Album Review: Asia, "XXX"

Thirty years after their classic self-titled debut ascended to the top of the U.S. charts the 'original' line-up of ASIA are again 'riding the dragon's wings.'

Firmly rooted in pop-rock territory, with infectious hook-lines, XXX re-captures the dynamic energy of that first 'iconic' release.

"Face On The Bridge" with its catchy chorus, the haunting "Bury Me In Willow," and the emotive "Ghost Of A Chance" prove that the Wetton/Downes songwriting partnership is stronger than ever. "Tomorrow The World" and "Al Gatto Nero" have those clever lyrical turns that vocalist/bassist John Wetton is renowned for, while guitarist Steve Howe makes his mark on "Judas" and "No Religion," both featuring neat musical interplay with keysman Geoff Downes and drummer Carl Palmer.

Asia have delivered their best recorded work since "82 when the disco hotspots held no charm for you"!

Mark Crampton
Rock iKon
25th June

Revenge...?

Riff Raff was a legendary rock magazine based in London in the late 1980s and 1990s. Edited by the ultimate music biz insider, Mark Crampton, and employing such talents as Mark Blake, Jerry Ewing, Mike Harris, Paul Smith, Chris Collingwood, Alan McCrorie, Simon Robinson, Lyn Guy, Anna Marx, Nick Douglas, Marion Garden, Peter "Grunty" Grant, Joe "The Crow" Mackett, Billy "The Kluck" Kulke, and, lastest and mostest, the incredible Liddell Brothers, Mark (a.k.a. "El Perro") and Colin (a.k.a. "Der Fly"). Unfortunately, Riff Raff was just too R n' R for its own good. A genuine working class rock mag, written, edited, and translated into 16 European languages in a drug-N-Jack-D-fuelled haze, often on the back of motorbikes, with spell checking by our staff of attentive rock bimbos (chosen purely for their blondeness and big knockers), it soon fell behind more trainspotterly, nerdish, and politically correct publications like Q, Kerrang, Mojo, Metal Hammer, and Horse & Hound. This website is an archive and kind of shrine dedicated to the writing of its greatest writers, some of whom, luckily for the Rock Kosmos, still continue to write about music. This is the REVENGE of Riff Raff...Rock on!