Whether it was intended or not, Asia did much to thwart internet piracy by naming its new album XXX.
Of course, the nine-song cycle from John Wetton, Steve Howe, Geoff Downes and Carl Palmer actually commemorates the 30th anniversary of their debut, 1982’s self-titled four-times platinum smash. But Lord help anyone who types “Asia XXX” into an web search browser at work.
You might have started out looking for the newest pop-prog release from hitmakers known for “Heat of the Moment” and “Only Time Will Tell,” but what you’re going to find are screaming all-caps invitations to check out SEXY AND HOT GIRLS and FREE ASIAN XXX VIDEOS.
Or, uh, so we’ve heard, right?
[SOMETHING ELSE! REWIND: Asia’s anniversary release ‘XXX’ finds John Wetton singing better than ever, and – dare we utter it? – sounding happy, too. Wait, the guy who one cried “the lie is over!” in a Top 10 hit?]
Downes, the band’s co-founding keyboardist, is prepping with the others for a new UK tour, to begin on December 15, 2012 and continue through Dec. 22 with a final stop at London’s 02 Shepherds Bush Empire. Four of the seven shows this month are already sold out. They’ve also just released Resonance, a CD-DVD souvenir from a 2006 Asia concert.
Still, first Downes had to address this pressing web-search issue — and he did so with James Allman of the yummy-sounding Bacon Music.
On the album title’s actual genesis: “We couldn’t really think of anything better,” Downes says, “and when the name cropped up — XXX for 30 years — we said, ‘Lets do it!'”
As for the infuriating — and sometimes, down-right weird — blind alleys that searches for “Asia XXX” take internet thieves on, well, Downes says that’s just a pleasant bonus: “Yes, it doesn’t really work too well if you put ASIA and then XXX after it – it might take some people to the wrong areas.”
In other words, just buy the album at Amazon, folks.
[amazon_enhanced asin=”B007ZBWJXS” container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B00004TKGK” container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B001QVCFNM” container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B000000OMB” container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /] [amazon_enhanced asin=”B009GJCFL8″ container=”” container_class=”” price=”All” background_color=”FFFFFF” link_color=”000000″ text_color=”0000FF” /]
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