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Rating: Listening to these albums, sometimes, brings you an indescribable peace.
Enough with thrash, power, death. Enough with metal. Sometimes you need to take a break and a good healthy dose of classic rock filled with AOR-like melodies can only do you good. Especially if you're talking about Asia.
Their reunion, the reunion of the original lineup, is quite significant. Asia, a supergroup formed in '82, creators of masterpieces like "Heat Of The Moment", a global hit, can only be welcomed with open arms today. And here we find Wetton, Downes, Howe, and Palmer together again (first loved, then hated, then arch-enemies, then together again... What a soap opera, folks!). Now, I can already imagine the scene: four losers, aware that on their own nobody notices them anymore, sitting around a table, with a nice glass of whiskey talking about the good old days... Alright then! Let's have this reunion, it always works.
Well, generally I'm not very in favor of certain things, also because I consider them shameless commercial gimmicks, just the right thing to blow up the product of the moment in the market. But if I have to judge only the music, then I close my eyes and open my eardrums, and when I listen to "Alibis," the opener "Never Again," and the wonderful ballads, where the band's pop/AOR reaches stratospheric levels ("An Extraordinary Life" and the wonderful "Heroine" which generates a fabulous harmonic line, even if it takes its cue from "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes") you can't help but be ecstatic, especially in front of a Wetton in full grace (listen to believe the sonic tapestry woven by the singer's vocal cords in "Orchards of Mine," where the anguished and epic voice gives a charming and moving touch to the song in question).
And it's only then that you understand that an album like "Phoenix" has the right to see the light because it is Asia's phoenix rising to new life, and I couldn't have found a different title.
In conclusion, an album that I wouldn't define as an AOR masterpiece (even though it touches masterpiece status more than once) but certainly embodies a really high class.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
12 An Extraordinary Life (04:56)
A perfect day, or so I say
From where Iâ??m standing
This rollercoaster ride, fate will decide
The ending
Love everlasting, or lost on the way
The smiles and the frowns, the ups and downs
Of fortune turning
The twists and turns, the lessons learned
The bridges burning
Nights to remember and never forget
Go, seize the day
Wake up and say
This is an
EXTRAORDINARY LIFE
Enjoy today
Come what may
This is an
EXTRAORDINARY LIFE
I gave it all, my cards have fallen
But Iâ??m still alive
And in the end, believe my friend
I will survive
Glory and heartache, and some of the joy
Go, seize the day
Wake up and say
This is an
EXTRAORDINARY LIFE
Enjoy today
Come what may
This is an
EXTRAORDINARY LIFE
All of the good times, and all of the bad
Responsibility is totally
Mine I know
I rightly stand accused
But I believe that I can change
Yes I can change my world
Go, seize the day
Wake up and say
This is an
EXTRAORDINARY LIFE
Enjoy today
Come what may
This is an
EXTRAORDINARY LIFE
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