Customer Reviews

Live in Moscow

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Dont listen to the snobby reviewers here. This is a great Asia concert. The Russian audience add a really cool energy to the whole thing. John Wetton is still the frontman of Asia for me. His performance is really good. Geoff Downes also has an awesome solo including "Video Killed the Radio Star" on here!

You can tell these guys are having a ball up on stage. This was a pretty rare event back in those days of Cold War Soviet Era politics. The concert video/documentary is really good, too. This album is definitely a must for any Asia fan.

Now, if they just would have done a prog version of "Volga Boatmen"!

The same live recording (different song order) as released in the original "Live in Moscow"...only this release adds "Wildest Dreams" and deletes the unreleased "Kari-Anne". That was a huge mistake in my opinion..."Kari-Anne" was one of the band's best songs, and I think "Wildest Dreams" was taken from another concert ("Live in Nottingham", I think). The album does include the two earlier Wetton band songs ("Starless" and "Book of Saturday") with their different arrangements. Also included in both versions of this live album, is the more powerful version of "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes", which is more hard hitting than in it's original release.

This is a really good disc. The band do a great job interpreting their hits from the 80's with a new guitarist. If you're expecting the songs to sound just like the studio versions on Asia, Alpha and Astra, you'll be disappointed. But they sound great anyway, at least if you're like me and actually like a little something different thrown in.

For the most part, that something different is Pat Thrall. No, he does not sound like Steve Howe, and yes it took me some getting used to. He definitely brings his own sound to the mix, but it's still good. The only song where I really missed the embellishments of Howe is "Only Time Will Tell," where Thrall, who is very good, takes a back seat for some reason and lets the other three carry the song while he plays mainly chords (which are very low in the mix on this song.)

Also, he makes an interesting choice on "Sole Survivor," where he only plays power chords (with a cool distortion tone) for the whole song except the end, where he lets rip with a very un-Howe like solo. I also like his solos on "Don't Cry," "Heat Of the Moment" and "Rock And Roll Dream." So I actually admire Pat Thrall for bringing his own sound to the group, although he proves he can play Howe's parts on "Time Again" (which makes his understated performance on "Only Time Will Tell" more puzzling.)

Asia studio records are so heavily produced that when they perform alive it always seems that something is missing. However this is an excellent live album, regardless the fact that Pat Thrall is not as good as Steve Howe.

It was 1990, Gorby was in the house, Glasnost and Perestroika were in full bloom, and 80's super-group ASIA was trying to stoke the Heat of the Moment. For the most part, they succeeded famously! This is a wonderful collection of live material from 3/4 of the band that enjoyed tremendous success in the early to mid eighties in the adult contemporary rock market.

The Asia classics are done very competently, although they do not stray much from the studio tracks...no lengthy interludes, but then Asia was never about that. I was surprised to see the set close out with Open Your Eyes; I would have expected something from the first LP. But its a nice surprise, they do a wonderful job on it. Time Again and Soul Survivor (perhaps the best Asia tune, ever) really rock on this disk. The Smile Has Left Your Eyes was a bit bloated, but that song always has been.

Standout chestnuts include Wetton's King Crimson nuggets. Both Starless and Book of Saturdays sound better on this disk than they ever did with Fripp at the controls. Video Killed the Radio Star was another blast from the past, though not as satisfying as Wetton's contributions.

Finally, they close out the disk with a studio track, Kari-Anne. Not the Hollies old tune (spelled differently). While the song emphasises the Light in Prog-Light, its definately worthy of a listen. Great for radio format in the 80's. Not appropriate for the radio of the 90's, sadly.

Indeed a wonderful coda from the core of the band. It gets 4 stars instead of 5 because it doesn't feature Howe (although Thrall fills the niche rather well).

Asia of the 90's is a "Far Cry" from these lads! This disk is proof. Now, if they would just release Asia in Asia on CD. That would be a great show!

Comments? email me!

In 1990, Asia went back on tour to support their album Then & Now which was mostly a greatest hits release with three new tracks and a previously unreleased one recorded for Astra. The band (John Wetton, Geoff Downes and Carl Palmer) added new member Pat Thrall on guitars and vocals. This album (a separate video release was also issued) recorded over two shows at the Olympijski Stadium in Moscow November '90. It features Asia standards such as Sole Survivor, Only Time Will Tell, Don't Cry and Heat Of The Moment mixed with songs like King Crimson's Starless and Book Of Saturday as well as an instrumental version of Video Killed The Radio Star in the keyboard solo. This release on Rhino in '91 features another bonus, a good studio cut called Kari-Anne. This would also be John Wetton's last Asia album for 18 years. While live Asia releases have flooded the market in recent years, some more worthy than others, don't miss this one.

The first "Supergroup" of the 80's, Asia was among the groups taking advantage of the fall of the Berlin Wall by performing in Moscow in November 1990. Note: the present version of Asia is drastically different than the original 1982 band. For this Moscow gig, 3 of the 4 original members of Asia participated: Bassist/Lead Vocalist John Wetton, Keyboardist Geoffrey Downes, and Drummer Carl Palmer. Guitarist Pat Thrall took the place of original member Steve Howe. This is a fine performance by all concerned. Asia's trademark "Prog Light" sound (that means Progressive Rock but more Accessible / Commercial) that filled the FM airwaves from 1982 to 1985 is clearly present in every song. This was my very first Asia purchase; I bought this in cassette back in 1993 and I just got around to getting it on CD. All their hit songs are here - Heat of the Moment, The Heat Goes On, Only Time Will Tell, Sole Survivor. They also played some songs from their previous groups - Video Killed the Radio Star (a keyboard solo), Starless and Book of Saturdays. The last song is a previously unreleased track, Kari-Anne. Indeed, 9 of the 14 tracks can be found on the "Very Best of Asia 1982-1990" CD. If you've never purchased an Asia CD before, then take your pick on which one of the two you would like to start with. If you're an Asia fan from the beginning, this is a MUST HAVE CD as this is among the last occasions where the original Asia (or most of it) performed. This performance is also available on VHS video (not yet on DVD unfortunately).

They are a good group, they selected good songs(Open Your Eyes version is excellent), Geoff played an instrumental version of Boogles'"Video Killed The Radio Star" with his keyboards, Carl played a great solo in the middle of "The heat goes on", and John Wetton played acoustic versions of King Crimson clasics "Starless" and "Book of Saturday", the CD includes the wonderful previously unreleased "Kari Anne", the russian audience were very excited, John plays bass better live than at the studio, and as always his voice is perfect, BUT, Pat Thrall is not Steve Howe, he is a good guitar player, but the rhytm guitar and solos, are very poor, without the great artistic talent of Howe. Anyway, if you are an Asia fan, you have to buy this CD

Growing up in the 80's, somehow I missed out on owning any of Asia's albums...Enter the world of CD's and every band's greatest hits now are at at the digital fingertips and one mouse click away.

I was very curious to hear an organized collection of Asia's songs and my expectations were greatly surpassed by this CD. The crowd noise does not get in the way of the band and their art. The classic Asia songs are superb as well as the past hits that were included. I also found "Kari-Anne" to be an incredible hidden gem.

I've never been a big fan of live albums, but this one is okay. You've got all of Asia's hits on here plus some King Crimson songs. There's also a new Asia song at the end called "Kari-Anne." My favorite thing about this album is Geoff Downes keyboard solo. Worth a listen.