Asia Plays B.B. King's (Times Square) on Sept. 20th / 'Gravitas' CD Review (Frontiers Records)

As much as I'm not a fan of going to Times Square for any reason, I might have to break down and go see Asia at B.B. King's Blue Club on September 20th. General admission tickets are $42.50 Advance / $47 Day of Show and VIP Reserved Floor Seating is $75.

I was a bit nervous when Steve Howe checked out of Asia and was replaced by guitar shredder Sam Coulson (holy shades of Astra, Batman). This concern was without merit though as Asia’s new disc, Gravitas, continues in the spirit of the last few reunion albums with all the tracks written by Wetton/Downes. In comparison to Astra, Gravitas is a better album as there are more stand-out tracks but there are similarities between these two discs as both have tracks that are just ‘ok’ and even a few that don’t stand up well to repeated listening. In comparison to the most recent reunion albums, Gravitas is much more textured and layered and seems like a noticeable attempt to capture past glories from the 80’s. The most relevant point of comparison to would be to compare Gravitas to Alpha.

The disc starts with "Valkyrie" and it is everything that you would expect from the 80’s lineup of Asia. The song is layered and atmospheric, with big vocals and harmonies, strings (from Sam Coulson) and a clean guitar solo. This track sets the tone for the rest of the disc as this is clearly the Wetton/Downes show.  Across the disc, Coulson's presence isn't always noticeable and Carl Palmer’s contributions are minimal.

 The next track, “Gravitas”, clearly highlights the difference between these songs and those from Asia’s first album. This eight minute track starts with a huge synth build before the song kicks into full speed. The pulsing back-beat sets the expectation of the exploding choruses and urgency of the first disc but Wetton and Downes are never able to turn this corner. The songs “Nyctophobia” and “Heaven Help Me” are the highlights of the disc and both of these songs come the closest to capturing the sonic force of the first album. “Nyctophobia” is a mid-tempo rocker with a multi-layered sound and big backing vocals. “Heaven Help Me Now” is a solid rocker with a driving beat and huge Queen-like backing vocals. This later song is also one of the few times that Coulson’s guitar work surfaces.

“The Closer I Get”, “Russian Dolls” and “Joe DiMaggio’s Glove” are the mellow and introspective numbers on the disc and these tracks are in 'soft middle' in what could have been an extremely solid outing. All three songs are tales of lost love and broken hearts but, unfortunately, Wetton’s schmaltzy lyrics get annoying fairly quickly. “The Closer I Get” is a piano ballad that is carried by Wetton’s vocals, “Russian Dolls” is a mellow and melancholy number that meanders a bit before finally picking up the pace and “Joe DiMaggio’s Glove” sounds a bit too much like Bon Jovi in the beginning for me to be comfortable (and lyrics like ”how did my heart become so soft as Joe DiMaggio’s glove” make me queasy).

In an interview with Classic Rock Revisited, Carl Palmer said the following about Gravitas: “We wanted some younger blood in there and we wanted to sound a little bit heavier. It is classic rock and it is more in that Van Halen sort of area, or whatever you want to call it. We have been softer in the recent past, so we wanted to rock it up a bit. “ Check out the video below and see what you think.



Links:
Asia

Steve Howe Leaves Asia (band) / Newcomer Sam Coulson Named as Replacement

Guitarist Steve Howe has announced his departure from Asia and he will be replaced by Sam Coulson (who has the reputation as a shredder, so I'm not sure I see the fit). Remembering back to something that Geoff Downes had posted circa 1999 - 2000, one of the reasons he pulled out of the then Asia reunion was that Steve Howe wasn't invited to participate. I had always heard that Howe didn't get along with John Wetton so Steve's departure doesn't come as a shock but...the Asia lineups with Mandy Meyer and Pat Thrall replacing Howe always seemed to be missing 'something' as Howe's playing is a prominent part of Asia's sound.

