Aria
Album by Asia
Released	1994
Recorded	???
Genre	Progressive Rock
Length	48:10
Label	Mayhem Records
Producer(s)	???
Professional reviews
All Music Guide (3/5) link
Asia chronology
Aqua (1992)	Aria (1994)	Arena (1996)

In 1992, Geoffrey Downes, Carl Palmer and Steve Howe reformed Asia, with John Payne as the new singer and Al Pitrelli as the second guitarist. Then, the album Aqua was released. No one had been expecting it, but it did impress everyone when it came out. It was superior to Alpha (1983) and Astra (1985), and is considered the perfect follow-up to their debut, Asia, released in 1982, even Aqua was released 10 years later. An album is a collection of related audio tracks, released together commercially in an audio format to the public. ... Asia is a progressive rock group. ... Genres of Cuban music and other popular music A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... Progressive rock (shortened to prog, or prog rock when differentiating from other progressive genres) is an ambitious, eclectic, and often grandiose style of rock music which arose in the late 1960s, reached the peak of its popularity in the early 1970s, and continues as a musical form to this day. ... A record label is a brand created by companies that specialize in producing, manufacturing, distributing and promoting audio and sometimes video recordings (especially music videos), on various formats including compact discs, LPs, DVD-Audio, SACDs, and cassettes. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the performers, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music owned by All Media Guide. ... Asia is a progressive rock group. ... Aqua is the fourth studio album by the progressive rock band Asia, released in 1992. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Geoffrey Downes (born July 25, 1952 in Stockport, England) is an English rock keyboard player. ... Carl Palmer (born Carl Fredrick Kendall Palmer in Birmingham, England on March 20, 1950) is a percussionist. ... Yes guitarist Steve Howe in 2004 Stephen James Howe (b. ... There have been several well-known people named John Payne, including: John Payne (actor) John Payne (poet). ... Al Pitrelli with TSO (2001) Al Pitrelli, guitarist for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and O2L, joined Megadeth from 2000-2002, replacing Marty Friedman. ... Aqua is the fourth studio album by the progressive rock band Asia, released in 1992. ... Alpha is a 1983 album by rock quartet Asia. ... Astra is a 1985 album by rock supergroup Asia. ... Asia is the breakthrough album by the prog rock band Asia, released in 1982 (see 1982 in music). ...

This success continued when Downes returned to the studios two years later, but without Howe and Palmer. The band, now composed by Downes, Payne, Pitrelli and Michael Sturgis replacing Palmer, released another album, "Aria". It is an amazing album, mostly because of Payne's vocals and Downes' creative mind. The album has few weaknesses on its beginning, but the music gets richer and intricate as it continues. "Summer," is a standout; "Sad Situation" is a marvelous track; and "Don't Cut the Wire" an artwork. On the second half of the album, the romantic "Feels Like Love" and the symphonic "Aria" make it perfect, plus the latter one also makes a great finale. If you like this type of music, this album is a good choice.

Track Listing

1. "Anytime" (Downes, Payne) - 4:57
2. "Are You Big Enough?" (Downes, Payne) - 4:07
3. "Desire" (Downes, Nye, Payne) - 5:20
4. "Summer" (Downes, Payne) - 4:06
5. "Sad Situation" (Downes, Payne) - 3:59
6. "Don't Cut the Wire" (Downes, Payne) - 5:20
7. "Feels Like Love" (Downes, Payne) - 4:49
8. "Remembrance Day" (Downes, Payne) - 4:18
9. "Enough's Enough" (Downes, Payne) - 4:37
10. "Military Man" (Downes, Payne) - 4:10
11. "Aria" (Downes, Nye, Payne) - 2:27

Personnel

• Geoffrey Downes - Keyboards, Vocals
• John Payne - Bass, Lead Vocals
• Al Pitrelli - Guitar
• Michael Sturgis - Drums