Asia: The John Payne years

Yeah, they completely nailed this one. Should have been a smash!

 

Amazing, but not quite OTT enough!!! Needs a big mellotron choir kick going into the last chorus!

 

Actually there are 3 Armada CD's. Btw these are like the rarest CD's on the planet! You can't find them anywhere!

 

Really? Were there 3 Armada CDs? Can you please tell me what material the third one included?
Yesterday i made a quick research over the web, and indeed you can't find trace of those discs anywhere, i didn't think they were so rare, but i have to say that if the first one includes a couple of decent outtakes which are somewhat worth, the second one is really uninteresting, being essentially a Downes solo performance.

 

Might have to revisit 'Aura',feel like I maybe dismissed it too soon plus Guthrie Govan is easily one of the most technically gifted guitarists around, Steven Wilson can vouch for that!

 

I believe both that both Wetton and Greg Lake were in Asia at different times, but I've never even heard of this Payne guy! And I love prog rock! Just played me some Strawbs.

 

You didn't know he was once in ELO

 

They are usually impossible to find- but coincidentally someone has been trying to sell a copy of #2 and #3 on eBay for $99 each. Needless to say, nobody is biting at those prices.

 

Now that i just made a better search on the web for the Armada releases, i remember very well the reason i never bought the third one: it was an interview, with exerpts from some songs performed acoustically. Enough was enough, i didn't find a single reason to justify the purchase then, and i wouldn't buy a copy today for $0.01.
It wouldn't surprise me if those exerpts of acoustic performances came straight from the Acoustic Live Performance promo 2CD of which i posted a picture yesterday.

The links to purchase Armada #2 and #3 from Blastwaves Records are still active, who knows if they will send a copy today, after all those years? They should have their warehouse full of those CDs, in fact i believe apart from the 10 or so members of the fan club (of which i was foolishly part of), all the other copies must have remained there. I've got copy n°400something/1000 of Armada #1 and #2 (#2 is even signed). If they produced 1000 copies for #3 as well, they should have nearly 3000 unplayed Armada CDs amassed in a room somewhere....

Here are the links i found:
Asia - Armada Platinum Exclusives! - Armada 2-Geoff Downes Live at St. Cyprian - Blastwaves Music Merchandise
Asia - Armada Platinum Exclusives! - Armada 3-History of Asia CD - Blastwaves Music Merchandise

 

It's also worth noting that all the material on Armada 2 has been released as a solo album by Geoff Downes titled "The Bridge" which I own. I do have some very rare mp3's of Armada 1 however having a physical copy would indeed be awesome.

 

Are the few live acoustic bonus tracks that are included on the rereleases of Aria, Arena, and Archiva featured on this promo? I believe that same acoustic performance is also featured to some extent on Armada 3.

 

thanks for the links maybe I will try it out have seen various posts about the armada cds here and there and been curious about them (not 99 on ebay curious though!)

 

there is a acoustic show in the different worlds boxset is it the same one? trying to keep asia(both payne and wetton eras) live releases straight is a nightmare so many reissues with different packagings but the same stuff.

 

I'm not sure if those links really work though. If you look under the Asia category, you can't find it on the normal index. It could be they just forgot to delete the links from their servers. However, I would be curious to see if they are actually still available. I might bite the bullet for the price if it's actually from Blastwaves.

 

That's a different release, which was recorded in 1997 in Germany. The bonus tracks were recorded in 2003 in a radio studio (I'll have to dig up the liner notes to remember which one though)

 

I have 1 & 2 from my fan club days, as well as the Asia CD carry case which we still have on the car, although half the logo has started to come loose!!!

 

He was supposedly in fake, post-Lynne ELO ("ELO Part II" or whatever), but I can't find any documented evidence of this ever happening.

 

He was briefly involved with that Lynne-less ELO PART II project, but opted instead to work with Downes.

 

The 2005 re-releases of the Wetton/Payne 'Asia' albums include 1 acoustic number each, all of them recorded live at XFM radio in 2003, so, they don't come from the same performance issued on the Acoustic Live Performance promo, which is from 2002.
That promo, i'm quite sure as well, is the source for the excerpts of the songs included on Armada 3.

 

Speaking of rare Asia recordings, I have a decent recording of the only known live promotion the band did for their Arena release (which was performed before their scheduled tour was cancelled). It's a radio broadcast of a performance of the song "Never" which i've uploaded on youtube here:

 

Always had a soft spot for the John Payne years. Enjoy Aqua and Aria the most. A lovely, wide sound and some great radio-friendly material as well. Add to that, the cover art is amazing. Reminds me of the images I'd see on puzzle boxes or on front of comic books as a kid. Pure 90's nostalgia.

 

I would believe that he did a couple of shows, but he's not mentioned as ever being a member on their wikipedia page, nor is there any audio/video evidence of it, so it must've been very brief.

 

One of the songs he wrote for ELO was recorded by Asia, and put on "Archiva 1". It's called "A.L.O." on the Asia album.

 

I think it was early behind-the-scenes stuff and some writing. So mostly just testing the waters for both sides.

 

Oh, I totally believe that he was involved on some level. It's just a strange thing to have always included in press releases and official bios when he was so briefly and peripherally involved.