Here is Steve Howe's quote: "I have left Asia to concentrate on Yes, my solo work & my Trio. I've enjoyed the 6 years of touring and recording with Asia, but now it's time to focus more on the above mentioned formations. —Steve"

Here is the quote from the remaining members of Asia: "John Wetton, Geoff Downes and Carl Palmer are delighted to announce that not only do they have an incredible talent in place to step into Steve Howe’s shoes, but also that their first international show with newcomer Sam Coulson will be a high profile performance at Sweden Rock 2013. Sam is a wonderful player, world-renowned amongst guitar virtuosos. Additionally, a new studio album, to be entitled ‘Valkyrie’, will be recorded for Frontiers Records during 2013 continuing the band’s relationship with the label.

John Wetton said, “ASIA is ready to take its next steps along this remarkable road. We cannot wait to perform again for the fans and also to unveil some of the new material, of which we are very proud”. Geoff Downes said, “We look forward to writing another chapter in Asia’s history”. Carl Palmer commented, “We’re all looking forward to the next decade of great ASIA music”."

Check out Sam Coulson's playing and see what you think...





Links:
Asia

Asia - 'Resonance : The Omega Tour' Live in Basel, Switzerland CD Review (Frontiers Records)

In looking at the current state of some of the bigger prog-rock bands of the 80's, King Crimson has gone on indefinite hiatus, Genesis became a pop band before going out with a whimper (and a poorly received new lead singer) and Yes is on the cusp of heading onto the greatest hits/revival circuit having replaced Jon Anderson with a second tribute band vocalist. Thirty years ago, who would have thought that Asia (who started off as AOR/pop band) would have matured with such grace and end up as the last of the great prog-rock bands?

Similar to Asia's Spirit of the Night live album which documented the band's 2009 Phoenix tour, Resonance is a 2CD/DVD set that captures the band in front of an enthusiastic audience during their Omega world tour. This show was recorded on May 4th 2010 in Basel, Switzerland and John Wetton describes the show as "Asia live on the road, in-your face and for your pleasure".



What is refreshing is that the band does a nice job of balancing material from Omega (five tracks from this disc are part of the live set) and Phoenix with the obligatory greatest hits. Even the greatest hits though get new life breathed into them as a number of these songs are reinterpreted as stripped-down numbers or extended jams. What is also a pleasant surprise is that the set includes "Go" from the post-Howe disc Astra as I've seen video bootlegs of the Payne/Downes/Howe lineup where Howe would leave the stage when the band played "Go" (and the rumor was that Howe wouldn't play on anything from Astra).

Here is how the band mixed up the set list: "Don't Cry" is John singing with just Geoff playing behind him, "All's A Chord" and "The Valley of Rocks" are songs from Steve Howe's solo albums and it sounds like he is the only one on the stage at the time and the extended version of "Don't Cry" starts with just Geoff and John before Carl Palmer fires up the drums midway through the song and Steve Howe follows right behind. Some of the other highlights are Carl Palmer's drum solo during the extended version of "The Heat Goes On" and Steve Howe playing Mandy Meyer's (Krokus) metallic licks on "Go".

The band sounds in great form - John Wetton's voice has held up well through the years and Carl Palmer hasn't slowed down so the song tempos remain crisp. Both Howe and Geoff Downes are integral contributors to the "warm sound" of the show and their melodic riffs, chords and experimental flourishes keeps the set sounding fresh. Resonance was recorded after the reunited band had been back together for four years and this show documents the sound of a band that has maintained their musical chops and aged with grace.

Asia - Resonance Track List
CD1:
I Believe
Only Time Will Tell
Holy War
Never Again
Through My Veins
Don't Cry
All’s A Chord
The Valley Of Rocks
The Smile Has Left Your Eyes
Open Your Eyes

CD2:
Finger On The Trigger
Time Again
An Extraordinary Life
End Of The World
The Heat Goes On
Sole Survivor
Go
Heat Of The Moment

Links:
Asia

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.

