Search - Asia :: Archiva 1: Archiva 2 (Reis)

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Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 07/03/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Asia's Archiva 1 & 2 albums feature otherwise unreleased tracks from the John Payne era. If you're looking for rare Wetton/Downes collaborations, you won't find them here. I happen to think Asia released some of their best material with Payne on board, so this collection was a must-have for me.



The songs range in quality from fair to excellent. Some of them are quite excellent, and are as good as you'd expect to find on a regular Asia studio album. Others are clearly B-side material (though still pretty decent). There are only a couple of songs that you hear and think "I can see how that one got cut from an album". Overall, this is a very nice collection of songs that should please die-hard Asia fans.



Both Archiva albums were released separately, though never in a format worthy of the material. While this particular package collects both discs, you're better off buying the far superior 2005 Special Edition release by InsideOut, which collects both Archiva albums in a slipcase, features digitally remastered sound, and includes bonus tracks - all for the price of a single disc. What more could you ask for?

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