Geoff Downes – Metal Express Radio

YES (Live)

June 27, 2022 Mick Burgess

It’s not unheard of for a graphic artist to appear as a special guest at a Rock show. Of course, KISS featured David Garibaldi painting an image to music from scratch on their End Of The Road Tour. Yes, however, have taken a slightly different approach by inviting Roger Dean, creator of their world-famous logo, iconic album covers and stage sets to talk about his work as a precursor to Yes taking to the stage. Not only that, but an exhibition of his incredible artwork was held in the bar area with Dean on hand to sign anything and chat happily with awestruck fans. This show was originally intended to feature Relayer in its entirety however the small matter of Covid scuppered that plan and with 2022 marking 50 years since the release of the Prog Rock classic Close To The Edge it was decided to build an anniversary celebration around that. Prior to the band taking to the stage was a video featuring Alan White’s composition, “Turn of the Century” together with a montage of images of White behind his drum kit as a tribute to their recently departed bandmate, who had, right up until the end, intended to be part of this tour. The loss of Chester-le-Street born White was felt particularly in his local venue as fans continued to mourn their loss while paying tribute to his immense contribution not only to Yes but music in general. With a show split into two distinct halves, the first section covered Yes classics from across their catalogue opening with “On The Silent Wings Of Freedom” before heading into “Yours Is No Disgrace” With guitarist Steve Howe, in typical unorthodox style leading from the front with some stunning, dextrous fretwork particularly through his solo acoustic piece, “Clap” while lead singer …READ MORE

GEOFF DOWNES (YES/ASIA): “Most People Would Cite Close To The Edge As THE Classic YES Album”

June 17, 2022 Mick Burgess

He first made his name with Trevor Horn in The Buggles with the smash hit single “Video Killed The Radio Star” and then shocked the Prog Rock world by joining YES for their 1980 release Drama, before going onto form Prog supergroup ASIA in 1982. It’s been more than 10 years since he returned to YES and now, they are touring to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their classic album, Close To The Edge. Mick Burgess called up Geoff Downes to talk about the tour and also about the new archive live release from Asia, Asia In Asia: Live at the Budokan, Tokyo 1983. How have the last couple of years been for you? It’s been weird and everybody has had to adjust in their own way. It’s not been too bad for me in terms of creativity. I’ve kept writing and exchanging ideas and songs over the internet so I’ve been able to get a few albums done in the space of that time. It’s nothing compared to taking it out live and that’s what we’ve been missing. We’re hopefully over that now and looking forward to going back out again. You’ve had almost two years off the road due to the Covid restrictions. Is that the longest you’ve gone without performing live? I think it probably is. It’s actually been longer than that for us because we finished our last tour in August 2019 which is almost 3 years now which at my age is a long time. The forthcoming UK tour will be our first shows since then. We were intending on playing in Europe first but it was just too difficult as there were too many restrictions. Talking of touring you’ll be on the road in the UK for a 10-date tour starting in Glasgow on …READ MORE

YES (Live)

March 19, 2018 Mick Burgess

It was never meant to be like this. Wasn’t Punk supposed to have burned brightly but briefly to consign the dinosaurs of Prog Rock to the waste bin of musical history? How wrong those experts were as Prog titans, YES, were back in the region to celebrate an incredible half century in the business. With no support, this was all about YES and a celebration of 50 years of ground-breaking music across two main sets. Opening with Yours Is No Disgrace from their 1969 self-titled debut release, YES were straight into the thick of it. This was a classic YES; a multi-faceted epic with Billy Sherwood’s bubbling bass and Steve Howe’s dexterous guitar runs twisting and turning at every possible moment and Geoff Downes adding layer upon layer of atmospheric keyboards over the top. Close your eyes for a moment and you’d swear original singer Jon Anderson was in the room such was the precision of John Davison’s vocals. Now wonder the Foo Fighter’s Taylor Hawkins, was so keen to recommend his childhood friend to the band at every opportunity and Davison did not disappoint. I’ve Seen All Good People and Wonderous Stories are probably the closest YES get to commerciality. Howe’s mandolin combined with the exquisite three-part vocal harmonies and atmospheric lighting and three huge video screens created quite a stunning ambience. One of the biggest cheers of the night was Davison’s tribute to the sadly departed original bassist Chris Squire who was the heartbeat of YES and the one constant member throughout the whole of their history. That Squire personally chose Billy Sherwood as his replacement is testament to his contribution to the band as his pulsating bass along with the layered church organ of Downes created an imposing wall of sound during Parallels. With Set 1 closing …READ MORE

GEOFF DOWNES (YES/ASIA) Talks YES, Their 50th Anniversary Tour And Possible New ASIA Material

