ASIA IN ASIA (VHS)

Mine is a laser disc format after I watched the Beta version couple of times. Yeah, in fact, I just got the laser disc version in 2000 because this video was very difficult to have. Am not sure if the DVD has ever existed. When the video was released, I got a friend which had it brand new imported from the Netherland and we, five of us, watched together. We were all amazed with the fact that - yes, it's a hard rock music - but we were all glad to see Steve Howe (still pretty young) and Gred Lake played together on stage for this show in Japan. All racks were coming from the band's two studio albums: the debut and "Alpha". All songs performed were familiar to all of us.

The opening track "Time Again" is a kind of my favorite wake up call track when I regularly played to get me energized very early in the morning. By the time the debut album was released I repeatedly played this song. Of course, I am energized with this track performed in this video because originally I like the track very very much. It rocks! What truly remarkable - for me personally - from this video is the live version of "Open Your Eyes". Yes, the song is performed longer than the studio version. The most enjoyable part is the ending part where Geoff Downes keyboard solo is accompanied with stunning guitar work by Steve Howe. Uuuuggg .. Man . it's really cool!

Others are attractive as well. Take "Wildest Dreams" with Carl Palmer's solo - it's amazing. Greg Lake plays wonderfully even though he never played studio albums with and he only existed to replace John Wetton who could not make it. "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes" must be a favorite for most people - be it a rocker or typical music buffs. So sweet, and so memorable. Yes, indeed this video is memorable in all measures - especially for those who were around in the early 80s when prog music was by definition "dead". It's an excellent addition to any prog music collection. Recommended. Keep on proggin' ..!

Progressively yours, GW

When I look back to the eighties, when I was a fresh Kid, one of my prime reminiscents is this video ASIA in ASIA, featuring four of my real prog heroes, playing together in a special way..that really never repeated..Greg Lake (one of the greatest voices of rock history) was there just to replace a betrayed and fired John Wetton, which would recover his place on the band, soon after this concert..but Greg Lake's work on this was memorable, he got all the repertoire in a few weeks and toured with his old friends to perform wonderfully in such a most real fun concerts I've ever watched to! Obviously Palmer, Downes and Howe also did a great job.. But it was a real fun to see Lake playing hs powerful bass lines and singing in Asia. All songs were fresh by that time, extracted from first two albums, highlights of the concert were Open your eyes, Wildest Dreams (Palmer's solo) and Time again and The Smile has Left Your Eyes (this version was really good, beated only by Asia's Mockba concert version). I was just stunned by that time, because i was wandering what an amalgam of my two favourite Prog groups (ELP and YES) could offer for the hard rock in the future...But this line up, didn't last too long to produce new material...My rating is 4,6 in 5 possible

Fred Fontes

Well. I added this video to the Progarchives database 6-7 years ago and finally today I watched to this concert in youtube! I knew about this concert because I read about it in a Mexican newspaper in late 1983. I knew then that John Wetton was replaced by Greg Lake in Asia. But it was until later in the eighties when I saw some Laser Disc copies being sold in the record stores. I never bought it. Much later in the web I learned that this video was also released in the Betamax and VHS formats. I think that this video is now out of print in any home video format, so youtube is a good source to find it and to watch to it. The history about this concert now is easier to know, thanks to the web too. John Wetton was fired or he left the band. He has said in recent years that he had a drinking problem then. But I don't know the real history behind his leaving. Some information sources said that it was because the 'Alpha' album wasn't as successful as their first album and that by that reason he was fired by the management and the record company. Other sources say that there were personal problems between the members of the band due to external pressures to have more success with 'Alpha'. Others say that John Wetton and Steve Howe had some personal conflicts. Anyway, Greg Lake says in his personal website that he was called by Carl Palmer some weeks before the Japanese tour dates of December 1983, saying that Wetton had left the band and they were without a lead singer and bassist, and asking Lake 'as a favour' to join the band because they were under pressure because they had these tour dates (4 or 5), one of which included a MTV live broadcast. Before agreeing to join the band, Lake called Wetton (who is his friend) to ask him what he thought about him replacing Wetton. Wetton said to Lake that it was fine with him, and that Lake could join the band without any problem. So, Lake joined the band for these Japanese tour dates, being very nervous and having a very short time for rehearsals. Lake says that he was paid a very good quantity of money, but anyway he was very nervous to do it, but he did it anyway. After knowing these details about this late 1983 Japanese tour dates, I can say that Lake did a very professional job replacing Wetton. His voice is not as high in tones as Wetton's (and it sounds to me that some songs were played in lower tones to adjust them to Lake's voice) but he sounds well. He even learned the bass guitar parts well and he even used some bass pedals in some songs as Wetton did. He looks a bit nervous as the other members of the band too, particularly Geoff Downes, but the band played very well, even if in some parts of some songs they sound a bit like being played without enough rehearsals. Maybe with the passing of time they could have improved in sound as a band, but they played a very good concert anyway. These four musicians (Downes, Howe, Lake and Palmer) are very good musicians, and they played all the songs with a lot of energy and professional attitude. So, even if Wetton is not present, the band sounds very well. The end of Lake's involvement with Asia came in early 1984. He says that the band's musical style wasn't very much for his musical personal taste, but that it was a good experience to be with them for this very short time. He knew that he was more a hired hand for the band and that there never were formal plans for him joining the band as a full time member. So after this short Japanese tour, Wetton rejoined the band, and they started to compose songs for their third album (which later became 'Astra', released in late 1985 and recorded without Howe), and they started rehearsing them, but Howe said that 'out of the blue Wetton said that he couldn't play with me in the band anymore, so I left'. I think that due to the management and record company problems and their personal conflicts, Asia lost a very good opportunity to gain more recognition with this MTV 'Asia in Asia' concert, which now is more remembered as a 'rarity' on which Lake replaced Wetton. Maybe with Wetton this 'Asia in Asia' concert could have helped them to re-establish themselves in the public mind and to have more success in the future. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case, and the original line-up up the band had to wait until 2006-2007 to play and record more albums together again, apparently finally leaving their personal conflicts behind.

Where they belong!

Watching this concert for the first time, I'm surprised to see how good the band was in the live arena. The energy and passion for music was definitely there and Steve Howe, Geoff Downes, and Carl Palmer were on fire! There is a great dynamic going on between them that doesn't come through as well on the studio albums. On vocals we have here Greg Lake and not John Wetton, which I'm sure will surprise many as this is the only thing Lake did with the band leaving as quickly as he entered. Lake brings his own style to these songs and sings them very well even if he doesn't always remember the correct words. They have an enthusiastic audience as well which is an important factor, letting the band feed off the energy of the crowd.

In addition to the full songs from the first two studio albums, the rarest of which is Eye To Eye, we get Howe's wonderful acoustic solo piece Sketches In The Sun (which would later end up on the GTR album some years later), and the most interesting Downes solo spot I've heard in which he performs on a plethora of keyboards including his keytar (which resurfaces on Heat Of The Moment). He has quite an interesting keyboard rig spread out over the stage so that he needs to run back and forth between his various instruments that include organs, pianos, and Moog synthesisers. Palmer gets to play his traditional drum solo as well, and even if it would be rather dull on an audio-only recording, it is rather fun to watch the man in action - he is quite a show man, juggling his drum sticks and taking his shirt off without ever interrupting his drumming (to the voices of many screaming Japanese ladies!)

I would say that this live concert video is generally better and more interesting than the studio albums on which the tunes originally appeared. Asia is an 80's band, but in the live arena they still maintained traces of their roots in 70's Prog. A positive surprise for me. Don't miss this one (whole concert can be seen on YouTube and has also been released on audio CD).