GRAVITAS

Contrary to popular opinion, I think this new Asia album is their best after original line-up reunion. Despite the stellar line up (well, without Howe this time), I think people should have already learnt what to expect from the band - good old AOR, with Wetton's characteristic melodic touch. Of course, not all of their albums were successful even in this field (for example Omega and XXX were quite dull-ish.), but on Gravitas they finally achieve what they aimed for.

The two opening songs show us that we are not to expect any deviations - they are both based on a simple, repetitive but very beautiful chorus, which manages to never bore you in those quite long songs. There are three more songs that exploit this simple song title-chorus formula (Nyctophobia, I Would Die For You, Till We Meet Again) result is again pretty pleasant, if not extraordinary.

Some of the songs are on ballad or slow side, which somehow echo Wetton's excellent "Battle Lines" album. Everyone of them is good, especially in the chorus department, with some of them (Russian Dolls, Heaven Help Me Now) being really excellent.

There are a couple of things to be said about the overall sound. New guitar player really fits this simple and direct style of today's Asia. In the last few albums Howe seemed to be bored from his own limited input - here, even riffs sound energetic, even if simple. On the other hand, the biggest problem here is Downes' choice of background strings. They are quite irritating sometimes and drag the album a bit down for me.

But overall, all of this is quite exciting to listen. While not having any masterpiece aspirations, this album is the best they've done since reuniting. 3,5 stars, but when if I have to choose, I'll gladly upgrade to 4. Now let's wait for Payne's Asia to finally release something. My personal expectations are very high.