February 27, 2018 Mick Burgess

YES hit their land mark 50th anniversary this year and will mark this with an extensive UK tour. Mick Burgess caught up with keyboardist GEOFF DOWNES to talk about the tour, replacing Rick Wakeman, recording Drama and the prospect of new Asia material. In March you embark on a 10 date UK tour are you looking forward to it? I am looking forward to it. It’s been a while since we toured the UK and it’s 50 years since we started as a band so it’s quite a milestone for us and the fact that we’ll be out there and celebrating it on home turf is even better. The tour is a celebration of 50 years of Yes. In recent tours you’ve played the likes of Close To The Edge and Drama in their entirety. How are you going to top that for this tour? It’s going to be an interesting show. We’ll be doing a potted history of Yes. We’ll try to cover as many of the albums as we can and we’ll be doing two sides from Tales From Topographic Oceans too so for Yes fans it’s going to be a monumental show. Tales from Topographic Oceans is a hugely ambitious and complex piece of music. What challenges did you face bringing that to the stage? It’s quite a learning curve performing that piece but we did do a fairly extensive tour in The States the year before last so we’ve played it live a fair few times now. It took a lot of work to get on top of it as that particular album was particularly complex even for Yes, maybe not so much in the keyboard department but more so for Jon Anderson and Steve Howe who were at the forefront of their writing partnership at …READ MORE

ASIA – XXX

July 2, 2012 Mick Burgess

It’s probably safe to say that the two albums released since the original Asia reunited in 2006 have been a little underwhelming. Sure, they each had their moments but they just seemed to lack that pomp that made their classic debut such a huge success and the laid back vibe suggested a band heading into retirement It’s been 30 years since that 10 million selling debut album sat on top of the Billboard chart for an incredible 9 consecutive weeks and Asia really needed to capture some of that spirit for their latest release. XXX is the result of some intensive song writing between Geoff Downes and John Wetton on the whole with some input from Steve Howe and the results will undoubtedly please most Asia fans. “Tomorrow The World” features all of the traits of classic Asia from the haunting piano opening to the pumping bassline of the verse and an absolute killer of a chorus. Add in a parping Geoff Downes keyboard refrain and some dynamite runs from guitarist Steve Howe and you have a bona fide Asia epic to kick things off. “Bury Me In Willow” on first listen seems to meander into middle of the road territory and just at the point you reach for the fast forward button the towering, grandiose chorus kicks in and the song takes off big time. This is definitely one that grows after repeated listens. “No Religion”, with its Magnum like verse and “Face On The Bridge” both impress with their up-tempo, pumping rhythms and big hooks. “Ghost of a Chance” that closes the album, is a classic Asia ballad that builds up as the song progresses. Steve Howe delivers a stunning, spine tingling understated solo towards the climax of the track. Howe on the whole seems to take more of …READ MORE

ASIA (Live)

November 30, 2006 Mick Burgess

It’s been quite a year for lovers of Melodic Rock, with Journey and Foreigner visiting these shores hot on the heels of successful shows by Styx and Kansas last year. It’s been a long time coming, but judging from the reaction that these bands received, it won’t be long before a return visit is made. In fact, both Journey and Styx have tours booked for 2007 in the UK. Added to the illustrious list of Melodic Rock giants hitting the touring trail is Asia. The original Asia to be more accurate, the one responsible for the multi-million selling self-titled album which topped the USA charts for 6 weeks in 1982, becoming one of the biggest selling debut albums at the time. News that John Wetton (vocals, bass), Steve Howe (guitar), Carl Palmer (drums) and Geoff Downes (keyboards) had buried the hatchet and were to play their first shows since 1982 to commemorate their 25th anniversary of getting together, caused quite a stir. After a series of successful shows in The States, it was the turn of the United Kingdom to welcome back Asia. The Carling Academy in Newcastle was respectably full by the time the classical medley blasted out from the P.A., heralding the entrance of Asia. As the strains of “Land of Hope and Glory” dissipated through the hall, Asia launched into “Time Again,” backed by three large animated video screens displaying the timeless Roger Dean Asia logo. By the time Palmer hammered the gong to end their opening track, it was clear that this was going to be some night. Drawing on the whole of their classic debut album together, with the choice cuts from the follow-up Alpha, Asia served up a 2 hour lesson in consummate musicianship. It’s difficult to single out any particular member for greater …READ MORE

Album Reviews

WETTON DOWNES – Icon: Acoustic Tv Broadcast

April 21, 2006 Mick Burgess

John Wetton and Geoff Downes have between them rather impressive musical credentials listing Family, King Crimson, Roxy Music, and Yes amongst their achievements. Perhaps they are together better known as being half of the early 80’s supergroup, Asia. A band whose debut album stayed at #1 in The States for an amazing nine weeks, going on to become one of the biggest selling debut albums of all time. Even now the self-titled Asia album is considered one of the finest in the Melodic Rock genre. Unfortunately, however, the momentum could not be maintained, and after two further studio releases, including the excellent Astra, Wetton and Asia went their separate ways. Downes continued the Asia legacy right up until earlier this year … first (and briefly) with Greg Lake, and later with John Payne, producing a fine collection of work, well worthy of the Asia legacy along the way. Wetton went on to forge a solid solo career, as well as writing songs for the likes of Cher, Heart, and David Cassidy. Last year the erstwhile colleagues joined forces once again to release Icon with the aid of John Mitchell (Arena) and Steve Christey (Jadis), which received great critical acclaim. Much water has passed under the bridge since then, namely the news that the original members of Asia were hooking up for a 25th Anniversary reunion, with dates already confirmed for shows in The States later this year. To keep appetites whetted on the Wetton Downes front comes Icon: The Acoustic TV Broadcast, available on CD and DVD. Recorded in the BBC studios back in October 2005, and featuring a collection of stripped-down acoustic interpretations of the Asia back catalogue, along with the choice cuts from the Icon album. Visually, the DVD is filmed in a very sparse studio, akin to …READ MORE

