Asia (2) ‎– Arena

1996's Arena was the sixth studio album from melodic rock heroes Asia. At this point it was just founding keyboardist Geoff Downes, vocalist/bassist John Payne, and a cast of session players, but they still managed to put together another gorgeous melodic rock album. With Arena, the band continued their shift away from radio-friendly pop tunes to achingly beautiful AOR songs. There's still a rock element, but for the most part, moving emotional songs like "Heaven," "Two Sides of the Moon" and the title track are the order of the day. The band also stretches their progressive muscles a bit on lengthier numbers like "The Day Before the War" and "U Bring Me Down". Payne's soulful vocals continue to define this stage of Asia's career, and are a great counterpoint to Downes's keyboards.

If your interest in Asia goes beyond just the band's radio hits of the early 80's, you'd do well to look into the band's 1990's output. Aqua is probably the best place to start, but Arena should please as well. For better or worse the original Asia lineup has since reunited, so we won't be seeing any more albums like Arena.

Reissue Notes: Snapper reissued Arena in 2004 as part of their Snapper Classics line. The reissue features digitally remastered sound, digipack packaging, and the bonus track "That Season," which also appears on Archiva, Vol. 1/Archiva, Vol. 2.