Omega (Asia album)

Omega
Studio album by Asia
Released	23 April 2010
Recorded	October 2009 – February 2010
Studio	Liscombe Park Studios, UK
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	56:38 [note 1]
Label	Frontiers
Producer	Mike Paxman
Asia chronology
Phoenix (2008) Omega (2010) XXX (2012)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Lords of Metal	92/100[2]

Omega is the twelfth studio album by British progressive rock band Asia, released in Europe on 23 April 2010 by Frontiers Records.^[3] It is the second to feature all four original members (Geoff Downes, Steve Howe, Carl Palmer and John Wetton) after the reunion in 2006.

"Finger on the Trigger" was previously recorded by Wetton and Downes's side band Icon for their second studio album.

Title meaning and cover artwork

John Wetton explained the album title: "The title 'Omega', as any fan of the band will tell you, is 'very Asia' (as is the album, by the way). It no more means 'final' than 'Alpha' means 'the first' (which it wasn't). It's a great sounding/looking word, and a bookend to 'Alpha'. In many ways, musically and conceptually, the two albums share commonality".^[3]

As with many of Asia's releases, the cover artwork was created by Roger Dean. The white tiger on the front cover indicates that 2010 is the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese calendar.^[3]

Critical reception

Bret Adams of Allmusic, in a three-and-a-half-star review, concluded that "Phoenix has better songs overall than Omega – probably due to the initial excitement and creative surge spawned by the reunion – but Omega satisfies, and longtime fans will enjoy it", and called the album "Asia being Asia".^[1]

Omega was named as the seventh-best album of 2010 by Classic Rock Presents... Prog magazine.^[4]

Track listing

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

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Finger on the Trigger"	04:30
2.	"Through My Veins" (Steve Howe, Wetton)	05:08
3.	"Holy War"	05:59
4.	"Ever Yours"	04:04
5.	"Listen, Children"	05:56
6.	"End of the World"	05:39
7.	"Light the Way" (Howe, Wetton)	05:09
8.	"Emily" (Digipak 1st pressing bonus track)	05:12
9.	"I'm Still the Same"	04:43
10.	"There Was a Time"	05:58
11.	"I Believe"	04:42
12.	"Don't Wanna Lose You Now"	04:45

• All songs published by Willow Songs except "Light the Way", and "Through My Veins" (Bug Music/Willow Songs)

Credits

Asia Geoff Downes – keyboards Steve Howe – electric, acoustic and Steel guitars Carl Palmer – drums and percussion John Wetton – vocals and bass guitar

Production Produced by Mike Paxman Recorded by Steve Rispin in October 2009 – February 2010 at Liscombe Park Studios in UK Mixed by Mark "Tufty" Evans at Wispington Studios, UK Mastered by Secondwave Cover, logo and inside painting by Roger Dean Computer work and cover design: Martyn Dean

Charts

Chart (2010)	Peak position
French Albums (SNEP)[5]	158
German Albums (Media Control)[6]	56
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[7]	29
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[8]	47
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[9]	55
UK Albums (OCC)[10]	135

Notes

1. The length is indicated for the regular 11-tracks edition (without tracks "Emily" and "Drop a Stone").

References

1. Adams, Bret. "Omega review". Allmusic.
2. Winston Arntz. "Omega review". Lords of Metal ezine.
3. "Omega's page on the Frontiers Records official website". Frontiers Records.
4. Classic Rock Presents... Prog (13). January 2011. Missing or empty |title= (help)
5. "lescharts.com – Asia – Omega". SNEP.
6. "charts.de – Asia – Omega". Media Control.
7. "oricon.co.jp – Asia – Omega". Oricon.
8. "swedishcharts.com – Asia – Omega". Sverigetopplistan.
9. "hitparade.ch – Asia – Omega". Schweizer Hitparade.
10. "Asia chart positions in the UK". Official Charts Company.

External links

• Asia's official website