Asia
was one of those early 80s supergroups with members coming from Yes, King
Crimson, Emerson Lake and Palmer, and the Buggles. Aside from the band's music,
one key element was the cover art by English painter Roger Dean who followed
guitarist Steve Howe to Asia.
I
remember being so struck by the cover of the debut album of Asia with the
dragon chasing the orb. At the time of it's release, there were only two stores
in Manila that sold this -- Sam's outside San Lo Village and Odyssey
Greenhills. They fetched for P120 pesos which was a princely sum then as local
records sold for only P24!
I got
my copy outside Clark Airbase for -- P50!
Anyways,
as a painter first and a writer later, I loved Dean's art. He helped open me up
to these flights of fantasy and to date, I have not gone overboard! I bought a
bunch of art books with all these fantasy paintings later on during my
advertising years.
Now
there's a story to the first three albums of Asia. Each character is reaching
out for something -- (Asia) the dragon to this orb representing wisdom, (Alpha)
the eagle searching for prey for sustenance, and (Astra) the robot reaching
out; searching for its identity.
Thinking
about the Astra cover, at the time of this album's release they were no longer
the band that they were. John Wetton was fired then brought back. Steve Howe
left. Truly, the band was searching for its identity!
But
in spite of all the problems and changes, I remained a fan.
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