene/Paul retire. Kind of like a franchise you buy into where you own a territory. At that point, it’s simply an entertainment venture like the circus where the actual members don’t really matter.

And I’d never put it past Sharon to create two Ozzy line-ups. Ozzy would be in the main group hitting the big markets while his hologram would tour secondary markets. Hologram Dio could open.

 

I'm sure there are traces of traditional Russian sprinkled in there somewhere.

 

Count me in for either version as I’m desperate for some live music. Bring on the tour dates!

 

Thanks for posting this. A few days ago my wife and I were looking through photos from her old job.
One of them was a Reprise artist sitting at her desk eating her homemade vegetarian chili (which is absolutely
kick-ass, btw) and we couldn’t remember who it was. And then this thread popped up.
It was Marc Bonilla.

 

Did Asia ever put out a release called “Acura”?

 

No. That's planned after Asphyxia.

 

So, I guess there will be My Asia and Eurasia.

 

That's only Payne Asia album I own and it's not because of him.

 

totally agree! Astra is pretty darn good but nobody liked it but me! Always been a mystery to me what happened