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Thread: New Asia Box Set

  1. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by Top Cat View Post
    Geoff writes some really good earwormy keyboard lines, and when I listen to him playing Asia music versus the Yes(Wakeman and Kaye) keyboard parts, it's like a totally different keyboardist who underplays everything in Yes, and I find it very sad, because he to me is a very good player and has an ear for some cool synth textures when he lets go.
    But even in this concert DVD, his keyboard mix seems too low for me and energy underwhelming.
    Thanks for saying that. It's nice to hear someone say something positive about Geoff's keyboard playing; that seems to be pretty rare, at least to me.

    IMO he is a very good musician, but not really suited for the style of a lot of Yes music. That being said, his work on Drama was great and it's still one of my favorite Yes records.

  2. #27
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    Downes is a great textural player- I really rate what he did on Drama and the Asia debut. I don't think Wakeman's more florid style is Downes' speciality. But I didn't really like what Moraz did live on most of the Wakeman/Kaye material either.

  3. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by aith01 View Post
    Thanks for saying that. It's nice to hear someone say something positive about Geoff's keyboard playing; that seems to be pretty rare, at least to me.

    IMO he is a very good musician, but not really suited for the style of a lot of Yes music. That being said, his work on Drama was great and it's still one of my favorite Yes records.
    I really agree a lot with you regarding Drama and for me, Fly From Here as well.(Two of my favorite non Jon A Yes albums).
    Which leads me to believe when he is writing original material and recording it he totally rocks it. But for some reason the Yes material he wasn't involved in, his playing is very subdued.

    Igor totally nails the keyboards in the House of Blues concert, and makes the parts and synth textures his own, so did Tom Brislen for the Magnification concert on DVD, and don't forget Oliver Wakeman. I haven't seen any shows with Moraz, so I don't know how well he made the live keyboard parts his own.
    Geoff also shows off his chops for the Braides/Downes albums. Wonderful composer and ear for synth textures and melodies, but with Yes..I don't get chills.
    Love you Geoff!
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  4. #29
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    Some people, like myself, dislike learning covers and its a chore. I would be hard pressed to remember how to play any of the covers I used to do on keys back in the day. But I could play one of our originals even now, 25 yrs on

    Geoff may be similar - those tunz are covers for him

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  5. #30
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    i guess Gravitas was on a different label

  6. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by BravadoNJ View Post
    i guess Gravitas was on a different label
    No it was the same label. But not the original reunion lineup.
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  7. #32
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    I don't remember Gravitas- which I don't own- getting that much discussion. I remember seeing the promo for 'Valkyrie' but that was it. It's probably because Howe left by then.

  8. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by JJ88 View Post
    I don't remember Gravitas- which I don't own- getting that much discussion. I remember seeing the promo for 'Valkyrie' but that was it. It's probably because Howe left by then.
    I don't own Gravitas either. I have the three reunion albums, which I think range from good to very good. The reason I passed on Gravitas was not because of Howe's absence, but because the "old Wetton/Downes collaboration", which the first-mentioned gentleman hailed in the liner notes, failed to produce a single really memorable tune and the execution had none of the energy or sparkle of the previous album. IMO, of course.

  9. #34
    Studmuffin Scott Bails's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kai View Post
    I don't own Gravitas either. I have the three reunion albums, which I think range from good to very good. The reason I passed on Gravitas was not because of Howe's absence, but because the "old Wetton/Downes collaboration", which the first-mentioned gentleman hailed in the liner notes, failed to produce a single really memorable tune and the execution had none of the energy or sparkle of the previous album. IMO, of course.
    Wetton and Downes wrote most of Asia's material, but Howe's guitar parts are what made them unique, IMO.

    I never understood why, when Howe wasn't in the band, they replaced him with the most generic guitarists available (except for Guthrie Govan).
    Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally

  10. #35
    Quote Originally Posted by aith01 View Post
    Thanks for saying that. It's nice to hear someone say something positive about Geoff's keyboard playing; that seems to be pretty rare, at least to me.

    IMO he is a very good musician, but not really suited for the style of a lot of Yes music. That being said, his work on Drama was great and it's still one of my favorite Yes records.
    His keyboard playing on Drama and the first two Asia albums was great.. never heard the same intensity from him on any of the Yes catalog since he rejoined the band..