Links:
Asia

Asia - Omega CD Review (Frontiers Records)

DOWNLOAD: Asia – “Finger on the Trigger” (hosted on AOL Radio Blog)

It was probably a mistake to listen to King Crimson Live in Guildford 1972 (King Crimson Collectors’ Club) prior to listening to the newest album from Asia. After listening to John Wetton, Robert Fripp, Jamie Muir, David Cross and Bill Bruford seamlessly flow from “Book of Saturday” into a 20+ minute free-form improv jam (“All That Glitters Is Not Nail Polish”), I was somewhat disappointed with the straightforward AOR sound of Asia’s second post-reunion studio album Omega.

John Wetton is quoted on the band’s MySpace page as having said “The title 'Omega', as any fan of the band will tell you, is 'very Asia' (as is the album, by the way). It no more means 'final' than 'Alpha' means 'the first' (which it wasn't). It's a great sounding/looking word, and a bookend to 'Alpha'. In many ways, musically and conceptually, the two albums share commonality.” I couldn’t have said this better in that Alpha (1983) is probably the best point of comparison. Omega isn’t a bad disc but it shows no signs of the individual members prog-rock pasts and it is also missing the pop hooks that made the band’s debut album so memorable.

The twelve tracks on Omega (the track “Emily” is included as a bonus on the first pressing) are all mid-tempo rockers and power ballads that are driven by John Wetton’s voice, Steve Howe’s fluid guitar work and Geoff Downes’ keyboards. Carl Palmer’s contribution seems minimal and Wetton’s bass just isn’t in the mix. "Finger on the Trigger" (which is a hold-over from Wetton/Downes’ ICON project) kicks off the disc and is one of the few tracks on this disc that has the ‘classic Asia’ sound.



There are a couple of other strong tracks on the disc like “Holy War” and “Ever Yours” (which seems like an update to “The Smile Has Left Your Eyes”). What is notable is that as the band’s sound has matured, the band’s vocals harmonies and melodies have become almost Beatle-ish (check out “I’m Still The Same”). 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.

Asia is playing some shows in the NYC area in August:
Aug 6th - Theatre at Westbury, Westbury NY
Aug 7th - Showboat. Atlantic City NJ
Aug 8th - Ridgefield Playhouse, Ridgefield CT
Aug 10th - Bergen PAC, Englewood, NJ

Here is what the current set list looks like:

Asia - Kanagawa Kenmin Hall, Yokohama, Japan
May 15 2010

01-Intro
02-I Believe
03-Only Time Will Tell
04-Holy War
05-Never Again
06-Through My Veins
07-Don't Cry (John & Geoff)
08-Steve Howe Solo
09-Sketches In The Sun
10-The Smile Has Left Your Eyes
11-Open Your Eyes
12-Finger On The Trigger
13-Time Again
14-An Extraordinary Life
15-End Of The World
16-The Heats Goes On
17-Carl Palmer Solo
18-Sole Survivor
19-encore break
20-Go
21-Heat Of The Moment

Links:
Asia

John Wetton - Agenda/Amorata/Amata CD/DVD Review (Metal Mind)

This is a limited edition (ltd to 1,000 copies) 2CD/1DVD box set that compiles two live shows that John Wetton recorded in Poland in 2003. Recently, I've approached the slew of John Wetton live CDs with some trepidation as I've gotten a few 'bum' ones (Hazy Monet, Live at XM Satellite Radio) but this set is a real gem. Both shows are soundboard recordings and Wetton sounds in excellent form, both with a full band (Agenda/Amorata) and on his near solo acoustic performance (Amata).

Agenda and Amorata are a CD/DVD set from a show that was recorded live in front of a sizable crowd in Poland in April 2003. The 75+ minute set spans material across Wetton's career and includes songs from King Crimson, UK, Asia and John's solo work. John has grown into his 'elder statesman of rock' role and looks like he is enjoying himself throughout this show. His band is quite top-notch and includes John Mitchell (from Arena) on guitar and Martin Orford (from IQ) on keyboards and flute. The band adds some new life to John's back catalog and does a wonderful job reinterpreting some of the old UK classics. The disc includes great versions of UK's "In the Dead of Night", "Easy Money" and "Rendezvous 602". The set was filmed with multiple cameras and a nice job was done in the editing booth to showcase each of the members of the band. On a related and interesting note, the DVD includes a bonus interview with John Wetton and, while John's candor is fascinating, the video bumps and moves like a hand-held audience bootleg.

