‘Astra’ is technically and sonically brilliant. Way ahead of those two aforementioned Asia albums, and an album that John Wetton himself declared as the best thing he’s ever done. I agree wholeheartedly.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Asia
ALBUM: Astra
LABEL: Geffen
SERIAL: 924 072-1
YEAR: 1985
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: England
LINEUP: John Wetton – vocals, bass * Geoff Downes – keyboards * Carl Palmer – drums * Armand ‘Mandy’ Meyer – guitars
TRACK LISTING: 01 Go * 02 Voice Of America * 03 Hard On Me * 04 Wishing * 05 Rock And Roll Dream * 06 Countdown To Zero * 07 Love Now Till Eternity * 08 Too Late * 09 Suspicion * 10 After The War
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
It still puzzles me why this album did not embed itself into the hearts and minds of melodic rock fans back in 1985. And also the apparent failure of this album to do well in the charts, following on from their boom albums ‘Asia’ and ‘Alpha’ a few years earlier.
‘Astra’ is technically and sonically brilliant. Way ahead of those two aforementioned Asia albums, and an album that John Wetton himself declared as the best thing he’s ever done. I agree wholeheartedly.
Wetton rejoined the band after his departure during 1983 in which Greg Lake temporarily took over. Steve Howe shot through and was in the throes of putting GTR together with Steve Hackett. Therefore Mandy Meyer got the callup from the defunct US band Cobra and ‘Astra’ was born.
The Songs
Production wise this album is so overblown it’s a pompsters fantasy! Of course, just the sheer fact that Mike Stone is involved is enough to whet the appetite. Just take a listen to epics such as ‘Rock And Roll Dream’, ‘Countdown To Zero’ and ‘After The War’ and you very soon get the picture.
For me personally I can’t get enough of songs like the AOR radio friendly ‘Too Late’, ‘Go’, ‘Voice Of America’ or the softer ‘Wishing’ and ‘Suspicion’, all deserving of quality air-time on your home stereo! Though Meyer’s involvement was less from a solo perspective, I would suggest that if he’d been given more reign, this album probably would’ve been rated a 10 out of 10.
In Summary
Along with Bryan Adams and ‘Reckless’ and Michael Bolton‘s ‘Everybodys Crazy’, this is where AOR was at in 1985, but obviously the listening public wanted to listen to something completely different: either Duran Duran or Def Leppard! Oh well, these albums are things of legend. Let time tell the story and let this be remembered and treasured, as usually all excellent and legendary AOR albums sink like a stone! (don’t they??)
Video
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Entire Album (Select Tracks)
