OT: ASIA - Phoenix
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:33 pmMine has been on order and has already been shipped, but I couldn't wait another day for it to arrive -- saw it at Best Buy and picked up a copy that day! That was 3 days ago and I wanted to wait to post until I'd given it a good listen. I have to be honest... as long as I'd been waiting on this, many of the 12 song samples that were posted earlier did not excite me that much, and I was worried that this would be a mediocre album overall.
WRONG!!!
It's AWESOME!!! The samples didn't do it justice... This is a MUST for any ASIA fan. Song for song, it seems like they really took their time and put effort into making a quality album. None of the songs are rushed in the least, with most seeming to clock in closer to 5:00 in length, and a few top out over 8 min!
From the opening track "Never Again", this album grabs me and never lets go. I'd have to rate it very closely against the first two albums, and MUCH better than Astra. The classic ASIA is back!
First of all, I know since Howe originally left, they employed a series of more technical guitar players (and a few shredders like Mandy Meyer and Pat Thrall), but let me tell ya -- Steve Howe's contribution to the ASIA sound is in full effect here. ASIA needs Steve Howe!
John Wetton has a voice that can fill the room, and once again, it's used to full effect on this album. Nothing like the sound of Wetton's big voice amped up with reverb...
Geoff Downes is a master, and his work here is outstanding. One thing about ASIA that differs from bands like Yes -- for all of their talent, ASIA always remained remarkably restrained, whereas Yes came off like a bunch of soloists fighting for attention. So don't expect a bunch of highly technical wizardry -- just masterful playing which serves the song and the audience, rather than the ego of the artist.
And Carl Palmer -- always one of my favorite drummers. He flat out goes off in one song near the middle of the album -- may be track 8 -- in a run that builds and builds for quite some time. A real treat!
The whole album is excellent, and one song in particular that caught me was "Orchard Of Mines" -- a great song to slow dance with. I was surprised later to find that this is the only song on the album that ASIA didn't write -- it's apparently a remake of a song by a group of musicians called Globus (their story is interesting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globus_%28music%29 ), and the original can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bG6UqoFlSU
I MUST say, I prefer the ASIA version with Wetton's huge vocals... incredible! Compare it to the original:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016D ... 245&sr=8-1
If you don't have this yet, or have been on the fence about trying it -- rest assured, it's awesome, and gets the Rip Rokken Seal of Quality and Approval. Can't wait to see them live in Louisiana this weekend!
WRONG!!!
It's AWESOME!!! The samples didn't do it justice... This is a MUST for any ASIA fan. Song for song, it seems like they really took their time and put effort into making a quality album. None of the songs are rushed in the least, with most seeming to clock in closer to 5:00 in length, and a few top out over 8 min!
From the opening track "Never Again", this album grabs me and never lets go. I'd have to rate it very closely against the first two albums, and MUCH better than Astra. The classic ASIA is back!
First of all, I know since Howe originally left, they employed a series of more technical guitar players (and a few shredders like Mandy Meyer and Pat Thrall), but let me tell ya -- Steve Howe's contribution to the ASIA sound is in full effect here. ASIA needs Steve Howe!
John Wetton has a voice that can fill the room, and once again, it's used to full effect on this album. Nothing like the sound of Wetton's big voice amped up with reverb...
Geoff Downes is a master, and his work here is outstanding. One thing about ASIA that differs from bands like Yes -- for all of their talent, ASIA always remained remarkably restrained, whereas Yes came off like a bunch of soloists fighting for attention. So don't expect a bunch of highly technical wizardry -- just masterful playing which serves the song and the audience, rather than the ego of the artist.
And Carl Palmer -- always one of my favorite drummers. He flat out goes off in one song near the middle of the album -- may be track 8 -- in a run that builds and builds for quite some time. A real treat!
The whole album is excellent, and one song in particular that caught me was "Orchard Of Mines" -- a great song to slow dance with. I was surprised later to find that this is the only song on the album that ASIA didn't write -- it's apparently a remake of a song by a group of musicians called Globus (their story is interesting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globus_%28music%29 ), and the original can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bG6UqoFlSU
I MUST say, I prefer the ASIA version with Wetton's huge vocals... incredible! Compare it to the original:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016D ... 245&sr=8-1
If you don't have this yet, or have been on the fence about trying it -- rest assured, it's awesome, and gets the Rip Rokken Seal of Quality and Approval. Can't wait to see them live in Louisiana this weekend!
