1991.E2.80.932006: Downes.2FPayne era Asia (band)

john payne (pictured in 2011) replaced john wetton asia s frontman between 1991 , 2006, , continues perform spin-off group, asia featuring john payne.

after wetton s departure, vocalist/bassist john payne joined band and, downes, enlisted new musicians , led asia through 2006. first album lineup aqua, released in june 1992. in addition downes , payne, album featured howe, palmer, , guitarist al pitrelli (of danger danger, megadeth , alice cooper). howe returned during sessions having left yes again, palmer leave soon, committing elp reunion, , able play on 3 songs. drummers simon phillips , nigel glockler completed sessions. downes environmentalist single stop rain? (originally written max bacon , aborted rain project, later appearing on bacon s album banks of river irwell) attracted radio attention. aqua club tour featured howe (whose presence heavily promoted), took stage after fifth song. tour successful enough warrant band s continuation. 1992–93 tour featured downes, howe, payne, guitarist vinny burns , drummer trevor thornton. before european festival tour in late 1993, howe , burns left , replaced guitarist keith more.

the group released aria in may 1994, featured lead guitarist al pitrelli once again, leave asia during short aria tour. aria album did not fare commercially , ensuing tour limited 4 concerts. ex-simply red guitarist aziz ibrahim took on during tour. aria introduced new drummer michael sturgis, had been involved during band s aborted 1987 reunion , had appeared on of sessions aqua. aria not released in united states until may 1995.

over new year s eve 1995/1996, broken pipe inundated control room in downes , payne s recording studio, electric palace, in london. amid lost equipment, vault containing unreleased material found intact. band decided release material in 2 discs, archiva vol. 1 , archiva vol. 2. archiva sets collections of unreleased tracks recorded during first 3 downes/payne albums.

next, arena, released in february 1996, featured downes, payne, sturgis, ibrahim , guest guitarist elliott randall (ex-steely dan, , randy crawford). album released on resurgence records there no tour because of lack of interest. group s lone promotional performance in conjunction album occurred on 19 april 1996, when downes , payne appeared guitarist elliott randall on virgin fm radio programme alive in london play song never .

an acoustic album, live acoustic, recorded group @ stadthalle, bruchsal, germany on 21 september 1997 (and released in december 1999) featured lineup of downes, payne, ibrahim, , drummer bob richards.

in 1999 there talk of reunion of original lineup minus howe. original proposition included dave kilminster on guitar, had toured , recorded wetton. while howe interested in participating, unable because of busy schedule yes. reunion did not take place , john payne continued carry on asia downes uninterrupted. wetton , palmer did, however, form qango, included kilminster , john young, although band short-lived. kilminster went on work keith emerson, nice , roger waters. in 2000, geffen/universal released best-of entitled best of asia: heat of moment (1982–1990), included 3 rare b-sides days. in may 2000 band put out instrumentals album called rare.

asia in 2001; left-to-right: downes, payne, chris slade , guthrie govan

2001 s aura featured 3 different session guitarists, including ian crichton (of canadian progressive rock band saga) d briefly joined asia in 1998–1999. aura took more progressive rock form, still did not recapture commercial success of first album. former members howe, thrall, sturgis , elliott randall made guest appearances. single ready go home barely distributed. asia signed recognition records. 2001 did see band stable lineup, achieved during aura sessions featuring downes, payne, guitarist guthrie govan , ex-manfred mann s earth band/the firm/uriah heep/gary numan/ac/dc drummer chris slade (who had first joined asia in 1999, briefly).

in 2001 , 2002 asia toured first time since 1994, including first united states dates since 1993. live album , dvd, both titled america: live in usa, released in 2003, recorded @ classic rock productions classic rock festival @ patriots theater @ trenton war memorial in trenton, new jersey on 5 october 2002, co-headlined uriah heep.

in summer of 2003, downes , payne undertook asia across america tour , received media attention. performing unplugged , duo reportedly play anywhere in united states fans requested, provided there venue , fans put $3,000 cover costs.

marking departure convention, first time studio release not titled single word starting , ending letter (excepting partial compilation / partial new album & now). released on asia s newly signed label spv/inside out records, 2004 s silent nation (name influenced howard stern vs. fcc incident) picked unexpected exposure on internet.

in 2004 acoustic asia toured once again featuring downes , payne. in 2005 full band toured in europe , americas playing settings ranging small clubs medium-sized theatres. in united states attendance poor @ best.

in august 2005 slade left asia replaced drummer jay schellen. new band started work on album, tentatively entitled architect of time, planned release in 2006, though subsequent developments cause project shelved. half of material ended being released on album window soul in august of 2006 under new band name of gps, acronym 3 players involved: govan, payne , schellen. after this, 3 continued on asia featuring john payne in 2007.

meanwhile, wetton , downes had released archival asia material under name wetton/downes in september 2002 , reunited record full-length album (icon, released in august 2005) , accompanying ep , dvd. 2 additional icon projects have since followed: icon ii: rubicon (november 2006) , icon 3 (march 2009).