Amata was also recorded in Poland during the same April 2003 tour. This is an acoustic performance which features John on vocals and acoustic guitar, Martin Orford on keyboards and backing vocals and John Mitchell on guitar and backing vocals. This set is a bit shorter than the electric set on Amorata and runs for about 40 minutes. The eleven track set starts with two instrumental pieces ("The Circle of St. Giles" and "Mondrago") before going into King Crimson, Asia and solo material. Unlike the electric set, the focus of this performance is John's clear voice and guitar playing. There is a lot of overlap in material between the acoustic and electric sets but the renditions of the songs are completely different so neither feels like a re-hash of the other. Amorata also includes a few more songs from John's solo releases along with a version of King Crimson's "Night Watch".

I don't know what it is about John Wetton and Poland but, next month, John is reuniting with Eddie Jobson for three shows in Poland under the banner of UK's 30th Anniversary. The shows are taking place:
November 3rd--Krakow, Studio Club
November 4th--Warsaw, Palladium
November 5th--Bydgoszcz, Philharmonic Hall

Links:
John Wetton

Robert Fripp Releases Studio Session for "Disengage" (with John Wetton and Phil Collins)

Robert Fripp opened the floodgates to the King Crimson/Fripp vaults a few years ago and steady stream of live material and studio outtakes has followed.

Fripp has just released the "Disengage Online EP" which consists of four studio takes of "Disengage" that were recorded in December 1977 with John Wetton and Phil Collins. The EP is available as an online download in MP3 format for $1 and in FLAC format for $2.

"Consisting of four different takes of the same track, we get to hear the anatomy of Disengage as it begins to breath and stretch. It's interesting to hear each musician trying out little experiments, pockets, retreats and chancing the occasional headlong thrust as the temperature rises or the inclination takes them."

Links:
"Disengage Online EP"

Some Days I Can't Figure Out the Logic in Concert Ticket Pricing

I always get a kick out of looking through the upcoming concert listings in TimeOutNY to see the wide range of concert ticket prices.

I actually saw Asia a couple years ago at Borders Books in somewhere in central New Jersey. It was a free show and I got a chance to talk with Geoff Downes and John Payne after the show who were really nice guys. Now that the original band is back together -- tickets are $65. I'll be shocked if the band gets a strong turn-out. If Ticketmaster ends up selling last minute $5.00 tickets for this show like they did for The Doors at Noika a few weeks ago, I might consider going.

I generally won't pay more than $15 for a show (some of the 'Save CBGB' shows were an exception) unless I am a major fan. Here are some of the crazier ticket prices:

Violent Femmes @ Warsaw June 22-23, $25- I didn't know the band was still around...and playing two nights at Warsaw no less. I would be afraid of going as I would suspect the audience would be full of drunks waiting to sing along with Blister In the Sun.

The Police @ MSG Aug. 1 & 3, Top ticket $254.50 - The sad thing is that the $250 tickets will probably sell out first. You have to love Ticketmaster -- the ticket isn't $250 or $255, it is $254.50. I am sure there is some psychological study that jutifies these oddly priced tickets.

Squeeze @ Noika Theatre Aug. 2, $50 and $65 - When I was growing up in Baltimore in the 80's, Squeeze played the local college and the movie theatre (and any place that would let them in the door). I had heard that attendance had fallen each tour and I think(?) the (then) final lineup of Squeeze played the Mercury Lounge in the late 90s. Does being gone 7 or so years really get you a $50 ticket at Noika or a up-to-$100 ticket at the Beacon?