Then & Now, unfortunately, does not stack up well as a compilation, nor has it aged well in the title, I might add. Five "old" songs and five "new songs". Well, four really. "Voice of America" wasn't "new", having been on 1985's Astra. My guess is that, seeing as how the song was John Wetton's tribute to his musical heroes, the Beach Boys, and Asia had played a 1989 German tour opening for them, he had the song placed in the latter section in their honor.

Two reasons not to buy Then & Now: No "Sole Survivor" or "Go", which were obvious representitive hits for the band. Another possible third reason would be the sappiness of "Am I In Love?" an outtake of which even Geffen executives thought was too saccharine for the Astra album. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty tune, but considering how high the bar had been set by 80's Asia, that was too low for a rapidly-approaching decade of new trends in music.

However, both "Days Like These" and "Prayin' 4 A Miracle" have grown on me over the years (they have to...I'm an Asia fan!) and I liked "Summer (Can't Last Too Long)" from the beginning. Yeah, a synth-drum set as of 1990 is pretty sad, but the song is pure pop-rock candy for those hot summer days.

In a nutshell, only get this if you're already an Asia fan (and completist) and need the four original tracks which closed off the John Wetton era of the band. Which, by the way, was a rather tepid and weak end, but set the stage for Asia's more diverse and progressive return from '92 to '05 with John Payne at the helm. After several great albums, things came full circle and the original lineup reunited for the solid Phoenix release in 2008.
Then & Now, unfortunately, does not stack up well as a compilation, nor has it aged well in the title, I might add. Five "old" songs and five "new songs". Well, four really. "Voice of America" wasn't "new", having been on 1985's Astra. My guess is that, seeing as how the song was John Wetton's tribute to his musical heroes, the Beach Boys, and Asia had played a 1989 German tour opening for them, he had the song placed in the latter section in their honor. Two reasons not to buy Then & Now: No "Sole Survivor" or "Go", which were obvious representitive hits for the band. Another possible third reason would be the sappiness of "Am I In Love? " an outtake of which even Geffen executives thought was too saccharine for the Astra album. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty tune, but considering how high the bar had been set by 80's Asia, that was too low for a rapidly-approaching decade of new trends in music. However, both "Days Like These" and "Prayin' 4 A Miracle" have grown on me over the years (they have to... I'm an Asia fan! ) and I liked "Summer (Can't Last Too Long)" from the beginning. Yeah, a synth-drum set as of 1990 is pretty sad, but the song is pure pop-rock candy for those hot summer days. In a nutshell, only get this if you're already an Asia fan (and completist) and need the four original tracks which closed off the John Wetton era of the band. Which, by the way, was a rather tepid and weak end, but set the stage for Asia's more diverse and progressive return from '92 to '05 with John Payne at the helm. After several great albums, things came full circle and the original lineup reunited for the solid Phoenix release in 2008.