Album of the Day

Asia, by Asia (1982): Some albums suffer from the weight of expectations - they get so much hype that they can't possible measure up. Asia, in 1982, must have seemed like a progger's wet dream, on paper: one long-term member of Yes, one short-term member of Yes, a long-time fixture from King Crimson and UK, and 1/3 of ELP. So what exactly went wrong? Or did anything, really? Did Howe, Downes, Wetton and Palmer ever conceive of Asia as anything other than a prog-tinged AOR band? If not, this album holds up a little better than if you expect a great prog masterpiece. It's not great - don't get me wrong - most of it is above average. They certainly went downhill from here.