On The Road Again: Asia "Then & Now"

viernes, 28 de julio de 2017

Asia "Then & Now"

Then & Now is British rock band Asia's half fourth studio/half first greatest hits album. The six tracks 1–5 and 10 are from earlier albums ("Then"), while the four tracks 6–9 inclusive are new recordings ("Now"). It was released on 14 August 1990 in the United States by Geffen Records.

The record debuted at No. 114 on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified Gold by the RIAA on 23 July 1998. "Days Like These", written by the former band leader for The Unforgiven, Steve Jones, received airplay on FM radio and made it to No. 2 on the American Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

Then & Now received mixed reactions by music critics.

Tom Demalon of Allmusic, in his one-and-a-half-star review, accused Asia of inability to duplicate the success of their debut album and called the new songs "flaccid musically and insipid lyrically". But at the same time, the critic made special mention of the anthemic "Days Like These", describing it as matching the band's strong early material. Entertainment Weekly's Greg Sandow, rating Then & Now a "C", stated that the old songs such as "Heat of the Moment" and "Don't Cry" "are empty symphonic rock, full of strings and predictable melodic hooks", while the new songs "aren't as lush", "hit the beat a little harder, but in essence [they're] just as bland".

Track listing

All tracks written by John Wetton and Geoff Downes, except where noted.

Side one: Then