''Gravitas'' is the thirteenth studio album by British rock group

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, released in 2014. It is the group's final studio album with vocalist/bassist

John Wetton John Kenneth Wetton (12 June 1949 – 31 January 2017) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. Known for his dexterous bass playing and booming baritone voice, Wetton first gained fame in the early 1970s. Wetton was the singer and p ...

before his death in 2017 and the only one to feature guitarist

Sam Coulson Sam Coulson (born 9 February 1987) is an English guitarist, best known for being a member of progressive rock band Asia from 2013 to 2018, after his guitar-playing skills were noticed on the video-hosting website YouTube. Sam was born in Chigwe ...

. ''Gravitas'' was released on CD, deluxe edition CD/DVD-Video (featuring bonus tracks, the "Valkyrie" music video, the making of the album and three tracks recorded live with a full

symphonic orchestra A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

, Bulgaria) and LP. A music video for "Valkyrie" was shot in January 2014 in Los Angeles.

Production

Asia began to work on the new album in the end of June 2013. As this time they decided not to invite an outside producer, it was produced by Wetton and keyboard player

Geoff Downes Geoffrey Downes (born 25 August 1952) is an English keyboardist who gained fame as a member of the new wave group The Buggles with Trevor Horn, the progressive rock band Yes, and the supergroup Asia. Born in Stockport, Downes moved to London ...

. The instruments were recorded at Steve Rispin's Liscombe Park Studios, located in Buckinghamshire countryside west of Bedfordshire town

Leighton Buzzard Leighton Buzzard ( ) is a market town in Bedfordshire, England, in the southwest of the county and close to the Buckinghamshire border. It lies between Aylesbury, Tring, Luton/Dunstable and Milton Keynes, near the Chiltern Hills. It is northwes ...

, where the group had worked on all their previous studio recordings since the reunion in 2006. The vocals were done at Aubitt Studios in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, Hampshire, by Rob Aubrey. The album was mixed and mastered by John Mitchell at Outhouse Studios in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, Berkshire, from October to December 2013. "I Would Die for You" was written by Wetton and Downes in 1986 as opposed to the rest of the songs, which were composed in 2013. ''Gravitas'' was originally announced under the name of ''Valkyrie'', but the title was later changed. The cover artwork was designed by Roger Dean, who had collaborated with Asia since their debut album, released in 1982.

Reception

Matt Collar gave the album a rating of three stars out of five on

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

. He noted that "Asia have always moved back and forth between their radio-friendly pop side and more classical-influenced progressive side" and ''Gravitas'' "bends more toward the latter, showcasing Downes and Wetton's longstanding partnership as thoughtful songwriters and technically proficient arrangers". "Valkyrie", "Nyctophobia" and "I Would Die for You" were selected as three "Track Picks". ''Gravitas'' was less successful in terms of sales than its predecessor, but still managed to reach the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

and the US ''Billboard'' 200.

Track listing

Personnel

Asia

– lead vocal, acoustic and bass guitars; producer *

– keyboards; producer *

– guitars *

Carl Palmer Carl Frederick Kendall Palmer (born 20 March 1950) is an English drummer best known as founding member and the last surviving member of the progressive rock supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer. He was also a founding member of progressive rock s ...

– drums

Additional musicians

* Katinka Kleijn –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

(on "Valkyrie")

Technical personnel

* Steve Rispin – engineer * Rob Aubrey – engineer (vocals) (at Aubitt Studios,

, Hampshire) * John Mitchell – mixing and mastering engineer (at Outhouse Studios,

, Berkshire) *

Devin DeHaven Devin DeHaven (born February 20, 1970) is an American television director and producer. His career has spanned three decades with hundreds of live concerts, talk shows and music festivals. Artists Partial ist of artists collaborations: T ...

– producer and director ("Valkyrie" music video and the making of ''Gravitas'') * Roger Dean – paintings, logotypes * Michael Inns – photography * John Price – photography

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control Asia (band) albums 2014 albums Frontiers Records albums Albums produced by John Wetton Albums produced by Geoff Downes Albums with cover art by Roger Dean (artist)