LOS ANGELES TIMES
Calendar
May 2, 1982

ASIA POLICY: SPACE, POMP

By PATRICK GOLDSTEIN

"ASIA." Asia. Geffen GHS 2008.

What can you say about a band
that announces on its first rec-
ord that since it's 1982, "You can
concern yourself with bigger things" like
catching a ride on "the dragon's wings."
Who do these guys think they are, God's
other sons? Have they gotten hold of a
large-type Tolkien anthology? Will they
sell a million records?

Probably all of the above.

It's too bad England doesn't have a
space program, because everyone in Asia
would make a great astronaut, doodling
on a bank of celestial synthesizers, gaz-
ing raptly at the spheres and musing
contentedly about "riding the hounds of
hell."

What else would you expect from a
veritable space-and-pomp all-star team,
including such heavy thinkers as ELP's
Carl Palmer, ex-King Crimson vocalist
John Wetton and a pair of Yes - men,
Steve Howe and Geoffrey
Downes.

To be fair. Asia sounds
wonderful, as ornate and
enchanting as a royal
wedding. Wetton's vocals
are as soothing as euca-
lyptus balm; Downes'
synthesizers bray happily,
and producer Mike Stone
fills the album with a bro-
cade of cosmic sounds.
opening "Time Again"
with an airy vocal chorus
and concluding "Wildest
Dreams" with a cathe-
dral-full of chiming bells.

Unfortunately, this is a
band with a permanently furrowed brow,
its somber epics weighed down with
grammer-school mysticism and lumber-
ing romantic verse. Of course, that's part
of Asia's appeal. America's sensory-
starved teen-agers have always loved
musicians that don't make the least bit of
sense. As long as it provides a smooth
ride, who can complain about a band that
wafts through the clouds like a hot-air
balloon, surveying a sunny landscape
with no trace of shadow? 

Asia:  From left, John Wetton, Carl Palmer, Geoff
Downes, Steve Howe. They'd make great astronauts.


Transcribed by yesman@smartlink.net
[The word *grammar* was 
spelled *grammer* in the newspaper.]