Customer Reviews

Archiva 2

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

 

 

This is actually a good collection of songs not used on any of Asia's regular albums. I can't believe the quality of some of them. I would've thought that they would have been on the regular albums and not on a collection of unused songs. "Moon Under the Water" is a great song with some great keyboard playing from Geoff Downes. "Don't Come to Me" is a great song and one of Asia's best. "Obsession" is good. The album ending instrumental "Armenia" is great. Archiva Vol. 2 is much better than the first Archiva volume. Worth a listen, there are some great songs on here.

According to the liner notes, this album and the companion volume were released after Downes and Payne discovered a box of old, never-released tapes while cleaning up after their studio was flooded one year during their Christmas break. Not that I would ever wish water damage on anyone, but I'm glad their studio flooded, if that's what it took to get these songs onto CD. Like the first volume, this CD is full of excellent tracks that are definitely worth a listen or two (or more). One of the best things about these songs is that many of them are done in different musical styles than the main "Asia Sound" of the 90's on Aqua, Aria, and Arena. I especially enjoyed the songs done in the style of ELO. Overall, the disc has a little more "hard-rock" sound than other Asia releases. My personal favorites on this track are Obsession, Love Like The Video, The Smoke That Thunders, and Armenia. The latter two are cool instrumentals, once again displaying Geoff Downes' incredible talent. If you're normally turned off by "out-take" songs and albums, make an exception here and pick this one up.

I've always enjoyed having and listening to Archiva Vol. 2 from Asia. This disc consists of previously unreleased material from the period that John Payne (vocals/bass) has been with Asia. I actually find Archiva Vol. 2 to be just as good as Asia's regular albums. There's a total of twelve tracks, and all of them are good and have something to offer. John Payne does a good job with the vocal duties. The musicianship, songwriting, and production are tight and satisfying. The material also happens to be varied. There are two very cool instrumentals that are included--"The Smoke That Thunders" and "Armenia." "The Smoke That Thunders" sports catchy keyboard playing and a good beat. Also, there are a handful of tunes that sound somewhat different for Asia ("Showdown," "Satellite Blues," and "Love like the Video"). These three songs sport more of a raw rock approach--they are good songs that are in a similar direction to the tune "Back in Town" from the Aqua album. "Showdown" is a song originally performed by ELO. My favorite tracks are "Moon under the Water," "Armenia," and "Don't Come to Me." "Moon under the Water" is a nice ballad with encompassing and skilled keyboard playing from Geoff Downes. "Armenia" is also a really good instrumental with great keyboard playing--I can only describe it as enigmatic and mysterious (also features some nice guitar playing). "Don't Come to Me" is another good one that's a power ballad. "Obsession" and "The Higher You Climb" are straight-ahead pop rock songs, and "That Season," "Can't Tell These Walls," and "Right to Cry" are tracks in a mellow direction. The CD booklet includes the song lyrics along with comments about each track. I'm surprised that some of the tracks on this disc weren't included on the regular albums. It's cool that Asia decided to put out these previously unreleased songs. Anybody that's an Asia fan and doesn't have this disc should get it. The album cover is pretty interesting, too. Archiva Vol. 2 is enjoyable and worth a listen.

Asia's dipping into the vaults produced gold, as this second full album of superlative tracks shows. Although the songs on volume two of Archiva are less hit-single oriented than those on volume one, this volume might have even stronger material overall, although it takes longer to grow on the listener than volume one does. However, no true Asia fan can deny the excellence of both volumes.

Asia's second volume of Archiva is not near as good as the first one. Vol. 1 had a lot more songs that were good and only a couple that were bad. Vol 2 has 3 good songs OBSESSION, RIGHT TO CRY & MOON UNDER WATER. Rest of the songs are average or below. Production this time seems rushed, and a lot of the song do not have the Asia feel to them. Big complaint is that this time you can see the cover, BUT it's the same cover as Vol 1, juet with Vol 2 on it instead.

This cd was worth the 17.00 dollars,i just purchased it yesterdayand so far i have only listen to the first 7 songs and to me the best is "sATELITTE Blues,"a very cool rockin track,John Payne has the voice from hell he just belts out every word get every note perfect,next is "Love Like The Video,"excellent backing vocals.Tthe artwork is very cool,and plenty of liner notes that explain each song.I can't wait to finish listening.Radiostations today wouldn't know how to handle some of these songs.If your like Asia you need to add this to your collection.

I think this Archiva is the best of the 2 because the first one sounded slightly muddled as if it was being heard through water, but the second has a cleaner sound. Also, you get to hear the harder rock side of Asia making it a good outtakes cd.

The only thing more shameful than releasing an album of 10+ unlistenable demos and b-sides is releasing 2 albums of such dreck. Geoff Downes should be ashamed of himself.