  11. #36
    Member Rajaz's Avatar
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    Gravitas for me seems like another ICON album. Howe's guitar textures and sharp solos are gone and Palmer really has not much influence in this album either. I own it because I'm a big John Wetton fan but not that much of Downes.

    What is puzzling is why they chose a relatively unknown guitarist in Sam Coulson when they could have had Guthrie Govan who not only is brilliant (saw him with Asia in 2001)and well known but maybe he was not interested or available.
    Govan later joined another John Payne Asia clone called PSG - that band also had Jan Schellen and Ryo Okumoto which could have gone very far but did not get the recognition they deserved.

  12. #37
    Quote Originally Posted by Rajaz View Post
    What is puzzling is why they chose a relatively unknown guitarist in Sam Coulson when they could have had Guthrie Govan who not only is brilliant (saw him with Asia in 2001)and well known but maybe he was not interested or available.
    Govan later joined another John Payne Asia clone called PSG - that band also had Jan Schellen and Ryo Okumoto which could have gone very far but did not get the recognition they deserved.
    It's GPS, not PSG (that's Paris St. Germain) – I could imagine that after the Downes-Payne split there was a careful separation of ‚manpower‘ and a choosing of sides you wanted to continue to work with.
    Or it's down to simple logistics: who lives where and how do schedules align.
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  13. #38
    Another good example of Downes' talents both as a keyboardist and songwriter is DBA. The production on those albums is too slick and processed for my taste, but the songwriting is really good, and the balance they strike between art-pop, prog, atmospheric textures and a bit of AOR is very appealing to me. I think if those albums had been produced to sound a bit more band-like and natural, they would have been complete winners.

  14. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jacob Holm-Lupo View Post
    Another good example of Downes' talents both as a keyboardist and songwriter is DBA. The production on those albums is too slick and processed for my taste, but the songwriting is really good, and the balance they strike between art-pop, prog, atmospheric textures and a bit of AOR is very appealing to me. I think if those albums had been produced to sound a bit more band-like and natural, they would have been complete winners.
    Completely agree. It's only been this year that I have begun listening to DBA with the new Halcyon Hymns release. It is definitely produced in a more pop fashion but I find the playing fantastic and the music shows off Downes's strengths as a composer and player. Braide's vocals are excellent. DBA is by far my favorite Downes project currently.

  15. #40
    Studmuffin Scott Bails's Avatar
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    I liked DBA right away, with their first album, but I think Halcyon Hymns is their best. It has more of a "band" feel to it.
    Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally

  16. #41
    Member Rajaz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sphinx View Post
    It's GPS, not PSG (that's Paris St. Germain) – I could imagine that after the Downes-Payne split there was a careful separation of ‚manpower‘ and a choosing of sides you wanted to continue to work with.
    Or it's down to simple logistics: who lives where and how do schedules align.
    Thanks for the typo correction, but the letters still add up, je je ;-) oh well, PSG got eliminated anyway and it will be an all British Champions final!

  17. #42
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rajaz View Post
    Gravitas for me seems like another ICON album. Howe's guitar textures and sharp solos are gone and Palmer really has not much influence in this album either. I own it because I'm a big John Wetton fan but not that much of Downes.
    I've been spinning Gravitas a lot over the last year. I think it is their best album in terms of basking in the glow of Wetton's voice particularly when his vocals are chorused like on Valkyrie and Gravitas. Dozens of Wettons! I agree the guitarist and Palmer add nothing but it is still a great listen. Should I check out an ICON album given I like this one?

  18. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by arturs View Post
    I've been spinning Gravitas a lot over the last year. I think it is their best album in terms of basking in the glow of Wetton's voice particularly when his vocals are chorused like on Valkyrie and Gravitas. Dozens of Wettons! I agree the guitarist and Palmer add nothing but it is still a great listen. Should I check out an ICON album given I like this one?
    I would recommend that you listen their live album "Urban Psalm". It has a bunch of Asia songs but also their ICON material, enjoy:

    https://music.youtube.com/playlist?l...nySv8xxVfY3hl4

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