Comments for Asia, Live - 09-X1-90 Mockba

This album is great if for no other reason than the wizardry from Geoff Downes on his keyboard solo. The rest of the songs themselves are great, but these aren't my favorite versions with the exception of "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes." "Kari-Anne" is a great song, and it is nice to get another new song from them.

The best Asia album to get if you hate Steve Howe. While his playing on the first two Asia albums wasn't anything earth-shattering, the fact that a lot of Steve's phrases weren't even attempted by Pat Thrall means either Thrall's excessively intimidated by Howe or that Geoff Downes and John Wetton were firmly in control of that band. Some of the stuff here is OK, all things considered, but I still don't think anyone could do "Starless" or "Book Of Saturday" justice without Robert Fripp playing.

Finally a live CD from them, unfortunately without Steve Howe. After all, the main characters of the group have always been (at least until then) the style of the songs impressed by Geoff Downes and John Wetton's way of singing (very near to Greg Lake. But the guitar playing from Steve Howe, even when not sensational, is always qualifying. A notable piano version of "Video killed the radio stars" in Geoff Downes solo is one of the better moments in the concert. G.L.

A must have for the Asia fan. Great to hear them live. Pat Thrall's guitaring leaves something to be desird, Must agree that Geoff Downes solo is great, and "Kari-Anne" is fantastic!! Just like the old Asia! : )

I like this one very much, more rocky and spontaneous compared to most of the studio versions. And indeed, Kari-Anne is good! By the way, I have seen some strange illegal(?) versions of this album in Dutch stores lately. The songs, the sequence etc. are the same, but the albums have different titles. These versions almost cost nothing! Does anyone know more about this? The version most seen is called: Asia - Kari Anne and is released by a label called 'Mastertone'. Please send me some email if you know more about it.

Live in Moscow is decent, but the wizardry if Geoff Downes sets this album apart. His solo was magic in a synth. Pat Thrall is a run of the mill axeman, like Mandy Meier. It showed quite a bit that Thrall didn't touch Steve's phrasing, as someone already mentioned. Kari-Anne is OK, but is isn't really ASIA. I don't listen to this one much.

Did John Wetton have a really bad cold while performing in this concert? His vocals were really off this time. If anyone wants to hear Asia music live, skip this one and buy John Wetton''s "Chasing the Dragon." It doesn''t have all the songs that were performed on "Asia in Asia," but John Wetton''s vocals sound much better.

You can say whatever you want about my playing, but I just want to state for the record that Wetton and Downes didn't want me to play what Howe played. They felt that his ideas bogged the music down and wanted fresh ideas. So only being able to rehearse with them for one week, that was the way I recorded the songs in Moscow. So for all you SH fans you should know thatWetton was no fan of his palying....I';ll leave it at taht.