Asia

"Heat of the Moment" was a major hit in the '80s, despite the fact that Asia were a prog rock supergroup made up of members of Yes, King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. They even had a follow-up hit, the ridiculous and great "Only Time Will Tell." These songs, and that band, could only have existed in those confused, insane times, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Boasting a Seventies supergroup pedigree – Yes guitarist Steve Howe, drummer Carl Palmer
(of Emerson, Lake and ...), King Crimson and U.K. singer-bassist John Wetton, and Buggles
and late-model Yes keyboardist Geoff Downes–Asia actually has little to do with the cosmic
debris and art-rock noodling of yesteryear. Instead, the group's debut album is molded in
the AOR radio image of Boston, Journey and Styx: heavy melodies with grandsta... More >

The art-rock Foreigner is a find--rare that a big new group is bad enough to sink your teeth into any more. John Wetton and Steve Howe added excitement to contexts as pretentious as King Crimson and Yes, but this is just pompous--schlock in the grand manner, with synthesizers John Williams would love. And after listening to two lyrics about why they like their girlfriends, three about "surviving," and four about why they don't like their girlfriends, I'm ready for brain salad surgery. Inspirational Verse: "So many lines/You've heard them all/A lie is every one/From men who never understand your personality." (Grade - C-)