Asia - "XXX" CD Review (Frontiers Records)

DOWNLOAD/STREAM: Asia - "Face on the Bridge" (Radio Edit)
(Note: Track hosted on Frontiers.it)

Two years ago, I reviewed Asia’s then current release, Omega, and my comment was “While the urgency/intensity and arena rock sound of the early releases is gone, this is a mature release that doesn’t detract from the band’s legacy and it should strike a chord with long-time Asia fans.” At the time of its release, John Wetton had compared Omega to Alpha and said that “musically and conceptually, the two albums share commonality.” With the release of XXX, Asia sounds re-engerized and this disc is the closest that the band has come to recreating the sound of their first album.

This disc is very much the Wetton/Downes show with the focal point of most of the songs being Geoff Downes’ piano and keyboard and John Wetton’s spot-on vocals. The music has a sense of urgency and immediacy that was missing from Omega and John Wetton hasn’t sounded this energized in years. Steve Howe’s guitar work is stellar when it surfaces from beneath Downes’ textured keys but…Carl Palmer’s contributions are fairly inconsequential. Seven of the disc’s nine tracks were written by Wetton/Downes, with Steve Howe sharing the writing credits on the remaining two songs. Most of the songs run close to or just over the five minute mark which gives them a chance to build and only one or two songs sag a bit when the band drifts too far into AOR territory.

The disc starts out strong with “Tomorrow the World” which opens with Downes on the piano and quickly builds up to the melodic and vocal hooks of the classic Asia sound. “Bury Me in Willow” is equally strong and includes the big melodic choruses which Asia is known for. “No Religion” (one of the numbers co-written by Howe) has a driving pace and more aggressive guitar work than typically found on an Asia album and Howe’s guitar work also shines on the other piece that he co-wrote – “Judas”. The disc’s first single “Face on the Bridge” leads in with Wetton’s bass work and features some of his strongest vocals and Wetton and the band’s strong vocal harmonies are also highlighted on “Al Gatto Nero”. The only dud on the album is “I Known How You Feel”, which isn’t horrid but sinks under its AOR weight.



The originally lineup of Asia seemed to run out of gas with their second album Alpha and collapsed shortly thereafter but XXX is a strong third release from the reunited band and shows that this lineup still has plenty of life left in them.

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