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Asia - Gravitas (2014) [CD and DVD]

Posted By: v3122

Date: 2 Apr 2014 19:53:38

After reuniting for 2008's Phoenix, the original four members of prog-pop supergroup Asia (bassist/vocalist John Wetton, keyboardist Geoff Downes, guitarist Steve Howe, and drummer Carl Palmer) stayed together for three more albums including 2012's XXX. However, after touring in support of that album, Howe amicably parted ways with the band to pursue other projects, and once again Asia were in search of a guitarist. Enter 27-year-old Sam Coulson, who replaces Howe for Asia's 2014 effort, Gravitas. A technical wizard on the guitar, Coulson has all the requisite abilities to fill Howe's role as resident flamethrower for Asia. Ironically, the aptly titled Gravitas is one of Asia's more reserved albums and Coulson, who acquits himself nicely throughout, isn't called upon to throw much fire for most of Gravitas' running time. This isn't to say there aren't fireworks to be had. Despite the elegiac, classical tone of the album, there are moments of bright, burning rock intensity, even if they are framed by extended orchestral synth arrangements, as on the three-part suite "Heaven Help Me Now." Longtime Asia fans get a treat as the band reworks a long abandoned 1987 demo, "I Would Die for You," that certainly brings to mind the band's golden "Heat of the Moment" period. Elsewhere, they draw upon Norse mythology for the lyrical "Valkyrie," and conjure Queen's layered majestic harmonies as they wish their fans the best on "Till We Meet Again." Ultimately, if Asia have always moved back and forth between their radio-friendly pop side and more classical-influenced progressive side, then Gravitas bends more toward the latter, showcasing Downes and Wetton's longstanding partnership as thoughtful songwriters and technically proficient arrangers.

by Matt Collar, AMG

Asia - Gravitas (2014):

Tracklist CD:

01. Valkyrie (5:26)
02. Gravitas (i. Lento ii. Gravitas) (8:00)
03. The Closer I Get to You (6:38)
04. Nyctophobia (5:12)
05. Russian Dolls (5:06)
06. Heaven Help Me Now (5:39)
07. I Would Die For You (3:11)
08. Joe DiMaggio's Glove (4:31)
09. Till We Meet Again (4:04)

EAC

Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011

EAC extraction logfile from 28. March 2014, 16:16

Asia / Gravitas (IrondCD14-1838)

Used drive : PLEXTOR BD-R PX-B940SA Adapter: 0 ID: 5

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

Read offset correction : 667
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Installed external ASPI interface

Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : Yes
Command line compressor : E:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "Date=%year%" -T "Genre=%genre%" %source%

TOC of the extracted CD

Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 5:25.60 | 0 | 24434
2 | 5:25.60 | 7:59.63 | 24435 | 60422
3 | 13:25.48 | 6:38.07 | 60423 | 90279
4 | 20:03.55 | 5:11.57 | 90280 | 113661
5 | 25:15.37 | 5:05.47 | 113662 | 136583
6 | 30:21.09 | 5:38.53 | 136584 | 161986
7 | 35:59.62 | 3:11.25 | 161987 | 176336
8 | 39:11.12 | 4:30.72 | 176337 | 196658
9 | 43:42.09 | 4:03.64 | 196659 | 214947

Range status and errors

Selected range

Filename D:\MUSIC\Sentenced\Asia - Gravitas (IrondCD14-1838).wav

Peak level 97.7 %
Extraction speed 4.6 X
Range quality 100.0 %
Test CRC 55D98DFA
Copy CRC 55D98DFA
Copy OK

No errors occurred

AccurateRip summary

Track 1 not present in database
Track 2 not present in database
Track 3 not present in database
Track 4 not present in database
Track 5 not present in database
Track 6 not present in database
Track 7 not present in database
Track 8 not present in database
Track 9 not present in database

None of the tracks are present in the AccurateRip database

End of status report

foobar2000 1.2.9 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2014-04-02 16:30:09

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Asia / Gravitas (IrondCD14-1838)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR5 -0.20 dB -7.38 dB 5:26 01-Valkyrie
DR6 -0.20 dB -9.68 dB 8:00 02-Gravitas
DR6 -0.20 dB -9.49 dB 6:38 03-The Closer I Get To You
DR5 -0.20 dB -7.10 dB 5:12 04-Nyctophobia
DR6 -0.20 dB -8.70 dB 5:06 05-Russian Dolls
DR7 -0.20 dB -9.04 dB 5:39 06-Heaven Help Me Now
DR6 -0.20 dB -7.46 dB 3:11 07-I Would Die For You
DR6 -0.20 dB -8.57 dB 4:31 08-Joe DiMaggio's Glove
DR7 -0.20 dB -8.61 dB 4:04 09-Till We Meet Again
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Number of tracks: 9
Official DR value: DR6

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 965 kbps
Codec: FLAC

Tracklist DVD:

1. Valkyrie (videoclip)
2. Making of the album
3. An Extraordinary Life (Live in Plovdiv with Plovdiv Symphonic Orchestra)
4. Only Time Will Tell (Live in Plovdiv with Plovdiv Symphonic Orchestra)
5. Heat of the Moment (Live in Plovdiv with Plovdiv Symphonic Orchestra)

DVDinfo

Title: Asia 2014 - Gravitas - DVD
Size: 1.14 Gb ( 1 192 722,00 KBytes ) - DVD-5
Enabled regions: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

VTS_01 :
Play Length: 00:04:38+00:04:37+00:15:42
Video: NTSC 16:9 (720x480) VBR, Auto Letterboxed
Audio:
English (Dolby AC3, 2 ch)