Rock that doesn't rock
This CD has none of the fire that their earlier work had. It's very well done, very professional, but it lags and drags. Almost like an album of ballads...

It's an "OK" CD But Could Have Been Better
In my opinion is seems like this alblum was rushed a bit - too much borrowing from previous tunes and some of the 80's sounding keyboards sound like, well, 80's (could have lived without that). Also, I know John went through alot lattely and I'm glad that he's fine but it seems to me that he spends too much time writing about the joys of being alive, sounds more like motivational musicthen the cliche driven ASIA classics of the past. I guess the biggest disappointment for me was that after seeing them live (and they where excellent and so are the Asia live CDs and DVDs) the performances on this CD do not live up to their live performances. Again, my biggest disappoint was that this CD seemed rushed. Well, hope they spend more time on the next CD which may be a year out since Steve is touring with YES this summer (hopefully YES will release a new CD to follow the tour).

A solid CD
Same format as previous discs. It's good having all the old band together again. It's worth the $10 to add to a collection.

As great as the 80s
Saw ASIA in concert last year expecting a semi-cheesy 80s band reunion. Wrong! They rocked. Got the new cd when it came out and went to see them again since. The cd is reflective and the songs really seem to have personal meaning. I recommend listening to it more than once before you make your decision about it. I love it. They are a very talented group of musicians. Can't wait to see them again!

Very good, but not outstanding
I've given Phoenix at least a dozen listen-throughs, and feel now that I have enough exposure to write a fair review.

The overall song writing, as well as the musicianship, is excellent. The songs are thoughtful, and a few are down right exceptional. Never Again, Parallel Worlds, and of course Extraordinary Life make the album worth buying. John Wetton, in spite of his challenges and the toll of age, sounds just about as good as he ever did. I measure an album by how many songs I hit the "skip" button on, and there are only a couple that I've finally decided that gritting my teeth wasn't worth it, and moved on.

The heavy knock that I have to give Phoenix is the poor production. The instruments are all there, but they lack that "pop" that they should have. Carl Palmer, where art thou? Gone are the days when his thump powered the songs of Asia. There is but one decent drum solo on the whole album, and even THAT doesn't drive into you. I absolutely don't blame Palmer, but the producer. It's a shame, really. Sadly, it's the same with the keyboards and guitars. It's like they're all playing in your living room but don't want to turn up the volume for fear of disturbing the neighbors.

That being said, it's hard not to like the album as a whole. When four musical geniuses get together, it's pretty hard to produce garbage, and there's very little garbage here. If there's ever some enhanced remastering in the future, I may end up changing this to 5-stars.