Interview with Geoff Downes (Asia)

April 18, 2006 Mick Burgess

Metal Express Radio recently caught up with Geoff Downes from Asia for what turned out to be one of his last interviews before the big Asia reunion announcement. How did your recent UK tour go? We only got to play 45 minutes on that tour, which is quite short for us, but that’s what we were allotted. We played all over the UK, in Sheffield, Bristol, Manchester, and places like that, and we finished at the Astoria in London. We then headed off to Europe with Heep (Uriah Heep) and this time with Dio headlining. It was a great line-up for the fans. The ticket sales were really good. Dio was pretty heavy duty stuff but it really suited us to play with them and Heep. We’ve played with Heep before in the past, so we get on pretty well them. Dio is one of John’s favorite rock singers, so he was pretty excited about that. He’s still singing so well. You know a lot of the old rockers, their range and power diminishes with age, but Dio still has it. Paul Rodgers is another case in point, he’s hasn’t lost any range or tone. He’s been playing with Queen, which seemed a strange combination as he’s more Bluesy, whereas Freddie was more Operatic, but he’s still got a great voice. The tour with Uriah Heep is a real treat for the fans, who are effectively getting twice the value for their money. How did this come about? We had been looking to get onto a bill with another band rather than for us to go onto our own club dates, to hopefully raise our profile and play to people who might not otherwise come to see us, or might not actually be aware that we are still out here, …READ MORE

Album Reviews

JOHN WETTON/GEOFFREY DOWNES – Icon

August 2, 2005 Scott Jeslis

Icon is the new release that reunites Asia main men John Wetton (Vocals, Bass) and Geoffrey Downes (Keyboards). It’s hard to believe that Asia’s first release was in 1982, and that that album remained number one for nine weeks on the USA charts. The second and third Asia albums were also big sellers worldwide, and delivered several hit singles of their own. It’s with similar fervor that listeners should have the same high expectations for this newest collaboration. The opening track, “Let Me Go,” led by an operatic opening (“Overture – Paradox”), which fades into a snare roll and thumping bass, will have all fans of Asia saying “Rejoice! The Progressive Pomp Rock Masters are back!” The entire song just oozes with melodic goodness, especially when the catchy multi-layered chorus kicks in. Supplement this with guitar accompaniment by John Mitchell (Arena, Kino) and the end result is one massive anthem. This track leaves little doubt that two of the masters of Progressive Pomp are indeed back. This song demands to be placed on auto-replay several times … it’s that good! After catching your breath from “Let Me Go,” you’ll wonder how these gents will top themselves next. Sadly, the answer is they don’t. All the remaining tracks seem less Progressive and less Pomp. It’s no wonder why Frontiers Records decided to use “Let Me Go” as the song of choice for their Web site’s intro, which touted this release! It’s the most upbeat of the lot. “I Stand Alone” and “Hey Josephine” have reasonable chances of being hits as they contain some of the elements that make “Let Me Go” great. But, in the end, they just don’t have the same anthem-like “Pompitude” and memorable chorus lines. Sadly, without more tracks of the same caliber as “Let Me Go,” it’s …READ MORE

ASIA – Arena [Reissue]

August 1, 2005 Odd Inge Rand

Asia’s last album of the 90s surfaced in 1996, and it, of course, started with another A-word, as the album was called Arena. After 1994’s Aria, Al Pitrelli left to join Savatage, and Arena features no less than three guitarists: Aziz Ibrahim, Hotei Tomayasu, and guitar legend Elliott Randall, known from Steely Dan, amongst others. The album follows the trail of quality releases from the genius of Geoff Downes and John Payne in the 90s. After a jazzy intro, “Into The Arena” kicks off in familiar style, with big choruses and catchy lines. One of the finest choruses in Asia’s history is found on the next track, “Heaven.” With great backup vocals, this track is an AOR masterpiece; timeless and classic. “Two Sides Of The Moon” is another great track, not far away from Saga’s sound. However, the Reggae outro on this track is a whole different story. Further on, “Day Before The War” is Arena‘s definitive masterpiece of the more Progressive kind. It’s a superb track penned by Downes and Payne with great lyrics and arrangements. Throughout the years, the Asia name has been linked to great individuals, and “Never” offers some great guitar work, while “Falling” shows drummer Michael Sturgis’ unique feel. Arena‘s first seven tracks qualify as one of their greatest releases ever, but the album doesn’t go all the way, as the last tracks are more of the average kind. Still, Arena closes Asia’s 90s period, a difficult decade for many mature rockers that Asia carried out pretty well.