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Asia biography

The tour began on Aug. 29th, 2006 in Rochester, New York. "The Definitive Collection" was released by Geffen/Universal to tie into the tour in September and peaked at #183 on the US album charts---the first time Asia had made the charts since 1990. A limited edition release available only at Best Buy stores also included a DVD of all the band's music videos.

The reunion tour continued into 2007 with venue size based on the success of the 2006 shows where the band was mainly playing in clubs and theatres, many of which sold out, including all seven dates in Japan. Also in 2007, the band released Fantasia: Live In Tokyo on CD and DVD through Eagle Records, commemorating the 25th Anniversary and documenting the success of the 2006-2007 tour.

In mid-2007, all four original members (Wetton, Downes, Howe and Palmer) went into the studio to record a new album, marking the first recorded material from all four original members since 1983's Alpha. The band continued to tour until major heart surgery for Wetton in the second half of the year saw remaining tour dates rescheduled for 2008. The new studio album, entitled Phoenix, was released on Frontiers Records on 14 April 2008 (via EMI/Capitol on April 15 in North America), along with a world tour to promote it. The 12-track album includes "An Extraordinary Life", based on Wetton's experience of ill health; rockers such as "Never Again" and "Nothing's Forever"; and power ballads such as "Heroine" and "I Will Remember You". The world tour features a couple of the new songs. The album cover features Roger Dean's illustration and design. The Phoenix album did well in both the American and European/Japanese markets. It debuted at #73 on the American Billboard pop Charts; the band had not charted with a studio album since 1985.

As a special finale to the US Phoenix tour, the band performed, for the first time ever, the entire first Asia album from beginning to end at their San Francisco concert at The Regency Center on May 5. The album comprised the entire 2nd set of the evening's concert.

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