At first glance it would appear that this next act is finally deviating from the rock bands which dominated in the 60’s and 70’s, well it does …. and it does not! At position #97 is Asia with the album simply titled Asia
Released in March 1982 it soon hit the top of the US Album charts spending an impressive eight weeks at number one.
Heat of the Moment
From the book “The Best Selling Albums of the 1980’s”..
A 1970’s style supergroup made up of refugees from Yes, King Crimson, Emerson, Lake and Palmer and Buggle(they of Video Killed the Radio Star fame) hardly had the makings of a top-selling act in the post-Punk early 80’s
The Top 5 US hit single Heat of the Moment sealed the success of Asia taking it beyond the arena of old school progressive rock fans, and into the mainstream
Sole Survivor
Now I admit I was a little bit derogatory to the AC/DC vocalist in my recent blog, but listen to the difference a good front man makes to the entire balance of the act. I was pleasantly surprised at the sound… and I believe I may even have the vinyl somewhere in my collection.
Amazingly there was no hit single from the album
Only Time Will Tell
The album received a much cooler response in the UK where Heat of the Moment and Only Time Will Tell peaked at #46 and #54 respectively.
I enjoyed this post and listening to the music from my young days.... let me know your thoughts on Asia.
Footnote: This project was inspired by the publication “The 100 Best Selling Albums of the 80’s” authored jointly by Peter Dodds, Justin Crawthorne, Chris Barret and Dan Auty and published by Amber Books (ISBN: 1-904867-12-1).This and other great music inspired books can be found on their website www.amberbooks.co.uk
