FANTASIA - LIVE IN TOKYO

It seems that these recent years the reunion of favourite bands of old is very much on vogue and we have witnessed the rebirth of Police and Genesis (on 10.7.07 at the Olympiastadion Munich by the way) and who knows who else. But this one is the one I've been very much looking forward to.

Geoff Downs saw a chance (and plunged on it) to reunite the original ASIA lineup for the 25th anniversary of the release of the first album "Asia". In the process he left Payne, Govan, Schellen without a keyboarder and without a name - they went on to form GPS, but that is another story.

The reformed ASIA went on a world tour and came to Asia (an inevitable pun) for the first (!) time with the original lineup. How come? Insiders will remember that ASIA's and MTV's beginnings were very much intertwined. Not only that Geoff Downes' - sorry, it must read the Buggles' - "Video killed the radio star" was the very first video ever to be played at MTV. Also the ASIA videos were played up and down the channel. And so with the increasing popularity of ASIA the popularity of MTV also rose, and vice versa. To top it all off, ASIA were schedule to head for Japan to do a concert which was to be broadcast live via sattelite on MTV. But just before they boarded the plane, John Wetton called it a day and headed for new realms. He was quickly replaced by Greg Lake (to be heard and seen on Enso Kai and the video ASIA in Asia). By the time Wetton returned to the band Steve Howe had already returned to Yes.

But now to the music on this double live CD. The whole thing has been recorded on a single venue in Tokyo, hence the title. The set list is a bit unbalanced as the first album is covered in full but the second is only represented by 3 songs. They concentrate on those two albums of the original cast, so no songs from later albums are performed. The big and pleasant surprise was that they did material from their 'before ASIA occupations'. We are treated to "Roundabout" from YES, "Fanfare for the common man" from ELP, "In the court of the Crimson King" from you know who and - the biggest surprise - "Video killed the Radio Star". And of course there is a Steve Howe acoustic piece which sounds awfully familiar. He probably wouldn't do without.

From the first note to the last bits of sound the band goes off in full force. The musicians are on top of their game and I believe that they can outperform most of the current outfits. It seems that the past 25 years haven't left any mark on the musical skills of the artists (different from their looks on the pictures). But what always grabs me when I listen to an ASIA live recording is that it seems no tape in the world is capable of capturing the raw power of an ASIA live performance.

While the standards are performed with routine but with enough lifeblood to make it worth the listen, there are a number of songs which are not usually included in ASIA live performances like "Ride Easy", "One Step Closer" or "Cutting It Fine". They make it even more worthwile. But the big surprise are the before-ASIA songs. They really stand out and make this album an experience of its own.

So who is this for? All ASIA fans in any case, lovers of arena rock and AOR (which might be just the same according to point of view) and fans of good rock music in general. Needless to say that this isn't for the hardcore progressive fans, no ASIA album ever was. Three stars in general as it is non-essential and an extra star for the cover versions.

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