Astra (album)

Astra is the third studio album by British rock band Asia, released in late 1985. It was the final studio album (excluding half studio/half compilation album Then & Now) to feature original member John Wetton until 2008's reunion album Phoenix.

History and recording

Started in 1984, it marked the return of lead singer John Wetton to the band's line-up, after his departure in September 1983. Wetton had been replaced by Greg Lake, temporarily, for their Tokyo concerts at the Budokan in December 1983. The first night of these shows was advertised as Asia in Asia, and was broadcast over MTV and on Westwood One. Wetton had come back, but Steve Howe departed the Astra sessions early, supposedly because of arisen tensions between him and Wetton. Howe was replaced by Swiss guitarist Mandy Meyer, formerly of the bands Cobra and Krokus. This change in the band's line-up marked a shift in musical direction for Asia to a more edgy, slightly hard rock sound.

The recording of the album took place at several studios in London during 1984–85. Astra was originally intended to be named Arcadia, but was changed prior to release to avoid confusion when it was learned that a side project of the same name of Duran Duran was being recorded at the same time. The cover artwork was created by Roger Dean, who had designed Asia's previous records.

! (album)

! is an album by The Dismemberment Plan. It was released on October 2, 1995, on DeSoto Records. The band's original drummer, Steve Cummings, played on this album but left shortly after its release.

Track listing

Personnel

The following people were involved in the making of !:

References

?! (album)

?! is the third studio album by Italian rapper Caparezza, and his first release not to use the former stage name MikiMix.

Reception

Reviewing the album for Allmusic, Jason Birchmeier wrote, "The Italian rapper drops his rhymes with just as much fluency and dexterity as his American peers throughout the album. [...] Caparezza's mastery of the Italian dialect [makes] this album so stunning."

Track listing

References

Album

Albums of recorded music were developed in the early 20th century, first as books of individual 78rpm records, then from 1948 as vinyl LP records played at 33 ¹⁄₃ rpm. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though in the 21st century albums sales have mostly focused on compact disc (CD) and MP3 formats. The audio cassette was a format used in the late 1970s through to the 1990s alongside vinyl.

An album may be recorded in a recording studio (fixed or mobile), in a concert venue, at home, in the field, or a mix of places. Recording may take a few hours to several years to complete, usually in several takes with different parts recorded separately, and then brought or "mixed" together. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing are termed "live", even when done in a studio. Studios are built to absorb sound, eliminating reverberation, so as to assist in mixing different takes; other locations, such as concert venues and some "live rooms", allow for reverberation, which creates a "live" sound. The majority of studio recordings contain an abundance of editing, sound effects, voice adjustments, etc. With modern recording technology, musicians can be recorded in separate rooms or at separate times while listening to the other parts using headphones; with each part recorded as a separate track.

Astra (1954 automobile)

The Astra, Little Horse, was an English car built by a subsidiary of British Anzani of Hampton Hill, Middlesex from 1954 to 1959. At GBP348 it claimed to be the smallest and cheapest four-wheeler on the British market. The car had originally been built by JARC motors and sold as the Little Horse.

Car

It featured a rear-mounted 322 cc air-cooled, twin-cylinder engine mounted under the floor driving the rear wheels through a three-speed motorcycle-type gearbox. The steel channel section chassis had all-round independent suspension with swing axles at the rear. Most cars had two seater estate car bodies, but some four-seat saloons were also made. The bodies were made of aluminium. The car could also be bought in kit form. It was claimed to be able to reach 55 mph (89 km/h) and return 60 mpg_-imp (4.7 L/100 km; 50 mpg_-US).

After production ceased, some coupés were made by Gill cars and sold as the Getabout. The rights were also bought by Harold Lightburn of Camden, Adelaide, Australia who fitted a new glass-fibre estate body and sold the car as the Zeta between 1963 and 1966.

Astra (1930 automobile)

The Astra was made by Automobiles Astra, Liege, Belgium in 1930. It is considered a textbook example of car design piracy, as the 1,100cc S.C.A.P.-engined car that made its debut at the 1930 Brussels Motor Show was an almost exact copy of the Tracta. It never went into production, and the projected 6- and 8- cylinder versions were, most likely, never built.

Astra 5°E

Astra 5°E is the name for the Astra communications satellites co-located at the 5° east position in the Clarke Belt which are owned and operated by SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg. 5° east is one of the major TV satellite positions serving Europe (the others being at 19.2° east, 28.2° east, 13° east, and 23.5° east).

The Astra satellites at 5° east provide for services downlinking to the Nordic countries, Eastern Europe and sub-Saharan Africa in the 11.70 GHz-12.75 GHz range of the K_u band, and at present the Astra 4A and the SES-5 are regularly operational at this position.

Satellites at 5°E were originally operated by Swedish Space Corporation (SSC), and then Nordic Satellite AB (NSAB, itself 50% owned by SSC) before SES took full control of the position and the satellites in 2010, renaming the Sirius 4 satellite to Astra 4A and later adding its own Astra 1E to the group followed by the SES-5.

Satellite craft in use

Current