Comeback album by the reunited original line-up of Steve Howe, Geoff Downes, John Wetton and Carl Palmer

Track Listing

1. Never Again
2. Nothing's Forever
3. Heroine
4. Sleeping Giant/No Way Back/Reprise
5. Alibis
6. I Will Remember You
7. Shadow Of A Doubt
8. Parallel Worlds/Vortex/Deya
9. Wish I'd Known All Along
10. Orchard Of Mines
11. Over And Over
12. Extraordinary Life

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37559 in Music
• Released on: 2008-04-07
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

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Customer Reviews

Phoenix from the flames or Earth-bound turkey?
Overall, this is a great album with enough wonderful moments to justify a place in the collections of Asia, Yes and melodic rock fans everywhere. To its credit, Downes and Howe flex their musical muscles to great effect - Howe especially for the first time since the debut album despite only picking up three writing credits here.

The album's highlights include 'Never Again', one of Asia's greatest songs in any incarnation of the band combining the very best musical standards that they have long held. 'Alibis' is a real Eighties throwback but melodically to die for and a brilliant, though quirky, outro. The 'Parallel Worlds' trilogy is also very strong and varied, with a 'Rendezvous 6:02' feel seguing into an excellent Downes piece and rounded off with some haunting guitar-led prog that has shades of 70's Genesis. Howe's 'Wish I'd Known All Along' and Asia's cover of 'Orchard of Mines' also come across well, the latter highlighting just how great Wetton's voice is again.

The downside of the album is those tracks penned by Wetton and Downes that are moulded on the AOR-soft rock of their 'Icon' albums. Despite being galvanised by Howe's contributions they simply don't feel like Asia - and of 12 tracks, 5 fall within this scope. Accepting the superb 'An Extraordinary Life', reminiscent of the best of Wetton's solo career, the others are too alike to each other and to tracks on the 'Icon' albums.
That said, the album does clock in at 65 minutes, so it's not an enormous deficit. Also, it's much more varied (Icon stuff aside) than I expected and Asia haven't simply tried to recreate that sound of '82. All in all, a really creditable effort but if it was hoped that the decision to leave John Payne back in the office would be vindicated then it should be borne in mind that this is better than 'Silent Nation' it's not the measure of 2001's excellent 'Aura', which I would recommend to newcomers to Asia over this.

Definitely risen from the ashes
Now, this was a big surprise. Asia were never, ever on my radar. Being a prog snob, at the time I couldn't digest what Asia were offering on their debut album. It should have been a dream team for me, but it sounded to me like big stadium AOR FM rock. Lots of bluster, but little substance. Since then my view has mellowed, partly due to having enjoyed Wetton and Downes recent "Icon" albums, which may be seen as a blueprint for this reunion album. But "Phoenix" is a triumph. Being back together has obviously triggered the creative juices as the material presented here is first class. There is a beautiful balance here between the melodic pop rock of yore and a more thoughtful, instrumentally challenging sound. Just listen to the "Parallel Worlds/Vortex/Deya" medley, which climaxes in an excellent instrumental section, gradually building up till Carl Palmer produces some astonishing drum rolls. The opening "Never Again" is a typical Wetton powerhouse of a song and on the closing "An Extraordinary Life" Wetton's recent health issues have clearly put everything into perspective for him. But all the songs are given careful thought out and are wonderfully arranged and executed.

The playing throughout is excellent. All concerned are on top form and it's especially good to hear Howe relishing making new studio music with a band again. Wetton's voice has never sounded so good and Palmer works well within the tight constraints of the material, really adding some beautiful embellishments to the arrangements.

Mention must be made about Roger Dean's excellent artwork. The best he has done for many years. The layout is done by brother Martyn and makes for an all round top class package.

For me this album is a joy and a big, big surprise. It works on all levels. That these guys would ever get together again and play live was surprising. That they would make a studio album was even more so. That the resulting album would be this good is nothing short of a miracle!

From the ashes they did arise
What seemed to be an impossible dream finally came true in 2006 when all four original members of Asia reunited on stage. Two years later, the band presents their long overdue follow-up to 1983's ALPHA, and it seems they haven't missed a beat. This album has all the hallmarks of the classic band, with the more introspective lyricism of Wetton's recent solo and ICON outings. Three songs date to the eighties, letting the band wrap up some unfinished business: "Déyà," "Over and Over," and "Alibis" (previously known as "Jodie"). Furthermore, the verses on "No Way Back" sound strikingly like those from the Wetton/Downes tune, "Walking On Air," now attached to a catchier chorus. After the success of the Wetton/Downes ICON albums which helped pave the way for the full reunion, I was pleased to find that two of the most captivating songs were those written by Steve Howe. Surprisingly, one of the more haunting tunes, "Orchard of Mines," is a cover of a song from "Epicon" by Globus, and it is perfectly suited to John Wetton's voice. This is a mature album from a classic band; it almost makes me believe I've found myself in '82 again.