[Review] Asia: Astra (1985)
I don’t know howe they managed it, but Astra is actually a better album than their last.
Kronomyth 3.0: Astra traveller.
At the time, I was actually more disappointed in Roger Dean for illustrating this album than Asia for making it, since no one really had high expectations after Alpha. But there was that album cover and, with a Pavlovian response born of countless Yes purchases, I found myself leaving the store with Astra. I listened to it, filed it alongside those other overblown Asia albums and quickly forgot about it. Years later, whenever I listened to it, I would focus on the few songs I liked and comment (to no one in particular) that Mandy Meyer was a pretty good guitarist for a guy I’d never heard of before.
But Astra is actually much better than that. The band spent more time on this album and it shows, both in the quality of the material and the painstaking production touches. Geoff Downes in particular is outstanding on this record; I wouldn’t have previously made the case for him as a prog keyboardist, and might not still, but he clearly has the capacity to make music of epic proportions. John Wetton and Carl Palmer are predictably excellent, and the new recruit (Meyer) provides firm support while wisely avoiding the temptation to step into Steve Howe’s shoes.
Despite being their least commercially successful album to date, Astra may well be their most artistically successful album—at least among the early trio of “classic” Asia albums. It’s a shame I didn’t appreciate it more at the time, but what would the fun of aging be if we kept seeing and hearing the world in the same way?
Original LP Version
A1. Go (4:06)
A2. Voice of America (4:26)
A3. Hard On Me (John Wetton/Geoff Downes/Carl Palmer) (3:35)
A4. Wishing (4:15)
A5. Rock And Roll Dream (6:51)
B1. Countdown To Zero (4:14)
B2. Love Now Till Eternity (4:10)
B3. Too Late (John Wetton/Geoff Downes/Carl Palmer) (4:11)
B4. Suspicion (3:46)
B5. After The War (5:09)
All songs written by John Wetton/Geoff Downes unless noted.
The Players
Geoff Downes (keyboards), Mandy Meyer (guitar), Carl Palmer (drums), John Wetton (vocals and bass guitar) with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (orchestrated, arranged and conducted by Louis Clark on A5). Produced by Mike Stone and Geoff Downes; mixed by Mike Stone, Greg Ladanyi, Alan Douglas and Asia; engineered by Mike Stone and Alan Douglas. Executive produced by John David Kaldoner.
The Pictures
Cover design by Roger Dean. Cover photography by Willie Christie.
The Plastic
Released on elpee, cassette and compact disc in November 1985 in the UK and the Netherlands (Geffen, GEF/GED 26413), the US (Geffen, GHS/M5G 24072/-2), Argentina (CBS, 20725) and Japan (CBS/Sony, 28AP-3120/32DP-280) with lyric inner sleeve. Reached #68 on the UK charts and #67 on the US charts.
- Re-issued on compact disc in 1992 in Japan (Geffen, MVCG-21008).
- Re-issued on compact disc and cassette on May 17, 1995 in the US (MCA, MCAD/MCAC-20851).
- Re-released on remastered compact disc in Japan (Geffen, UICY-9125).
- Re-issued on elpee on September 3, 2013 in the US (JDC).
It didn’t take long for the original band to destabilize, with Wetton being fired before the tour for “Alpha” had even finished. He was replaced by Greg Lake for the much hyped “Asia in Asia” telecast from Tokyo. I watched it and thought the new band had a lot of promise. However, Palmer once again fell out with Lake. So, Wetton was brought back under the condition that Howe be fired! That made this supergroup somewhat less super.
So, I was also quite surprised that this one turned out so well. In fact, I’d put in in my top three, along with the first album and “Arena”. For one thing, it sounds so much better then “Alpha” and even the first album. Probably because Downes produced it alongside Mike Stone, who would be banished thereafter. Much to the band’s benefit. Since Howe wasn’t all that central to the sound of the group anyway, Meyer fits in quite well. I suspect that he may have been instructed to use guitars and tunings similar to Howe’s.
The songwriting also took a big group in quality. We have a downright proggish/Buggleish epic in “Rock and Roll Dream”. Along with “Coundown to Zero” and “After the War”, it seems that Wetton had more on his mind than just romance. There are a couple of big slabs of Roquefort — “Suspicion” and “Wishing ” — but I guess that they couldn’t help themselves. I suppose that I should put “Love Now Till Eternity” in that category as well, but the big production and the strummed guitar pulled me in. I never said that I am consistent!
The band did really try to promote the album. Wetton and Meyer were even interviewed on MTV, but if I recall correctly, the latter didn’t have all that much to say. “Go” was a very strong lead single. The rather ridiculous video featuring the cyborg babe on the cover got quite a bit of airplay. Maybe the song was too dark to become a big hit. So, the first run of Asia ended rather ignominously. Too bad. The album deserved better.