Some of you may remember that a couple of years I went a bit
mental over Asia’s “XXX” album, a fantastic
piece of work that resulted in much singing along and many embarrassing Google
searches. It was, to be honest, an almost perfect album, full of pace and
melody, the best , for me, since “Astra” way back in the Eighties.
Understandably I’ve been waiting for the follow up with baited breath.
One of the problem’s I have had with Asia
in the past is their propensity for releasing albums full of mid paced, samey
songs. This is one of the reason’s I loved “XXX” so much, as it really rolled
along and showcased varying speeds and styles. “Gravitas” does not do this, not
even a tiny bit. Opening track “Valkyrie” will have you singing along, but only
because John Wetton sings that very word over and over. Next is eight minutes
of “Gravitas” that feels more like fifteen, with a dull two minute intro (to
build gravitas, I suppose) and a nice opening riff that dissipates into five more
minutes of mid paced averageness that threatens to be good but never quite
makes it. It only wakes up at the end when we finally get a sweet guitar solo. The
most interesting track is “I Would Die For You”, which rolls in at just over
three minutes and has absolutely no flab on it anywhere.
“Gravitas” is a rather uninteresting album overall. If a few
of these slow tracks, like “Russian Dolls” and “Nyctophobia” had been part of a
pacier album then they would have been fine, but when the vast majority of an
album is so unchanging and mediocre it does begin to grate. There’s no real
flow to many of the tracks, no sense of urgency, none of the passion of “XXX”. In short, “Gravitas” is boring. It’s not
Prog-boring, as Asia have never really been a
Prog band, it’s just dull in a generally dull way. I have a feeling this will
be the biggest disappointment of the year for me, and that sucks.
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