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The season of art-rock peaked with the supergroups of the late 1970s,
of which UK was the most important. It consisted of keyboardist and violinist
Eddie Jobson (Roxy Music),
guitarist Allan Holdsworth (Nucleus),
bassist John Wetton (Family and King Crimson),
and drummer Bill Bruford (Yes).
UK (Polydor, 1978) featured the suite
In The Dead Of The Night.
Bruford and Holdsworth left before Danger Money (1979), the others
disbanded after that album.
While technically impeccable, their songs displayed little emotion and sounded
a little dated, as far as progressive-rock went.
Wetton,
after working on the solo albums Jacknife (EG, 1979) and Caught In The Crossfire (EG, 1980),
joined a new supergroup, Asia, that featured
drummer Carl Palmer (EL & P),
Steve Howe (Yes),
and Geoff Downes (Buggles).
Asia (Giffen, 1982) offered a mixture of heavy and soft rock
(Heat Of The Moment)
Alpha (1983)
and
Astra (1985), without Howe,
were pure routine.
Wetton also worked on Wetton Manzanera (Geffen, 1987) with Roxy Music's
Phil Manzanera.
Then & Now (1990) contains a selection of songs from the first three albums ("Then") and some new songs ("Now").
Asia reformed (but without Wetton) to release the indecent
Aqua (JRS, 1992) and only Downes was left of the original founders
on Aria (1995) and Arena (Resurgence, 1996).
In the meantime bassist John Wetton,
relocated to California, launched his solo career in earnest with
Battle Lines (Eclipse, 1994),
Chasing The Dragon (Eclipse, 1995), a selection of live performances,
Akustika (Blueprint, 1996), an acoustic selection of his old material,
and Arkangel (Eagle Rock, 1997), the first real studio album since
1994.
Wetton then flooded the market with several live albums and with
Chasing The Deer (Blueprint, 1998),
Hazy Monet (Blueprint, 1998),
Monkey Business (Blueprint, 1998),
Welcome To Heaven (Avalon, 2000).
In 2000 Wetton, Carl Palmer, keyboardist John Young and guitarist Dave Kilminster formed Qango.
John Wetton & Geoff Downes (Stallion, 2001) also collaborated on a new
album.
Then the original lineup reformed Asia for
Phoenix (2008),
Omega (2010),
XXX (2012) and
Gravitas (2014).
Few bands have wasted so much talent in such a shameless manner.
John Wetton died in 2017 after releasing the solo albums
Voice Mail / Battle Lines (1994),
Arkangel (1997),
Welcome to Heaven / Sinister (2000),
Rock of Faith (2003), and
Raised in Captivity (2011).
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Stefano Iardella)
La stagione dell'art-rock culminò con i supergruppi dei tardi anni '70,
il più importante dei quali furono gli UK, composto dal tastierista e violinista Eddie Jobson (Roxy Music),
dal chitarrista Allan Holdsworth (Nucleus),
dal bassista John Wetton (Family and King Crimson),
e dal batterista Bill Bruford (Yes).
UK (Polydor, 1978) contiene la suite In The Dead Of The Night. Bruford e
Holdsworth abbandonarono prima di Danger Money (1979), gli altri dopo quell'album.
Tecnicamente impeccabili, quegli album mostravano tuttavia scarsa emozione e suonavano un poco datati, per quel che riguarda il progressive rock.
Wetton, dopo lavorato come solista su Jacknife (EG, 1979) e Caught In The Crossfire (EG, 1980) si unì al nuovo supergruppo Asia, con il batterista Carl Palmer (EL & P),
Steve Howe (Yes)
e Geoff Downes (Buggles). Asia (Geffen, 1982) offre un
misto di heavy e soft rock (Heat Of The Moment).
Alpha (1983) e Astra (1985), senza Howe, furono album terribili. Wetton lavorò anche su Wetton Manzanera (Geffen, 1987) assieme a Phil Manzanera dei Roxy Music.
Then & Now contiene una selezione di canzoni dai primi tre album ("Then") e alcune nuove canzoni ("Now")
Gli Asia si riformarono (ma senza Wetton) per pubblicare l'indecente Aqua (JRS, 1992) e dei membri fondatori rimase solo Downes su Aria (1995) e Arena (Resurgence, 1996).
(Translation by/ Tradotto da Gianluca Mantovan e Stefano Iardella)
Nel frattempo il bassista John Wetton, trasferitosi in California, lanciò sul serio la propria carriera solista con Battle Lines (Eclipse, 1994), Chasing The
Dragon (Eclipse, 1995), una selezione di performance live, Akustika (Blueprint,
1996), una selezione acustica del suo vecchio materiale, e Arkangel (Eagle
Rock, 1997), il primo vero album registrato in studio dal 1994. Wetton in seguito inondò il mercato con parecchi live e con Chasing The Deer (Blueprint, 1998), Hazy
Monet (Blueprint, 1998), Monkey Business (Blueprint, 1998) e Welcome To Heaven (Avalon, 2000).
Nel 2000 Wetton, Carl Palmer, il tastierista John Young e il chitarrista Dave Kilminster formarono i Qango. Wetton e Downws anche alla pubblicazione di John Wetton & Geoff Downes (Stallion,
2001).
Poi la formazione originale si riformò per pubblicare Phoenix (2008), Omega (2010), XXX (2012) e Gravitas (2014).
Poche bands hanno sprecato così tanto talento in modo altrettanto spudorato.
John Wetton è morto nel 2017 dopo aver pubblicato gli album solisti Voice Mail / Battle Lines (1994), Arkangel (1997), Welcome to Heaven / Sinister (2000), Rock of Faith (2003) e Raised in Captivity (2011).
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