In 2004, the touring version of the legendary prog rock band Asia was down to a single original member.

When the band's founding members decided to get back together and tour in 2005, it left the remaining musicians from the 2004 lineup without a gig.

Not wanting to let the exceptional musical rapport they had developed go to waste, the trio invited Spock's Beard keyboardist Ryo Okumoto to join them and form GPS.

The group's debut album is a surprisingly straight-ahead rock album that features plenty of long and inventive solos but little of the self-indulgent bombast that too often bogs down the typical prog project.

Okumoto is particularly skilled at taking solos that create maximum musical interest with a minimum of musical fuss -- note, for example, his extended but fascinating solo on the album's title track -- but guitarist Guthrie Govan is also impressively tasteful in his alternation between delicate filigrees and chunky, heavyweight power chord machismo.

Bassist and singer John Payne writes well, and the frank spirituality of his lyrics may come as a surprise to Asia fans, but his vocal style is often just a bit too overwrought; the clenched and gritty roar he deploys on almost every track fits well with some songs, less so with others.

Recommended overall.