''Asia'' is the debut studio album by English rock

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, released in 1982. According to both ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' and '' Cashbox'', it was the #1 album in the United States for the year 1982. It contains their biggest hit " Heat of the Moment", which reached #4 in the US on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart.

Artwork

Asia's logo and cover artwork were created by Roger Dean, known for his work with

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...

(of which guitarist

Steve Howe Stephen James Howe (born 8 April 1947) is an English musician, best known as the guitarist in the progressive rock band Yes across three stints since 1970. Born in Holloway, North London, Howe developed an interest in the guitar and began to l ...

and keyboard player

Geoff Downes Geoffrey Downes (born 25 August 1952) is an English keyboardist who gained fame as a member of the new wave group The Buggles with Trevor Horn, the progressive rock band Yes, and the supergroup Asia. Born in Stockport, Downes moved to London ...

were previous members) and Uriah Heep (of which bassist/vocalist

John Wetton John Kenneth Wetton (12 June 1949 – 31 January 2017) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. Known for his dexterous bass playing and booming baritone voice, Wetton first gained fame in the early 1970s. Wetton was the singer and p ...

had previously been a member). The debut album's art depicts a

sea serpent A sea serpent or sea dragon is a type of dragon sea monster described in various mythologies, most notably Mesopotamian (Tiamat), Judaeo-Christian (Leviathan), Greek (Cetus, Echidna, Hydra, Scylla), and Norse (Jörmungandr). Mythology and folk ...

gazing into a

crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

orb. There was a concern that having Dean do the cover would produce something that looked too much like his famed artwork for Yes, but Howe and Downes pushed for his involvement. Geffen's

John Kalodner John David Kalodner is a retired American A&R (artists and repertoire) executive. History John David Kalodner was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was a writer and photographer at ''Concert'' magazine. He went on to be a photographer for v ...

did not initially like Dean's logo for the band.

Critical reception

Since its release, ''Asia'' has received highly mixed reception, largely due to a more commercial and pop-oriented sound as opposed to

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

, given the past of the group's members.

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

blasted the album, and particularly its lyrics. He stated that it had been a rare occasion that "a big new group is bad enough to sink your teeth into any more" and called the album "pompous – schlock in the grand manner". On the other side, in a ''

'' review, it was favourably noted that "the caliber of the and'splaying is superb and the music sounds fresh and perfect fare for AOR". In a retrospective review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, Tom Demalon awarded ''Asia'' four-and-a-half out of five, saying that "there's no denying the epic grandeur of the music, which provided some much-needed muscle to radio at the time, and did so with style".

Commercial performance

Upon its release in March 1982, ''Asia'' reached #1 in the US and spent nine weeks at the top of the ''

'' album chart. ''Asia'' was certified 4x-platinum in the US by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on 10 February 1995. It was the best-selling album of 1982 in the US. In the band's native UK, ''Asia'' did not perform as well as in the US, peaking only at #11 and spent a total of 38 weeks in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. The record received a gold status in Britain on 18 October 1982. "Heat of the Moment" climbed to No. 46. ''Asias total worldwide sales are estimated at over ten million copies.

2010 Audio Fidelity remastered edition

In 2010, Audio Fidelity released a 24 Karat Gold CD (AFZ 068) remaster of the album, mastered by Kevin Gray.

Track listing

Personnel

Asia

– lead vocal, bass guitar *

– keyboard, vocals *

– guitars, vocals *

Carl Palmer Carl Frederick Kendall Palmer (born 20 March 1950) is an English drummer best known as founding member and the last surviving member of the progressive rock supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer. He was also a founding member of progressive rock s ...

– drums, percussion

Technical personnel

* Mike Stone – producer, engineer * Roger Dean – cover design *

Brian Griffin H. Brian Griffinas shown in Brian Griffin's House of Payne is a fictional character from the American animated television series ''Family Guy''. An anthropomorphic white labrador retriever voiced by Seth MacFarlane, he is one of the show's mai ...

– inner sleeve photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time chart

Certifications

References

External links

The official Asia web site
{{Authority control Asia (band) albums 1982 debut albums Geffen Records albums Albums produced by Mike Stone (record producer) Albums with cover art by Roger Dean (artist)