> Steve Howe: electric, acoustic and steel guitars; harmony vocals on
> "Wish I'd Known All Along"
> Carl Palmer: drums, percussion
> John Wetton: lead vocals, bass
> Geoff Downes: keys
>
> I've only listened to Asia's new album a few times, but so far I feel
> the original quartet's comeback album lives up to the reunion's
> potential. This is a good album: to try to put that in context, I'm
> enjoying it more than any of the John Payne-era Asia albums, GPS, Icon
> or John Wetton solo albums that have come out in the last 16 years. On
> the other hand, I don't think it's as good as _Asia_.
>
> Some of the surprise as to what an Asia reunion could do has been lost
> given we've had two albums by Wetton/Downes and I rather assumed
> _Phoenix_ would be like _Icon_ and _Icon II -- Rubicon_, but with
> better guitars and drums. That wasn't far off and tracks like
> "Heroine" and "I will Remember You" fit the model. The band have
> sought to portray _Phoenix_ as picking off where _Asia_ ended and much
> of the album has the early Asia feel too, both in terms of 1980s
> leftovers ("Alibis" was demo'd as "Jodie" back in the day) and newer
> compositions like "Never Again", one of only two _Phoenix_ tracks to
> get played live. Basically, if you like Wetton's pop songs and Downes'
> keyboard stylings, you'll like this album, and if you don't like
> anything Wetton has done since UK, then don't bother.
>
> What stands out for me on the album, as with Asia's live shows, is
> Steve Howe. He is playing great: not overpowering but complementing
> the compositions and other players, with Downes and Howe working
> particularly well together. Howe has two solo songwriting credits on
> the album. "Over and Over" is another piece resurrected from writing
> in the 1980s and is similar to his work back then. For me, the
> highlight of the whole album is his other contribution, "Wish I'd
> Known All Along", a catchy but interesting, quirky pop song with some
> lovely playing from Howe and Downes. Howe's lyrics are also strong.
> Given _Phoenix_ is only one of three albums Howe has out in the first
> half of this year (the others being the solo guitar album _Motif Vol.
> 1_ and the Steve Howe Trio's _The Haunted Melody_), I am impressed by
> both the quality and volume of his output, and which shows how wrong
> are those who say the Asia or Yes band members are winding down with
> age. While online fan discussion about Yes's future has focused on
> Anderson's and Squire's roles, I see Howe as the potential driving
> force and the Asia reunion's experience as a model for how to sell
> Yes.
>
> Also in the second half of the album comes "Orchard of Mines", which
> has an interesting story behind it. The song is a cover from Globus's
> _Epicon_ album that came out last year. Globus is a film music spin-
> off involving Larry Groupé, who did the orchestral music on
> _Magnification_, among others. One of the key figures in Globus and co-
> writer of "Orchard of Mines" is Jeffrey Fayman, who may be familiar to
> you from his recent collaborations with Robert Fripp, but who was also
> the drummer in a line-up of Peter Banks' unsuccessful Empire band (he
> can be heard on _Empire Mark II_, recorded in 1977). So, I hope you
> found that vaguely interesting, because the actual track I found
> rather bland: not dissimilar to Wetton's pop songs, but not as good.
> (I haven't heard the original, so I don't know how much Asia changed
> it.)
>
> Also notable on _Phoenix_ are two eight-minute tracks, "Sleeping Giant/
> No Way Back/Reprise" and "Parallel Worlds/Vortex/Déyà". However, don't
> be misled into thinking these are Yes-style prog epics, both are very
> obviously in three parts. The instrumental "Sleeping Giant" and
> "Vortex" by Downes are some of his better work, and the interplay with
> Howe makes them vaguely reminiscent of "Children of Light: Lifeline"
> and "Sign Language" on _Keys to Ascension 2_. However, I can't say it
> is clear why "Sleeping Giant" is stuck before "No Way Back" or
> "Vortex" after "Parallel Worlds". With both tracks, especially
> "Sleeping Giant/No Way Back/Reprise", the individual parts are fine,
> but the joins rather obvious and the musical connection unclear to me.
>
> Maybe that's why I get a slight sense from the album that it is
> curiously unfinished, as if it could have done with another go getting
> it just right. Palmer's drumming is fine, but often feels reticent.
> The band could sound that little bit more confident on much of the
> album.
>
> However, my biggest complaint would be the lack of interesting bass
> playing. Wetton has long been focused on songwriting and singing, yet
> he remains a great bass player, as the live shows have demonstrated.
> Can't we hear more bass in the studio?
>
> In all, Asia fans will be happy, and Asia's critics will be unmoved.
> Sales have been good (with some, albeit limited, chart success) and so
> the album is relatively cheap. For example, you can get it for $7.25
> on Amazon.com <http://tinyurl.com/5kkngk>, £7.25 on Amazon.co.uk
> <http://tinyurl.com/6jhsek> and CND$9.99 on Amazon.ca > tinyurl.com/5sx5hh>. I bought the European limited edition with an
> acoustic version of "An Extraordinary Life" bonus track, but don't
> bother, it is little different from the regular version. If you just
> want to try some individual tracks on digital download, go for "Wish
> I'd Known All Along" because it's great or "Alibis" for the '80s Asia
> sound.
> --
> Henry