Asia-Astra

Studio CD
1985
10 tracks







1 Go
2 Voice of America
3 Hard on Me
4 Wishing
5 Rock and Roll Dream
6 Countdown to Zero
7 Love Now Till Eternity
8 Too Late
9 Suspicion
10 After the War

Asia's 1985 cd Astra, was their first without axeman Steve Howe, and he is sorely missed. Keyboards seem to be creeping more and more into each cd, and without a strong guitarist there to hold down the front lines, the sound can easily slide to one side. Which is what has happened on Astra. Mandy Meyer does a descent job on the strings, but the keyboards just push him to the back.
Go starts the cd off, and at the start you can tell something is different in the sound. Go rocks, but Mandy is so far in the back, it is hard to hear him. And this continues through out the cd. There is some good guitar work on After The War, Rock and Rock Dream, Go, and Suspicion. But it is short, and does not draw you toward it, the way Howe did. And again the guitar is pushed so far back into the sound, it is really hard at times to get the feel for the player.
So Dowens struts his stuff on this cd, and he is good. Suspicion, Go, Voice Of America, and Count Down To Zero, really show off is playing.
Go, Voice Of America, Wishing (love how the chorus starts the song), and Suspicion are the best songs on the cd. What should be great songs, Rock And Roll Dream, After The War, and Love Now Til Eternity, fall flat. There is no killer riff to hook you.
Wetton does ok this time, his singing gives me goose bumps on Countdown to Zero, but for the most part he and Palmer seem to be going thru the motions.
After a great debut cd, they seem to be falling further away with each release
B-