Asia (2) ‎– Aria

I know I'm in the minority here, but I tend to enjoy the later Asia albums with John Payne on vocals almost as much as the best-selling original Asia material. Who cares that keyboardist/songwriter Geoff Downes was the only original member left in the 90s when the music Asia released was so strong?

1995's Aria was the band's fifth studio album, and the second album with new vocalist/bassist John Payne. I tend to prefer the previous album (1992's Aqua), but Aria is an impressive album in its own right. It's certainly a more mature-sounding album, with a style that is less pop-oriented than its predecessors. Payne's deep, steady voice is the real highlight, adding tremendous heart and emotion to these already moving AOR songs. Original Asia keyboardist Geoff Downes continues to amaze, both in terms of his instrumental performance as well as his songwriting. There are a few tracks on Aria that qualify as "filler", but songs like "Anytime," "Desire" and "Remembrance Day" are among the best songs Asia has ever recorded.

If your interest in Asia goes beyond just the band's radio hits of the early ‘80s, you'd do well to look into the band's 1990s output. Aqua is probably the best place to start, but Aria 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 Aria.

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