Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles.
One app.

Start reading

Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles. One news app.

Start reading

The Latest Breaking News from Geoff Downes

"I was blown away!" The greatest prog albums, as chosen by prog legend Geoff Downes

He's been in The Buggles, Yes and Asia – but what does Geoff Downes consider the finest prog albums ever?

Louder

“The bassist’s kids were waiting with autograph books because we were pop stars. But some of the fans were pissed off. I would have been too!” This duo were never meant to be a real band, but their hit single had a massive impact on prog

When an experimental project escaped from the studio in 1980, no one could have predicted the consequences for both prog and pop music – and not everyone was happy about it

Louder

“All contemporary pop utilising computers and samplers owes something to the innovations of Trevor Horn”: How Trevor Horn’s anonymous electronic group - the Art of Noise - revolutionised sample culture

Discover how studio and music production was redefined by an unlikely group of Trevor Horn-led English synth geeks

MusicRadar

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

“Roger Waters’ Amused To Death is something you have to pay attention to. If it had Pink Floyd on the cover, it would have sold millions”: BBC chief football writer Phil McNulty’s prog record collection

The pundit, who met John Wetton and Geoff Downes through their mutual love of the sport, recommends albums by Asia, Supertramp, Marillion and others

Louder

“Some people were cynical – ‘The Yeggles have spoilt it all!’ We were doing a gig in Brighton and someone shouted, ‘Rick Wakeman!’ It was demoralising”: Geoff Downes’ life and times in and out of Yes

His big break came with the Wombles, then he impressed Trevor Horn with synths he’d only borrowed. He forged a partnership with John Wetton and made it big with Asia – and his easygoing nature means he’s avoided most of Yes’ infamous dramas

Louder

John Payne unveils new Asia featuring John Payne line-up featuring Francis Dunnery and Ryo Okumoto

The new-look Asia featuring John Payne are currently working on a new studio album and will tour the US, Japan and UK later this year

Louder

“You wonder if any other drummer could have glued together all the impulses and influences at play”: Alan White’s 10 best performances with Yes

He secured a place in music history with other artists – but he’s best remembered for covering an extraordinary breadth of styles with the ever-changing prog giants

Louder

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

“It was awkward – Yes sort of told me never to come back”: Oliver Wakeman had to tour with the prog progenitors while knowing he’d been replaced. Surprisingly, he genuinely enjoyed the trip

If Rick Wakeman’s son had taken an angrier attitude to being fired in 2011, their 2019 mini-album From A Page might never have been rescued from the demo stacks

Louder

“The lyrics talk about machines writing music, and that’s actually happened. All things considered, it was a very prophetic song”: The iconic track that sparked the MTV generation also predicted the entire future of music

This Trevor Horn-helmed classic documented a sea change in music consumption, and its vision of tomorrow was spookily accurate

MusicRadar

Ace new prog you must hear from Solstice, Vennart, John Lodge, Dim Gray and more in this week's Tracks Of The Week

Cool new proggy sounds you from Lights Of Skadi, Sally Potter, Pearl Handled Revolver and more in Prog's Tracks Of The Week

Louder

Asia to perform first three albums over three nights at Trading Boundaries in April

Geoff Downes' new-look Asia line-up will perform Asia, Alpha and Astra on consecutive nights at Trading Boundaries in April

Louder

"It's unlikely that I'll ever listen to any other Asia albums but only time will tell": Asia upset the prog purists and delight their bank managers on freakishly successful debut album

Featuring members of Yes, ELP and King Crimson, Asia were billed as a prog rock supergroup but kept it concise, to enormous success

Louder

“I would call our approach organized chaos, but it drove Allan Holdsworth up the wall”: John Wetton has been the bass force behind a peak-period King Crimson lineup and two prog rock supergroups

A veteran of one of King Crimson’s classic lineups, John Wetton’s amazing career took him through a host of British prog bands

Guitar World

“We booked a studio and said, ‘Whoever’s here on Monday morning is in Yes’”: How the band regenerated to make Drama, in their own words

Rick Wakeman recalls quitting with Jon Anderson, Steve Howe recalls hoping they’d return, and Trevor Horn recalls being dragged into the line-up that bounced back in 1980

Louder

Get all your
news in one place.

100’s of premium titles.
One news app.

Louder

“When the mood took them, the prog legends of the 70s could write simple but catchy music with aplomb”: The 40 greatest Yes songs ever

When 50,000 Prog magazine readers voted on the band’s catalogue, the resulting chart contained a few surprises

Louder

“He got all these twists and turns that I thought only John Wetton was capable of”: How Geoff Downes assembled his new Asia line-up

US tour with Focus, Martin Turner and Curved Air presents possibility of completing songs left unfinished after original singer’s death

Louder

New John Wetton auction to raise money for cancer charity takes place in July

Signed guitar and Asia and Wetton memorabilia galore in new charity John Wetton auction

Louder

"John Wetton would have endorsed this tour as he wanted the music to live on." Wetton's widow "thrilled" with new Asia line-up

The new-look Asia line-up take their Heat of The Moment tour to North America in July

Get all your
news in one place.

100’s of premium titles.
One news app.

Louder

New-look Asia announce Heat of The Moment US tour

Geoff Downes joined by John Mitchell, Virgil Donati and Harry Whitley in new Asia line-up

Louder

“The priorities of the first Asia were to make it a success. Yet when we had it, we were so stupid it was unbelievable:” How the supergroup admitted mistakes and worked them out via their patchy Phoenix album

It was the first studio project featuring all four original members since their gradual disintegration in the 80s. And even if it wasn’t their best work, it was an essential element in moving forward

Louder

“The fans understood I was the price they had to pay to hear the band they loved, so they put up with me. It’s not like you’re joining the Sex Pistols”: Trevor Horn on fronting Yes – and how it later made 90125 possible

Producer recalls making his colleagues feel “embarrassed and amused at the same time” as he begged them not to give up on Owner Of A Lonely Heart

Louder

“When working on material we could ask, ‘What would we have done in the days of Close To The Edge?’ Maybe sometimes we didn’t ask that question enough”: Steve Howe’s favourite Yes songs

Guitarist lists his five of the best – and explains why they’re all from the 70s

Louder

“If there’s a message it’s live every day as if it’s your last. I went through a very sticky patch… The freedom of not being enslaved by addiction is marvellous”: John Wetton’s return from the darkness

With Asia on the rocks and a scuppered solo deal, the singer found himself struggling with alcohol in the 90s - before he finally earned himself a reprieve

Louder

“I just knew Trevor Horn as a pop producer. When he turned up with a guitar, I said, ‘Is that a prop, or are you going to use it?’ We just didn’t hit it off”: How Yes’ 90125 became a triumph – despite starting with “the worst jam in history”

After Drama resulted in the band’s complete collapse, a massive revamp seemed the only hope for any kind of future. But that epic challenge resulted in an equally epic album

Louder

“For all his showmanship, he was first and foremost a composer and musician, making music for the head and the heart”: Rick Wakeman, Ian Anderson, Geoff Downes and others pay homage to Keith Emerson

15 classic cuts from the keyboard genius’ career, as loved by the good and the great of prog rock and beyond

1 2

People

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

Organisations

Read news from The Economist, FT, and more,
with one subscription

Topics

Places

Fourteen days free

Download the app

One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.