Third times the charm? No...Not for Asia.
With Welton back in, Howe out, and Meyer taking the latter's place, Asia returned to the studio to begin work on their third album, initially entitled, Arcadia. However, upon hearing of Duran Duran forming a subgroup of the same name, that title was changed to Astra.
Despite lead single Go peaking at number forty-six on the Hot 100, and music video being in steady rotation on MTV, Astra failed to impress. It was not only a critical flop, but under performed in sales, not receiving any certifications for sales. This was not helped by Geffen pulling promotional support from the band upon its release.
The group was ultimately dropped by their label, who also cancelled their upcoming tour. The end result was Asia disbanding. With things not getting any better for the guys, I dive into their last 80's album to see just how good (or bad) it will be.
Firing it, I will admit that the opening track, which happens to be their single, Go, isn't bad. If nothing else, it floored me that I'd never heard it, or had forgotten it completely over time. I also dug, Hard On Me, which was surprising considering how poorly the album was smacked by critics, and how bad their prior album was. I really didn't expect to hear anything good.
A fun aspect of Countdown To Zero, was how the song starts up with that all too familiar THX Deep Note. It was actually more of an interesting aspect to read about when this was created, who created it, and when it debuted. To cut to that chase, it was former Lucasfilm employee Dr. James "Andy" Moorer, who developed the sound in 1982. It was first used in 1983 at the premiere of Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi. 1985 Austrian Rock Singer Fal...No...It was then used at the beginning of Asia's 1985 song.
However, it was after this seventh song that I also reached a point of fatigue with Asia. I gave the remaining four tracks a few seconds to impress, and when they didn't, I simply skipped them in the spirit of just getting through Astra. Maybe this was because I had listened to three of their albums back to back. Maybe I was just tired of mediocrity. Maybe it was both.
As I noted above, Asia disbanded after this album. However, Welton would reemerge in 1987 with the album Welton-Manzanera, which he recorded with Roxy Music's Phil Manzanera. Purportedly, a lot of the material used for this release came from concepts which Welton was working on for a fourth Asia album. He further tried to reform Asia with original member Geoff Downes, Scott Gorham (of Thin Lizzy), and Michael Sturgis (of a-ha). However, this didn't come to fruition because the group couldn't get a worldwide recording deal.
Downes would form his own iteration of Asia in the 90's, with new frontman John Payne. The new singer would stay with the group through 2004, releasing six albums in total with them. However, Downes would split at this point, returning to the original lineup of the band for a series of reunion shows. This would lead to Welton officially rejoining, where he would continue to front the band through their most current studio album, 2014's Gravitas. Meanwhile, Payne would go on to form Asia Featuring John Payne. Great...So now there are two crappy bands called Asia...
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS August 6, 1983 |
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS August 6, 1988 |
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