Classic Music Review

A Return Trip to Asia’s ‘Alpha’ Album

Their debut album was a hard to act to follow — but Asia followed it incredibly well with this great album

Asia’s eponymously titled first album was released on March 8, 1982. To say that it was a hit would be a massive understatement.

The album was HUGE.

Not only did it contain the hit singles “Heat Of The Moment” and “Only Time Will Tell,” but it also featured songs like “Soul Survivor” and “Wildest Dreams” which were massive hits on Mainstream Rock radio stations. The Asia album was the best-selling album of 1982 in the U.S. and since its release, it’s estimated that it has sold over 10 million copies worldwide.

Do you know something? I feel kind of weird mentioning “Heat Of The Moment” and “Only Time Will Tell” and not sharing the classic music videos for them.

So let me change that.

Heat Of The Moment

Only Time Will Tell

Ah! I feel much better now!

Because of the incredible success of their debut album, Asia was urged by their record label to record a second album as soon as possible. I’ve read multiple reports over the years that some of the band’s members felt that the process of writing and recording the follow-up album was a little more rushed than they would have preferred, but they did it anyway.

The end result was the album Alpha, which was released on July 26, 1983. Since I was a big fan of their first album, I bought Alpha just a few days after it was released. By then, the first single from it, “Don’t Cry,” was already a hit on radio and MTV.

I immediately liked Alpha — a lot! However, over the years since its release, I’ve grown to appreciate the music on it more and more. Not only is it one of my favorite albums by Asia, but I’d go so far as to rank it as one of my favorite albums by anyone. I still thoroughly enjoy it each and every time I listen to it.

Here are five of my favorite songs from the album:

Don’t Cry

The above music video, at least to me, seemed to be at least a little bit influenced by the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. It’s a fun music video for what I think is one of Asia’s greatest songs.

The Smile Has Left Your Eyes

The second single released from Alpha was the ballad “The Smile Has Left Your Eyes.” As soon as I heard it, I was blown away by the lead vocals by John Wetton. He sings the song with a lot of passion! It almost sounds like his heart was breaking as lyrics came soaring out of his mouth.

Never In A Million Years

I’ve always that this song should have been released as the third single from Alpha, but alas, it wasn’t. It’s a shame! I think it’s a great rock/pop song and I think it could have been a big hit.

My Own Time (I’ll Do What I Want)

I suppose this one would mostly be considered a ‘slow song,’ but there is some fantastic Rock and Roll music being played here by each of the members of Asia.

By the way, the line-up of Asia on this album and on the first album was:

John Wetton — Lead vocals and bass Steve Howe — Guitars Geoff Downes — Keyboards Carl Palmer — Drums

As I wrote above, I think each member shines nicely on this song. I especially enjoy the drums, guitar, keyboards, bass, and vocals on it.

Oh! That’s everything, isn’t it? Oh, well. What can I say? I love the song!

Open Your Eyes

This was the final song on Alpha. My favorite parts of it come toward the end of it, where I feel the blend of the vocals and music have sort of an eerie vibe that is somewhat hypnotic-sounding.

It’s a great rocking song and I feel it was a perfect choice to close the album with.

If you’d like to listen to the Alpha entire album, it’s very easy to locate to buy or stream. Here’s the Spotify version of it:

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