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Asia biography

In August 2005, Chris Slade left the group to be replaced by Jay Schellen. The new band started work on an album, tentatively entitled Architect of Time, which was originally planned for release in 2006, though later developments would cause this project to be shelved for the time being.

Two Bands

In early 2006, the partnership between Downes and Payne was dissolved when Downes left for a reunion of the original band line-up under the Asia name - a breakup which Payne describes as "painful". The existing line-up (minus Downes) continued for a short while before morphing into GPS. Payne, Govan and Schellen subsequently launched the Asia Featuring John Payne name in 2007 with a new line-up. The official websites of each band reflect a split between the shared history of Payne's tenure with the band, as the reunited Asia acknowledge only pre- and post-Payne albums, whereas "Asia Featuring John Payne" claim Payne-era albums Aqua through Silent Nation as part of their own discography. Although Asia's live set lists reflect this, Asia Featuring John Payne has stated that they will perform songs from the entire history of Asia.

The Four Original Members of Asia

Geoff Downes and the other three original members (Wetton, Palmer, and Howe) convened a group meeting in England in early 2006 in anticipation of formally reforming for work that year. And after a slew of rumours, they announced that this original line-up of Asia were planning a CD, DVD and world tour to celebrate the band's 25th anniversary. The band appeared in October 2006 on U.S. cable channel VH-1 Classic and began a world tour largely focused on the U.S. The band secured ownership of the Asia name and toured under the description of the Four Original Members of Asia. The setlist featured most of the first album as well as a couple of songs from the second, along with one selection each from Yes, ELP, King Crimson and the Buggles to acknowledge the history of each member of the band.

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