Rare [soundtrack]

Although billed as an Asia, this release is in reality more of a solo album by Geoff Downes and John Payne. The material is music that the two of them composed for soundtracks (track 1 to 16 were recorded in 1997 for the documentary "Salmon - Against The Tides" and 17 to 22 for a Sega unreleased video game). The music comes across as somewhat repetitive and tedious from time to time, but is intriguing nonetheless. It has a lot more classical tendencies than the type of progressive rock-oriented pop for which Asia is usually known. All of the material is purely instrumental. Although all of the pieces are quite brief, they work well together and create a cohesive texture through the use of common themes. Although this might not be a disc that you would sit down and listen to, it would make good background music, and it does showcase the talent of these two musicians. — Gary Hill.