Adorkable: Early photo shoots of the Aqua era line up show that John Payne first came into the band wearing a sleeveless leather outfit with buckskin fringes, hair that would've looked more at home in a glam metal act, combined with a decorated top hat. See it in all of its goofy glory here.
Archive Panic: Asia has 13 studio albums plus the Archiva duology, but it can be difficult to go much deeper than that. There's a multitude of B-sides and bonus tracks from various albums, acoustic versions, radio edits and alternate mixes of songs only available on obscure CD singles, and the non-album tracks "Kari-Anne" and "Gypsy Soul". The hardest of all to obtain would be the trilogy of Armada fan club CDs, which are so obscure that even pirates won't have much luck getting them. On top of all that, this band has somehow managed to release over thirty live albums up to this point, all with varying degrees of availability. It's also not easy to build up a collection of Asia albums through modern means, given that the John Payne albums, such as Aria, Arena, and Aura, have yet to be released on modern streaming services.
Broken Base: Were Alpha and Astra disappointing and overproduced cash-ins, or are they hidden gems that didn't get the chance they deserved? Consensus varies from fan to fan.
To say nothing of the John Payne era of the band, which has as many staunch critics as it has passionate defenders.
Covered Up: The instrumental "Bad Asteroid" is usually credited as an original by The Aristocrats. But in reality, it was first penned as part of Asia's live set in the early 2000s by guitarist Guthrie Govan, originally appearing on Armada 1. After Govan was let go from Asia, he joined The Aristocrats (coincidentally another supergroup), where they finally recorded a studio version of the song on their self-titled debut.
Critical Dissonance: Asia has never been much of a critical darling. Even the debut album, despite all of its accolades, was considered disappointing by several critics for being a step too far into poppy arena rock compared to the complex, progressive work the band members were known for. This got amplified further with Alpha, a platinum seller that critics were even more harsh towards.
For guitar: "Heat of the Moment", "Cutting it Fine", "Never in a Million Years", "Kari-Anne", "Remembrance Day", "Tell Me Why", "Rise", "Never Again", "Finger on the Trigger", and "I Would Die For You".
For keyboard/piano: "Here Comes the Feeling", "After the War", "Who Will Stop the Rain?", "Never", "Forgive Me", "Under the Gun", "End of the World", "I Believe", "Tomorrow the World", "Ghost of a Chance", and "Heaven Help Me Now".
For both: "Only Time Will Tell", "Don't Cry", "Open Your Eyes", "Go", "U Bring Me Down", and "Free".
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Despite falling out of favor in America and the UK, Asia managed to keep a steady following in Japan and Germany throughout the 90s. Geoff Downes indicated on Armada 3 that they were even playing sold out stadium shows in 1992, well after their chart success had waned in most other places.
Harsher in Hindsight: "The Closer I Get to You" from 2014's Gravitas has the line "It’s like cancer, it’s consuming my soul". Just under three years later, John Wetton passed away from colon cancer.
Hilarious in Hindsight: In the 70s, John Wetton replaced Greg Lake as one of King Crimson's singers. Then in the 80s, albeit very briefly, Greg Lake replaced John Wetton as Asia's singer.
Signature Song: "Heat of the Moment" for the Wetton era, "Who Will Stop the Rain?" for the Payne era.
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