Customer Reviews

Anthologia: 20th Anniversary Geffen Years 1982-90

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is a must have collection for the fan of the original line-up of Asia featuring John Wetton on lead vocals and Steve Howe on guitars. You get the complete ASIA, ALPHA, ASTRA, and THEN & NOW albums in their entirety + all 3 of the B-Sides that were originally included on THE VERY BEST OF a couple years back.

Advantages of ANTHOLOGIA over THE VERY BEST OF include non-edited versions of SOLE SURVIVOR & HERE COMES THE FEELING, and the original track listing is kept throughout all 3 albums with the B-Sides appearing at the end of each respective album.

The sound quality is really good and you can't beat having ASIA, ALPHA, & ASTRA all together on 2 discs. The liner notes show writing credits and which songs were released as singles, as well as their chart positions. A decent essay about the band along with the various line-ups for each song (remember Howe left after ALPHA and was replaced with Mandy Meyer for the ASTRA session, and various guitarists were used for the new material on THEN & NOW).

ANTHOLOGIA gives you all the hits from THE VERY BEST OF and also includes some great songs that didn't make that collection such as: WITHOUT YOU, MY OWN TIME (great acoustic guitar work from Howe), HARD ON ME, and WISHING.

This is the best ever Asia compilation, compiling everything the original line-up recorded for Geffen. I always had a soft spot for the groups first two albums. Though many rock critics and old UK/ELP/Yes fans thought Asia was a money grabbing "sellout" the group was a interesting compromise of AOR-Pop songcraft VS Art-Prog-Pomp-Rock musicanship.

It's a shame that the original lineup didnt stay together for more than two albums. With all the talent this group had, who knows what they could have come up with? To my ears, later Asia albums just recycled the sound and formulas of two first albums to no great effect.

Besides all the hard to find B-Sides the mastering is a huge improvement over the original CD's that Geffen released in the 1980's. Those CD's were mastered with hardly any bass at all and had an annoyingly harsh sound quality. Digital recording was a new format in the early 80's and engineers were still learning how to record rock music with it. The new remasters sound great (played LOUD) with plenty of dynamics and sonic punch. So even if you have the old CD's this 2-CD compilation is a outstanding upgrade.

Admist the pop and new wave revolution, Asia emerged from great bands, Yes and ELP. Asia incorparates the feeling of such bands while giving a flavor of the time. Giving their music a much more upbeat pop feel. If you like Boston, Foreigner, or Journey, I would definately take a look at Asia.

As far as this 2CD set is concerned. Some of the tracks are not nearly cleaned up as much as the could of been. If you aren't a big fan of Asia I'd recommend this CD; however, if you are a fan and own most of Asia's Albums don't bother, nothing special here worth the extra money.

I can't say enough good things about this compilation. This 2 CD set is definitely a must have for the serious Asia fan. I will never forget the first time that I heard the first guitar strains of Steve Howe on "Heat of the Moment!" I truly thought to myself that it was some of the best music that I had heard up until that time in the early eighties. The songs only got better as the album went on. Of course the compilation takes in all the songs from the first three albums, b-sides, and others thrown in for good measure. The second album "Alpha" has a little different feel to it that can best be described as more "pop" sounding than the first release but still excellent in terms of musical quality. Songs like "The Heat Goes On" and "Open Your Eyes" really shine. That's not to say the other songs are of lesser musical excellence. I can't say there is a bad song on the "Alpha" material either. The compilation also features the songs of "Astra",their third release, and it is here that the sound of Asia changes somewhat largely in part to the addition of Mandy Meyer on lead guitarist rather than Steve Howe. The material is definitely Asia as you can tell from the songs "Go" and "Voice of America." Great stuff but with a slightly different edge to them.
In conclusion, I would like to reiterate my first thought. Go out and buy this 2 CD set. You will not regret it! All the founding members of Asia really did form a "supergroup" as they were called at the time.Their combined talents really lead to some of the best music to come out of any decade.

Made in USA in 2002, Serial# 069-493-254-2, Playing Time 159:26

The title of this 2-disc set is a bit misleading... one would expect this to be some sort of compilation of "greatest hits" or "best of".

But this time, the people at Geffen Records took a different approach: it's been DECADES since ASIA was on their label, and in order to "counter-attack" the series of live recordings presented over the last few years by other record comapnies, they probably figured it would be a good idea to re-re-release their first albums (how many times do YOU need them?)

So what we have here is pretty simple: a chronological compilation of ALL the material from their first 3 albums, the b-sides from the "Heat Of The Moment", "Don't Cry" and "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes" singles (we were spared the b-sides from the Astra singles), plus the 4 then-new tracks released on the compilation "Then & Now" (that was the "now" portion).

