Music Bloodline

Asia

Prog rock supergroup of the 1980s who had a flurry of pop hits.

Biography

Splintering off from some of the most influential prog-rock bands of the 1970s (Yes, King Crimson, ELP), the members of Asia converged in the early '80s as a globe-conquering supergroup. Their sound mixed straightforward, commercial pop/rock riffs and hooks with a more sophisticated progressive-rock sensibility, and they scored a batch of huge hits in the early '80s ("Heat of the Moment," "Only Time Will Tell," etc.). Eventually various members wandered off (Greg Lake even replaced John Wetton for a while), ultimately leaving keyboardist Geoff Downes as the only original member. Downes soldiered on for decades with a variety of bandmates, logging a considerable number of concert tours and album releases.