Back in 1982 Asia released their self-titled debut album, a record that saw the band immediately catapulted to stratospheric heights of fame and fortune. The album topped the charts in the US and first single ‘Heat Of The Moment’ has become carved indelibly into the collective consciousness of most of the western world. The follow up album, 1983’s Alpha, also went top ten on both sides of the Atlantic but then everything began to fall apart. Over the subsequent years various original members left and were replaced until the band bore precious little relation to its original incarnation and many people would argue that albums like Astra, Aqua, Then And Now and Aria possessed little of the quality that had made the band so great when it began. Well, whatever your personal opinions on the different eras of Asia are, the facts are these…for the first time in a quarter of a century the original Asia line up of John Wetton (vocals and bass), Steve Howe (guitar), Geoff Downes (Keyboards) and Carl Palmer (drums) is back together and they’ve created an album that makes all the years of half measures an irrelevance.
Even listening to this promo copy of Phoenix – which Frontiers Records have seen fit to desecrate with hideously annoying voiceovers – is a genuinely uplifting experience. It really is offensive to have interrupted the flow of songs like the gorgeous ‘Heroine’ and the immaculate ‘Shadow Of A Doubt’ with trite announcements but it can’t mask the quality of what this reborn Asia have come up with. I can’t wait to hear this album in its pure, unblemished form.
In this age when rock and metal is so wrapped up in darkness and aggression it’s wonderful to have this alternative, this music which can actually lift the spirits rather than grinding you ever further into the dirt. It’s also nice to be able to revel in the sheer musical ability and dexterity displayed throughout these finely crafted tracks. Steve Howe’s guitar work on the likes of ‘Alibis’ is sublime and Carl Palmer must surely be one of the most gifted drummers to be found anywhere in rock music.
John Wetton underwent the trauma of triple bypass heart surgery last year and that experience has no doubt helped to add to the poignancy and sheer love of life and all its experiences that shines through every note on this really rather wonderful album. No, this isn’t hard, fast, heavy, ‘true’, ‘kult’ or anything like that…it probably isn’t even remotely cool, but Phoenix is a beautiful, brilliant collection of songs that can actually make me smile.
http://www.originalasia.com
