Band : Asia

Album title : Fantasia Live In Tokyo

Label : Eagle Records

Distributor : PIAS

Release date : August 2007

Release : Double CD

Yet another Asia album, eh? Right, but this one is somewhat of a special one, kinda. In spite of Asia doin' very well indeed in their line-up of the latter years (with Jeff Payne as vocalist/ bassist), the band original band members decided (as far back as January 2006) to reform the original unit, in order to commemorate the 25 th anniversary of their 1982 smash hit self-titled debut album. The concept was simple: the guys would do a worldwide reunion tour, performing the "...entire debut album alongside a selection of special acoustic songs and a new concept for the band – a musical snapshot from each member's pre- Asia heritage..." (from the footnotes in the album booklet).

Rehearsals for the tour started in August of last year, and then the tour followed, leading   through The US first, then Great Britain, Japan and South Am eric a. Sold-out venues prompted the band members to stay on after   the shows, allowing their fans to actually have a small chat, get an autograph. When, in March of this year, the 6 originally planned Japanese gigs sold out quicker than expected, an additional gig was organized to meet the fans' demand. It was the first time ever the band in its original line-up had played in Japan, and therefore it was considered the ideal place to do some recordings (this being the audio rendition, there's also a DVD coming out soon).

As for the material, you'll find all 9 songs off the first album spread over the two discs. Disc one also contains a cover of Yes ' "Roundabout" with a John Wetton giving a performance which I personally prefer over that of Jon Anderson (but then I never really liked that high-pitch falsetto voice). Steve Howe gets another shot at his personal heritage, giving a solo rendition of his "Intersection Blues" , and the band follow that up with a covver of Emerson Lake & Palmer 's instrumental "Fanfare Fo The Common Man" , finishing disc one (at a total of 54:52 playing time) with "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes" , from Asia 's 1983 second album Alpha .

Disc 2 opens with an acoustic version of "Don't Cry" (off Alpha ), continues with a rendition of King Crimson 's "In The Court Of The Crimson King" . Another cover comes with Buggles ' "Video Killed The radio Star" , with Wetton as (a somewhat misplaced, but that's a very personal observation) lead singer. With "the Heat Goes On" , the band brings another track of their second album, and with "Ride Easy" , they bring a song which was originally intended to be on the debut, but was only used as the b-side to the "Heat Of The Moment" single. Carl Palmer gets another bit of ego-stroking, bringing a drum solo during "The Heat Goes On".

Overview: an album well worth getting for the fans and completists. Besides the added covers, there IS the fact that this IS this line-up's first live album. Of course, it's mostly a nostalgia thing. Time HAS brought some aging on everyone's voice (both Wetton 's and Downes & Howe 's as well – they do the backing vocals, you know) here (or maybe the small deficiencies were due to the performance being recorded at the END of a long   run of live gigs, eh?), but overall I would say these guys have done pretty well! Can we expect a future studio album with this line-up? The strong bonds between Wetton and Downes (who are also active as Icon , remember?) certainly suggests at least those two will stay together. But will the others hang on as well? Only one good phrase comes to mind here: only time will tell (and Asia fans HAVE to know where THAT comes from)!

Live album, and definitely a sorts of "Best Of" album, therefore no rating.

Tony.