This album was initially released in 2008 and at that time represented the first time that the original members of Asia --- Steve Howe, Geoff Downes, John Wetton and Carl Palmer --- had cut an album in 25-years. The guys favor Phoenix as their best album ever, and while the days of the band having radio hits was over by 2008, their early sound is fully intact here, and fans who listen now to great cuts like the tender "Parallel Worlds/Vortex/Deya," the dreamy and hopeful would-have-been-a-hit "An Extraordinary Life" and the typically-Asia big-sounding and radio-ready "Never Again" will wonder why this album was so overlooked in the first place. This 2CD set containing both the American and European editions of the effort (the European version has two bonus acoustic cuts) is a chance for fans to rectify that situation. You can hardly go wrong considering the four consummate musicians involved here.

Security Project
Live 1
7D Media

A tribute to the early solo works of Peter Gabriel, Security Project take their name from the fact that about half of the Gabriel covers here are taken from the self-titled Peter Gabriel album that's commonly referred to as Security and alternately known as 4. The band is made up of Gabriel band alumni Jerry Marotta (drums) and Michael Cozzi (guitar) along with Trey Gunn of King Crimson fame (touch guitar), keyboardist David Jameson and singer Brian Cummins (yes, he often sounds a lot like Gabriel.) And while Gabriel's music is rarely covered due to its complexities, no doubt Peter is pleased with Security Project's live rendering of tracks like the Genesis-recalling "No Self Control," the rhythmic joy of "I Have the Touch" and a version of "Games Without Frontiers" that's melded here with "Of These, Hope." Some of the other favorites included are "Lay Your Hands on Me," "The Rhythm of the Heat," "San Jacinto" and the politically-charged "Biko."

The Raptor Trail
New World
MBM Entertainment