I wanted to like this disc. <\/p>\n
No, really. It\u2019s true that I thrashed The first reminder \/ warning sign should have been the fact that my favorite songs on last year\u2019s DVD were the non-Asia covers the band did of tunes from each member\u2019s back catalogue. None of which, I should add, appear on If the band\u2019s goal with this new studio album was to pick right up where their self-titled debut left off in 1982, then mission accomplished. For while Phoenix<\/i> does show a more thoughtful approach to lyrics, in just about every other respect it is equally as bland, pompous and predictable as its long-ago predecessor.<\/p>\n It seems, in fact, as if the group simply returned to the cookie-cutter template their first album appeared to follow. As before, there are a number of tracks that thump along self-importantly without ever going anywhere interesting — \u201cNever Again\u201d being the obvious analogue to the likes of \u201cSole Survivor,\u201d complete with bellowed choruses. Others examples of overblown arena rock wankage include \u201cNothing\u2019s Forever\u201d and \u201cAlibis.\u201d Each has brief moments when Howe or one of the others threatens to break out of the box and let fly with some genuine instrumental virtuosity, but it never happens. Between the faster numbers, sappy, over-synthesized ballads (\u201cHeroine,\u201d \u201cI Will Remember You,\u201d \u201cOver And Over\u201d) arrive with the regularity of flu epidemics. <\/p>\n The only real breaks from formula are a pair of longer cuts that feel like half-hearted attempts at crafting the sort of imaginative progressive rock that Howe and Palmer in particular are known for in their other musical lives. The problem is, they attempt to apply the extended structure without creating any flow or momentum. \u201cSleeping Giant \/ No Way Back \/ Reprise\u201d starts out with some promise as Downes, Howe and Palmer play an atmospheric little synthesizer-guitar-percussion vignette, with Wetton contributing multi-tracked background vocals. They meander along pleasantly enough for three minutes, whereupon they abruptly bust into an all-too-typical Asia thud-fest, with Wetton braying the clich\u00e9d \u201cno way back\u201d chorus enough times to suggest an unattended car alarm. By the time \u201cSleeping Giant\u201d returns for a reprise at the end, you\u2019re left wondering why they ever thought these two pieces fit together.<\/p>\n \u201cParallel Worlds \/ Vortex \/ Deya\u201d starts out differently, opening with a mid-tempo love ballad that at least features some typically nimble Howe soloing. When the instrumental \u201cVortex\u201d comes in, with Palmer weaving an intricate rhythmic backdrop under more keening Howe solos, it\u2019s the album\u2019s musical highlight, marred only by the addition of annoying and unnecessary bells (don\u2019t know whether to blame Downes or Palmer for that one). Final section \u201cDeya\u201d is another instrumental, a gentle, pretty acoustic piece again featuring Howe and Palmer. How these latter two supposedly relate to \u201cParallel Worlds,\u201d I can\u2019t explain.<\/p>\n A word about the lyrics. Prior to the recording of this album, the band\u2019s plans for a fall 2007 tour were scrapped when Wetton had to undergo open heart surgery. His reflections on that experience form the backdrop for these songs, as he repeatedly sings of reconsidering his life (\u201cWish I\u2019d Known All Long\u201d), trying to be a better person (\u201cNever Again\u201d), seizing the moment (\u201cNothing\u2019s Forever,\u201d \u201cAn Extraordinary Life\u201d) and the like. It\u2019s a worthy effort and adds a depth and resonance to the lyrics here that raise them a cut above those on Unfortunately, that resonance can\u2019t rescue this disc from its basic flaccidity. The volume of bland, irony-free 80s arena-rock cheese laid on the table here could feed an army. If that\u2019s your sort of thing, have at it. Me, I\u2019m looking for something with a little more spice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":29288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[7745],"rating":[11205],"class_list":["post-40839","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-asia","rating-rating-d-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40839"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40839\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40839"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40839"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}