Search - Asia :: Anthologia: 20th Anniversary Geffen Years 1982-90

The Heat Goes On...

shamanstudios | SW Florida | 06/29/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Great sounding compilation

shamanstudios | 08/03/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Asia: one of the true rock bands of the 80's

Cody Narber | East Coast USA | 06/19/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."