{mosimage}Asia, the progressive rock super band from
the eighties is back with its four original members in a DVD that celebrates
the 25th anniversary of the release of their first and acclaimed
album Asia.
The release
of the album Asia provoked a lot
of controversy among the followers of progressive rock. For many, it was
welcomed as one of the best albums of the decade. For others, it was a betrayal
to the style due to the excessive commercial touch of the lyrics. In any case,
and after several years when Asia did not enjoy much success, time has passed
by and history makes justice with this DVD filmed in Tokyo in March 2007 that
commemorates the 25h anniversary of the release of their first album, with the
4 original members: Geoff Downes, Steve Howe, Carl Palmer and John Wetton reunited in a
tour that made dreams come true for many old fans.
Although
obviously the band does not sound as compact as it could be after so many years
of separation, the skilled musicians are able to display an entertaining and
plain show. 2 hours of music where Asia play
old classics that have turned into real history of rock as Sole Survivor
or Heat of the Moment (too much extended version for my taste) and also
every member of the band add 1 song brought from their other projects. One
Step Closer sounds emotive while Video Killed the Radio Star sounds
funny. Later on Steve Howe wins the audience over with their solos playing the
mandolin and the Spanish guitar, although across some moments in the concert he
seems to be lost and not totally comfortable on stage. John Wetton´s vocal
skills sound superb, Carl Palmer shows once more how amazingly good he is
behind the drums, but somebody should advise Geoff Downes about his dressing
style; the man would have been perfectly taken from “Spinal Tap 2.0 progressive
rock version”… The sound of the show is clean and with excellent quality but we
miss a bit more of interaction of the public all along the DVD (maybe this can
be due to the post-production more than to the coldness of Japanese fans).
To sum up,
this is a product that probably won’t make feel especially excited to metal
headers and fans of Lordi, but that surely will delight all those lovers
of progressive rock and old Asia fans.
Rating 4/5