Customer Reviews

Aqua

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This was the first full length studio Asia album with John Payne(replacing John Wetton who left for a solo career) and the first without their original record label Geffen, who had promoted the original band. This album just kinda came out without any major fanfare with a new unknown singer and and on a new indepentant label. When I bought it, man was I shocked.

It still had the spacey album cover, though by artist Rodney mathews instead of Roger Dean. It retained both Carl Palmer and a returning Steve Howe, although both were 'guest musicians' in thier own band. Howe would share guitar duties- something he's loathed to do- with new guitarist Al Pitrelli. In fact he would handle most of the acoustic side of the proceedings. Lots of outside songwriters in the credits told me that some of these songs were written for other projects. And new singer John Payne. He was younger, and his voice more operatic, hard-edged and better suited for heavy metal than for Yes or ELP. He wore black, he had a black top hat with feathers on it reminding me of Slash from Guns & Roses. He sang with a lot of soul and confidence, but sounded nothing like his predicessor. He had committed the crime of being different. And the difference between the two Johns were night and day. New 'regular' guitarist Al Pitrelli more of a hard rock squealer than Steve Howe, giving the music more edge. Even the image of the band had changed. This was not the MTV Asia, this was something new. The album even had a slight concept- an ecological theme.

The music? Aqua serves as a transitional album for Asia. Half has one foot in the original sound, supplying continuity with having three of the original band on hand and the other foot in the 90's where last member Geoff Downes would continue the band under a shared vision with new writing partner Payne who would grow musically from Aqua onward. The hard rock side of the band is well explored here, and the harmony choruses are even upped a notched. Songs are catchy and rock, but some are even heavy in the emotion department. Aqua is Asia amplified. On this cd, the band also explore some of their progressive roots with lush electronic synths from Mr. Downes and some tasteful classical acoustic interludes from Mr. Howe. The title track would not sound out of place on a Yes album. Strange how Steve Howe was only retained to supply the acoustic, steel and 12 string guitar.

On the tour, people were puzzled. At the show I saw, it seemed that a lot of folks didn't even know that John Wetton was gone, and so was Carl Palmer who had reformed ELP that year. Steve Howe remained as a 'special guest' only appearing halfway through the set to enhance a 5-man Asia. But Payne. People didn't understand. They were yelling 'LOSE THE HAT' and 'Play something that doesn't suck'. It wasn't until Asia disappeared from touring the US until some 9 years later that Payne was accepted. In between, Asia would release six more studio offerings and by then he had more than proven that he was a powerful singer, fine writer and solid musician. But in 1992, it was a learning experience for the band and its fans.

AQUA 1 - Steve's classical guitar over Geoff's synth backing.

WHO WILL STOP THE RAIN - classy and powerful single, should have been a big hit. Remains in the live set to this day.

BACK IN TOWN - in a hard rock vein, with some country twangin' from Howe. A far cry from Sole Survivor.

LOVE UNDER FIRE - written with Greg Lake. The first of a few melodic ballads, this one with nice keys.

SOMEDAY - a powerful rocker with fine keyboards.

LITTLE RICH BOY - left off of the 1992 US version, probably because it's a simpler rocker and the suits didn't think it fit in with the rest of the album.

VOICE OF REASON - tasty instrumentation here. The first half is a thoughtful ballas with folky leanings featuring Howe's steel guitar and acoustic playing. Drums and synths come in later and finish it off in symphonic rock fashion.

LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS - bouncey anthem which made it onto the soundtrack to an animated movie about Freddie the Frog, who was a spy. Much to the band's dismay, I may add.

CRIME OF THE HEART - into the arena ballad territory, would have been a great song for a soundtrack.

A FAR CRY - powerful vocals, great track with a lot of punch.

DON'T CALL ME - another similar track.

HEAVEN ON EARTH - atmospheric middle section and vocals that grabs by the sack and shakes vigourously.

AQUA part 2 - ends with an electronic Geoff Downes bit.

This remastered version also contains the two live cuts from the LITTLE RICH BOY single and the B-side OBSESSION.

I still find Aqua to be a fine listen today. Listen to it with an open mind and an open heart.

Aqua is a musical masterpiece and placed ASIA back to the top of their game in the early 90's. "Who will stop the Rain" and many other tracks on the album are quite simply superb. Payne and Downes are an awesome combo and album after album have proved to be the best at what they do - writing great meaningful, sweeping, and powerul music. Buy the rest of their albums since (especially 'Aura') and you won't be dissapointed. Aqua is a must have album.

I came into this album (And the other post Wetton CD's)
after becoming frustrated with my other favorite band's refusal to record new music (i.e. KISS) I had begun exploring other bands I had listened to in the past. One of them being ASIA. I made the great choice of buying "ASIA: GOLD" which consist of their first 3 albums & other music! If you like ASIA you have to get it! Nuff said about that one.

Anyway, enter John Payne (A Former member of ELO II) P.S. Bev Bevan doesn't hire just anybody.

I found John Payne to be a refreshing influence on the band both musically & Lyrically. turning away from Wettons songs of pain & heart break to positive & uplifting pieces that revive the spirit & inspire the soul.

If your a fan of the Old ASIA do not expect the same from this band,
Be open minded about it & you just might find you will like it in spite of yourself.

