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Friday, March 21, 2014

Asia "Gravitas"


Country: UK
Sub GenreAOR, Progressive Pop/Rock
LabelFrontiers Records
Release dateMarch 5, 2014 (Japan), March 21, 2014 (EU), March 25, 2014(NA)
Tracklist
01. Valkyrie
02. Gravitas
03. The Closer I Get To You
04. Nyctophobia
05. Russian Dolls
06. Heaven Help Me Now
07. I Would Die For You
08. Joe Di Maggio’s Glove
09. Till We Meet Again

Line-up
John Wetton - lead vocal and bass
Carl Palmer - drums
Geoff Downes - keyboards
Sam Coulson - guitars

Description/Reviews
ASIA moves into the next phase of its extraordinary career with Gravitas, a brave new album that explores different musical landscapes while embracing its familiar musical past. Produced and written by band members John Wetton and Geoff Downes, Gravitas is deeply introspective within a clearly accessible sound. The album also introduces the world to ASIA’s new guitarist, Sam Coulson, who came at the recommendation of Mr. Big’s Paul Gilbert.
From the title track, Gravitas, which chronicles a man’s struggle in the battlefield of life, to the powerfully compelling tale of unrequited love, “The Closer I Get To You,” the album is a tour de force for the band whose music has become a staple to rock fans around the world. On “Joe Di Maggio’s Glove,” Wetton sings of a man trying to understand how the power of love had changed him using the metaphor of the soft leather that that makes up baseball’s most famous glove: “I’ve never been completely lost/ I’ve never been so in love/ How did my heart become so soft?/ Like Joe Di Maggio’s glove…”
“Nyctophobia,” a haunting rocker built upon driving rhythm and vocal harmonies, looks at a person’s debilitating fear of darkness.  Gravitas‘ epic track, however, is “The Closer I Get To You,” likely to go down as one of Asia’ s most powerful ballads ever.  Exemplifying a man’s frustration over his inability to rest in the sanctuary of the woman he loves, Wetton sings: “Our existence is just floating at sea/ Cut adrift from the people we are.” Musically, it features a blistering guitar solo from Coulson over the rich, layered vocals that have become part of the band’s trademark sound. Gravitas, the band’s fourth studio album since reuniting eight years ago, is already being heralded as the band’s freshest album since the classic records of the early 1980s.
Media/Samples
Valkyrie

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