Clocking in at a MARVELOUS 159 minutes+ (each disc is over 79 minutes long!), you basically end up with an "instant" collection of their early albums; but........

The bulk of it has been re-mastered a bit faster than the originals; not enough to make it really obvious, but enough to fit more than 161 minutes of music into about 159 minutes on these discs... but I still love it!

Too bad they didn't bother to include all the lyrics; I guess I'll have to keep my other versions of these CDs just for that (or to hear the songs at their "real" speed).

Great stuff, in the progressive rock n' pop sense...
John Wetton and Carl Palmer are personal favorites...
Wetton has one of the best voices in rock EVER...
"Ride Easy" was a B-sider, but i think it was one of Asia's best...
"Anthologia" sounds better each day, with all the garbage spewin'
over the airwaves today...

This set has poor sound quality. There is a major drop out in the middle of Track 9 on Disc 1. I can't believe how that could be overlooked. The 2-Disc Gold collection is the exact number of songs in the exact order and the remastering is superb.

I'm gonna cut right to the chase.

Asia is (if you don't know it already): John Wetton (former member of U.K., Uriah Heep, Family, and King Crimson) - bass guitar, lead vocals; Steve Howe (Yes 1970-1981; 1991-1993; 1996-present, and former member of GTR -- a supergroup active 1985-1987 with Genesis' Steve Hackett, but that's another review) - guitars and backing vocals; Geoff Downes (of Yes 1980-1981 and 2011-current and The Buggles 1979-1980) - keyboards and backing vocals; and Carl Palmer (of Emerson, Lake & Palmer and 3) on drums and percussion.

That's their resume. Having four members play in groups as diverse as that, you really can't complain. That's about as good as it gets in terms of musicianship. So right away, you know this band is going to be good. And oh yes, they sure were. They are still touring today, so if you get the chance, go see them.

'Anthologia' collects all three albums of the Wetton years, 'Asia' (1982), 'Alpha' (1983), and 'Astra' (1985) in addition to some b-sides and cassette-only tracks, plus the new tracks from the compilation 'Then & Now' (1990). So, if you are a casual fan who wants to save some money from buying the individual albums, 'Anthologia' sums it all up on two discs.

However, I do have one complaint. I personally feel three discs would be better than two. As someone else stated, it does sort of mess up the flow of the albums. 'Alpha' is divided onto two discs, and it does sound kind of weird hearing the 'Alpha' tracks immediately after the 'Asia' album. But I do think it works as is, but I do wish Geffen would have made it easier. However, on the flipside, that would probably cost more, and people would probably complain about not putting it on two. So I guess it works both ways.

Overall, go for 'Anthologia.' This is Asia, 1982-1990 on the Geffen label, and it's the complete works. I do offer you some advice though: go for 'Gold.' It's basically the remastered version of 'Anthologia.' It's another example of a remaster done correctly (not too loud, but just right -- it has a very crisp sound). So I say pass go on 'Anthologia' and go for the 'Gold'!!!

But if you are on a budget, you can get 'Anthologia' cheap. And if sound doesn't bother you (not that this sounds awful -- in fact, it sounds great, it's just that 'Gold' sounds better), than I see nothing wrong with this. However, if you are an audiophile, go for 'Gold.'

Asia was one of my favorite bands when they first came out in 1982. I was 13 and thought their songs and cover art of "Asia" was the coolest! I bought "Alpha" when it came out, but by the time of "Astra" I had lost interest. This compilation proves that I should have definitely bought "Astra"! This 2-CD set covers all their albums and b-sides (digitally remastered).

I had bought "The Very Best Of...." but when this came out, I quickly gave the single disc of "Best Of.." to my brother and purchased this 2 disc set. At least you don't have to worry about another greatest hits coming out in the future and having to get rid of this one!

Asia's songs are sweeping, and though some might call them over-produced, I would disagree. The melodies, vocals, and instruments are layered which gives the songs a grand, epic sound. More artists should come out with anthologies like this!

Geffen has given us a great gift. This is the best Asia collection to come out yet. Not only are all of their songs from the golden era (82-90) present, but they have all been remastered. The songs here sound even better than the ones on the Very Best of Asia CD. I'll probably never listen to the individual albums on CD again because the sound quality is so much better here, and because every Asia song from this era is on these two CD's, I won't have to! If you are a die hard fan like I am, then you must pick this collecton up, it is what you have been waiting for. An added bonus is that the liner notes from the Very Best of Asia CD have been expanded so you get even more info on the band now. And remember your annoyance when several of the songs on the Very Best of Asia CD were butcherd to stuff as many songs as possible on the CD? Well Geffen fixed that too, and every song is the right length. This is deffinantly the Asia collection to buy, forget the rest!