Asia-XXX

Frontiers Records
2012

Anyone else remember how good Asia used to be? Whatever happened to that? Well, it turns out that "XXX" is not that bad...or as bad as I half expected it to be. I know, crazy talk right? Maybe just maybe since this is the third album by Asia since the reunion of the original lineup (Geoff Downes, Steve Howe, Carl Palmer and John Wetton) they might just start to get things right?.
Well....yes, and no. Not sure yet which one though. Sure, you can be forgiven for being confused about the album. Is it supposed to be old school British rock or just melodic rock? Or both?. For the record everything sounds good thanks to the Mike Paxman (who also worked on the band’s latest effort “Omega) and his production work. "XXX" finds keyboardest Geoff Downes in fine form and Steve Howe plays some wonderful post-classic rock solos. Just not enough guitars shine through though to make this really click. Carl Palmer (drum) and John Wetton (bass, vocals) are fine here too. What it comes down to it is. When the band looks backwards to where they started off then this is a good album. When they try to emulate modern melodic rock it doesn't do anything to make me want to see it stick around. Is it worthwhile? Asia fans who have followed them through thick and thin will love this album if only for the fact that it seems as though they are getting back to their roots. Casual fans might want to wait a few albums though to see if they can work all the kinks out.

Journey, Asia and five reasons

That was the shortest that hinted at the long winded title I really to use. That title is five reasons why Journey's new release Revelation works and Asia's new release Phoenix does not work. Okay, so both are big name AOR bands and both have new releases out. Asia boasted their original line-up and this is the first release with that line-up since 1983. Journey boasted a new vocalist marking the third in two years. Quite honestly Asia's new effort is one of the worst albums I have heard so far this year and Journey's is one of the best from a veteran band that I have heard so far this year. So why the difference? Both play AOR, neither have done a very good album in a long time and yet one succeeded and one failed. Here's my take on it.

1)Journey actually sound like they are excited. Vocalist Arnel Pinada sounds very fired up and I am sure he is because he has a big opportunity and he runs with it. When was the last time a Journey vocalist sounded really excited on a studio album? Frontiers? Quite possibly and the rest of the band feeds off his energy as well. On the flipside Asia sound about as bored as their music made me feel. Everything about Phoenix was so stiff and scripted.

2)Play what you are comfortable with. Journey generally stick to types of songs that have worked for them in the past and they have enough ideas and energy to make it work. A very easy and enjoyable listen. Asia have twelve songs on their CD and half of those are over five minutes plus two of those are over eight minutes long. However they obviously are not comfortable with what they are playing, there is virtually no flow for much of the material and it becomes very tedious. That's just the short songs, stretching out bad material only hurts the listeners more.

3)Both bands try to focus on a sound they had success with in the early 80's. However there is a difference between playing a similar style and copying. Journey play a style similar to the material from Escape and Frontiers, but not so much that it sounds like a copy. They add enough that it still sounds fairly fresh. Asia's sound like they tried to include some of their old style, but it came across as forced.

4)Too many bands from another time struggle so bad with dating themselves. Journey avoid that trap by keeping things moving and playing on their strengths which here are the vocals and some strong out of the blue guitar parts. Asia sound like a poor Asia cover band, it's like bad 80's music only longer and played by old men who would rather be doing something else.

5)Consider your ballads carefully because there is nothing more excruciating than a bad one. Journey do several and all flow and vary from good to very good. They sound strong and smooth with solid music and vocals to match. I got to track three "Heroine" on Asia's Phoenix and I thought my breakfast, lunch and dinner were going to come up. It was sap of the worst degree and they fumbled through it trying to do who knows what. It was perhaps the most awkward ballad I have ever heard. I would rather have the CD shoved under my fingernials than to have to sit through that song again.

***There you go.

Asia-Phoenix

EMI
2008

Back in 1982 I couldn't afford albums yet so my main exposure to music was the radio. I was only 12 so I easily soaked in what was coming in to my room through the various rock and pop channels of the day. The radio would eventually lead me to bands like Van Halen, Judas Priest, Dio and others. However a number of pop, AOR and other forms also came to me. One of those was Asia as I was taken in by the melodies and highly polished hooks of songs off their self-titled debut. Subsequent albums like Alpha and Astra didn't quite have the same formula or appeal for me. They have bounced back and forth with various releases over the years, but now in 2008 we get the first release since 1983's Alpha to feature the entire original line-up. The opener "Never Again" comes on with a smooth and steady approach that was pleasing enough, but maybe a little flat. At this point I was thinking that it wasn't a bit start and if they could pick it up a little that this album might be something. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case as "Nothing's Forever" is an appropriate title because it's sappy vocals and damp music had me thinking that this band didn't have a whole lot left. It's gets worse though as track three "Heroine" is stomach churning, mind-killing sap at it's worse. It's so bad that it sounds like it could be a spoof of 1980's love songs, but they are actually trying to be serious so it really is that bad on many different levels. Several other songs after this fall into the same vat of syrupy worthless pulp as well. It just seems like Asia forgot about strong song structures, hooks and building up anything on this album. Instead it's full of a few brief flourishes of music here and there with lots of cliches and filler taking up the bulk of the time. The closer "An extraordinary life" might have some genuine life to it or it may just seem better than it is because many of the other songs before it are so poor and empty of any spirit. Overall Phoenix serves as a strong reminder that you can't always relive the past. Asia my be hoping that this album picks up on their success in the early 1980's, but one play will quickly have listeners thinking otherwise.