Review: Asia – Live In England
Asia – Live In England
Format: CD – Vinyl LP – Digital / Label: Frontiers Music Srl
Release: 2026
Text: Tom Wouters
In 1981 on the ruins of Yes, two former members of that group, guitarist Steve Howe and keyboardist Geoff Downes, formed a new supergroup together with two other musicians that had made a name in the prog rock scene of the seventies, singer and bassguitarist John Wetton (ex-King Crimson, ex-Uriah Heep and ex-UK) and drummer Carl Palmer (ex-Atomic Rooster and ex-ELP). In 1982 they recorded under the name Asia, their highly succesfull debut album. Now, fourty-three years later, the only remaining founding member of the band, Geoff Downes, together with three younger musicians, played the entire album live in Sussex, England.
‘Live In England’ makes once and for all clear why Asia’s debut album was so enormously succesfull: all compositions from that album were incredibly good songs. And the new Asia, besides Downes, consisting of John Mitchell (guitar), Harry Whitley (bass and vocals) and Virgil Donati (drums) play the originals in a very competent manner. Especially Whitley is a very good choice as a replacement for the late, great John Wetton.
The hits Heat Of The Moment, Only Time Will Tell and Here Comes The Feeling, prog rock anthems of their time, get a very good performance where the term ‘rock’ is written in capitals. The other original compositions such as Time Again, Wildest Dreams, Without You and Cutting It Fine, together with bonus tracks Ride Easy and The Heat Goes On are beautifully played, as is the absolute highlight Sole Survivor.
The good news is that Asia played in this formation live shows where two more original albums, the second and third ‘Alpha’ and ‘Astra’, were performed integrally and will be issued before long.
Tracks:
01. Heat Of The Moment
02. Only Time Will Tell
03. Sole Survivor
04. One Step Closer
05. Time Again
06. Wildest Dreams
07. Without You
08. Cutting It Fine
09. Here Comes The Feeling
10. Ride Easy (Bonus Track)
11. Video Killed The Radio Star (Bonus Track)
12. The Heat Goes On (Bonus Track)
13. Daylight (Bonus Track-Video Only)
Website: https://originalasia.com/