I had found this cd used in a bookstore for 5 dollars. I heard the song Who Will Stop The Rain on the internet and loved it and thought it was one of Asia's best songs. Also me being in love with the cover art I decided to finaly get it because I do love Asia but this was a new Asia. Wetton was gone and in comes some joker looking guy named John Payne. As the other reviewers have stated he looks absolutley embarrasing in his leather vest and top hat along with Geoffrey Downes. They both looked like they were playing in a bad 80s hair metal band and I hate to say it but some of this music really sounds like it. The album starts off great with a nice instrumental piece called Aqua I. It starts off with the sound of waves and then keyboards come in with Steve Howe playing acoustic spanish sounding guitar. Then it's onto Who Will Stop The Rain. I'm not sure if this song was a single or not but it should have been since this is the most radio sounding song on the album. It's a good straight pop rocker with a harmonizing chorus and somewhat of an african sounding chant at the end. Unfortunutly after that the album takes a turn and the music sounds boring and like I said very cheesy hair metal like. I'm not sure what Downes and Payne were thinking when they made this album. Another big disapoint ment is that Carl Palmer and Steve Howe aren't on all of this. There are other session musicians palying guitar and bass and there is also another heavy metal looking guitar player named Al Piterli. I'm really not sure how much Carl plays on here but this ended up being his last album until the 2008 reunion album Phoenix. With the first John Payne Asia album they didn't get off to a good start. The only thing that keeps this album from being completly terrible is Who Will Stop The Rain which is why it get's an extra star. I will touch on the cover again. This is probably my favorite Asia album cover. i thought the fact that the artist gave a dolphin wings was really cool in this under water spacey world. i love everything about the cover and was surprised to find out that it wasn't painted by Roger Dean but by an artist named Rodney Matthews. Too me Rodney's work is similar to Roger's. The fact that this magnificent cover is on this album is a huge disapointment. A cover this good deserves to be on an amazing album. Asia had a ways to go before they had made a decent album with John Payne. Their next album, Aria, was much worse then this and once again had a very hair metal look and sound.

Though the album may claim to be from "Asia", the resemblance is in name only. Yes, Geoff Downes is still plugging away on the keyboards, but he's the only original member of the group who performs on all the tracks. Former mates Carl Palmer and Steve Howe make brief appearances on the album ("courtesy" of other record labels, no less), but their work is minimal, serving only to bridge the old with the new. That this is now Geoff's band is apparent from the first listen - heavy on keyboards, light on substance. New lead singer John Payne also fails to impress, offering little more than some hair-band shrieking to the already substandard material. The original Asia had a less-than-vaunted reputation with the critics to begin with; this album will give them no reason to change their opinions.

This was the first studio album with John Payne. He had started working with Geoffrey Downes in 1988 on session work. He was picked to replace John Wetton. Some fans weren't happy about this. I didn't even wanna know about this at first. My first copy was a French import (MusiDisc) I found. I wish I kept it, though it was scratched when I found it. Then I had the US edition (JRS/Pyramid/BMG), which had tracks rearranged and "Little Rich Boy" removed for some reason. Then I find this edition, with a bonus track that's already on "Archiva Volume 2". The sound was improved though. Then InsideOut released the latest edition in the West.
The albums open with an acoustic guitar solo from Steve Howe. Carl Palmer also returns for a while, making it another 3/4 of the original lineup. John Payne makes Asia his own, reinventing it for the '90s, though the touring lineup looked like glam metal. To boot, "Aqua" didn't even chart here (though it went to #1 in Japan), with grunge changing the rules. Asia prevailed to a loyal following since with Payne & Co.

This Asia album has a few great moments, including the ballad "Crime of the Heart" which is one of the top five songs to come out of this band. "Someday" is also just amazingly written. Any critic who dismisses these two songs is insane. "Who Will Stop the Rain" and "Obsession" are two more highlights, with the latter sounding like the newer material by Bad Company mixed with a huge Def Leppard chorus. But, there are a few real duds here as well, and the CD is a mixed bag. A few songs have great melody, like "Lay Down Your Arms," but are drowned out by the overslick production and sound WAY behind the times. But the disc is worth the price for those two or three amazing tracks, with the rest of the songs falling somewhere between interesting experimentation and slick but unspectacular late 70's synth-rock.

Tracks...

1) Aqua I
2) Who Will Stop The Rain
3) Lay Down Your Arms
4) Heaven On Earth
5) Someday
6) Crime Of The Heart
7) A Far Cry
8) Back In Town
9) Don't Call Me
10) Love Under Fire
11) The Voice Of Reason
12) Aqua II

Wetton's years was over and Asia got a new singer, whose name was John Payne. He replaced Wetton's place as well as it was possible. Aqua shows that Asia's era was not going to end in the early 1990s. This comeback album has many marvelous ja exciting moments. My favourite tracks are outstanding "Who Will Stop the Rain?" and terrific "Someday". I recommand 'Aqua' those people who like to listen catchy rock music

Originally released March 1992; on Jimco Records in Japan. I had the French import on Musidisc, which I got disc only for a song. However, it doesn't have the bonus tracks. I may wanna get them someday, and sell the other, which is scuffed up, so I settle on the original U.S. edition on JRS/Pyramid/BMG. This is the first with John Payne on vocals and bass. Steve Howe and Carl Palmer from the original lineup appear on a few tracks. However, in two decades, Asia have had more lineup changes than En Vogue and Destiny's Child! (even though they're another music field. You get the joke.) A promo photo for this shown them as power-ballad-hair-band-[stereotypes], which isn't really a good idea in 1992 if you don't know who you're up against! This has more power ballads than the old Asia, yet you won't be disappointed. At first, I didn't wanna bother with the 'new' Asia, being used to the old, but for a lark and a few pennies, I got this and got my money's worth.