Speaking of ELP: I saw Asia a couple of weeks ago. The solos were great (youprobably know who was on guitar), but Palmer's drum solo was one of the best, perhaps the best solo I've ever seen. Even better made by the fact that it was in a smaller club with only a couple of hundred people - seeing the guys across a couple of m is still better than on big screen. Heavily reccommended if they are in your area - they are still masters.

Carl Palmer is a consummate professional - always working at his craft. Palmer and Neil Peart are definitely the top drummers in rock music.

I have not listened to Asia's newest album (Omega?), but I have never been a big Asia fan. I always thought Asia was less than the sum of the parts. For some reason, Steve Howe just flat out sounds better in Yes than Asia. I'm told that Omega is very good, so I'll have to check it out.

Don't know if you knew this, but one of the big reasons for ELP's breakups over the years was due to Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer complaining (with justification) that Greg Lake did not practice and didn't keep his chops and voice in shape. Having seen ELP in concert in their later years, it was obvious which band member is truly "over the hill".

Also, Yes just released a new album - it was supposed to have Oliver Wakeman (Rick Wakeman's son) in it, but Chris Squire fired Oliver, and they used Geoffrey Downes to finish....and Downes will tour with Yes later this year. I listened to much of the new Yes album on iTunes - figures that Yes is touring with Styx, because the new Yes album has that same empty bombastic sound for which Styx is famous.