Customer Reviews

Definitive Collection

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

 

 

This latest Asia reissue is pretty close to the 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Asia, except that they've added four tracks, Wildest Dreams, Here Comes the Feeling, Wishing and "the dance remix" of Go, which makes it's debut on compact disc; very shrewd marketing. It's a fun thing to dance to (very 80's) and great for Asia collectors. It's funny that in my review for the 20th Century Masters collection, I mentioned that it was too bad that "Here Comes The Feeling" and "Wildest Dreams" from their debut weren't included, and now, here they are! Anyway, here's the breakdown of what you'll get on the "definitive collection."

5 songs from the great debut album - Heat of the Moment, Only Time Will Tell, Sole Survivor,
Wildest Dreams & Here Comes the Feeling.

4 songs from the Alpha album - Don't Cry, The Smile Has Left Your Eyes,
The Heat Goes On & Open Your Eyes. Plus, the great Alpha B-side, Daylight.

4 songs from the Astra album - Go, Voice of America, Too Late & Wishing.

1 song from the Now & Then album - Days Like These.

And don't forget, as a bonus, there's the "dance remix" of Go!

In my opinion, spend a few extra bucks and get ASIA GOLD instead, more bang for the buck.
But, if you just want it distilled down to a single disc, this is the one!

A perfect collection of Asia's early hits with bassist/vocalist John Wetton. The remastering is superb, and the songs have a punch like never before.

If I were to describe Asia's early sound (1982-1991), I would say that they sounded like a more commercial UK, with the production and ballads of Foreigner, mixed with fierce instrumental breaks and layered with gorgeous Beach Boys-style harmonies on the choruses. The debut album is diamond-solid and near-perfect; later albums got more watered-down and sappy; by 1992 there was different lineups, diversifying the sound and creating a smorgasboard of pop/prog influences.

Lyrics mostly reflected the endless cycles of love lost and found, with occasional forays into Sci-Fi and war. In other words, if you're young (or young at heart), these songs have the ability to really grab you. If they do, it can make you immune to the angry thrashing of those fat and bald 70's prog zealots.

Geffen got the tracklisting right this time (finally...), although they dropped two of the B-sides. The remix of "Go" is okay, but "Daylight" is simply stunning. A song that always reminds me of sunny blue-sky days, travelling or biking. This collection still features semi-crappy New Age cover art (and no Roger Dean painting), but I'll forgive them.

If you're new or unfamiliar with Asia, this is really all you need. If you're hungry or curious for their later world music/classic rock/prog-metal stuff in the 90's, grab Anthology. If you want full albums, start with the 1982 debut.

Note: Early Best Buy copies of this apparently came with a bonus DVD featuring all of Asia's videos from 1982-85 (including "Go", which was not on the Millenium Collection DVD.)

For this purchase not only do you get all the hits from an awesome band collaberated in the early 80's, but you get a handful of videos on a dvd from them also, a must have! Bill Whitt

All my favorite ASIA songs are here, Heat of the Moment, Only Time Will Tell, Sole Survivor, Wildest Dreams, Here Comes the Feeling, Don't Cry, The Smile Has Left Your Eyes, The Heat Goes On, Open Your Eyes, Daylight, Go, Voice of America, Too Late, Wishing and Days Like These. Nice selections!

But, the last track clearly was a marketing ploy. I'd rather have Kari Anne (1990) or even better, some newly recorded songs instead. I hope Wetton, Downes, Palmer and Howe get together in a London recording studio soon and make some new hits.

I have to admit this but I didn't buy the cd here. If you look, you can buy this cd that includes a dvd of Asia videos from another source. And at a couple dollars less.

The music and the included dvd makes this collection 3 1/2 stars for me. Without the dvd, it's just another greatest hits collection.

This is as good as ASIA gets! It's everything you remember them to be and better than you thought!Its got a few songs you belt out the words to and some you heard before better never knew were ASIA performing. I recommend this album above all the other compilations ASIA has, you won't be disappointed!

The album arrived promptly and had solid information about the band. I forgot what a unique sound they had and how they blazed on the seen while several other legendary bands were still kicking out hits.

Excellent.