I never was a big Rolling Stones fan, but I have enough of the band’s catalog on LP and CD, I think. But I see there are plenty of Live albums released over the past few decades, a number of post-2000 releases which me both curious and skeptical. However, one I’ve had since the 80s is the 1982 release Still Life. This was recorded on the band’s American tour (see title), in support of their highly successful Tattoo You album, so of the 10 songs here, is the obvious hit “Start Me Up” from that record.
At the time this came out I was listening to 97 Rock (Buffalo), and they’d regularly play the intro (Duke Ellington’s “Take The A Train”) and “Going To. Go-Go”, the hit single from Still Life. As a more ‘distant’ Stones fan, this album suits me fine; it is a solid set of classics from the 60s right til their most recent. The performances are energetic, as (to me) the band still sounds at their peak.
Opening track “Under My Thumb” sounds excellent, as do fellow classics like “Shattered” and “Let Me Go”, as well as the band’s performance of The Temptations hit “Just My Imagination” (written by Norman Whitfield).
I dig the cover art as well, and gatefold design of the LP. And although I think this worked well at the time as a single LP, an expanded ‘full’ concert version of this is overdue. Surely the band played more from Tattoo You at the time(?), as well as other classics from their 60s and 70s catalog. I do see a few shows from this tour on YouTube, so hopefully there’s something to be given a proper release in the future.
The Official Live BootlegsVolume 1 Out on 26th November 12th October 2021: Multi-platinum selling English supergroup ASIA are to release a 10CD boxset The Official Live Bootlegs Volume 1 through BMG Records on 26th November 2021. There will also be a digital album featuring a selection of 24 tracks taken from the full boxset, out on the same day.
When ASIA came out on the scene in 1982, they were a huge global success with their debut single “Heat Of The Moment” and debut album – which was #1 on the US Billboard charts for 9 weeks! The band was instantly dubbed a ‘supergroup’ based on the success and achievements of it’s band members – ASIA: Geoff Downes (The Buggles, YES, keyboards), Steve Howe (YES, solo, guitars), Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake & Palmer, drums) and John Wetton (King Crimson, UK, Uriah Heep, bass/vocals).
The original foursome recorded just 2 albums, the self-titled debut, which also included the hits (“Only Time Will Tell” and “Sole Survivor”), followed by 1983’s Alpha (which featured the big hit “Don’t Cry”). Soon after John Wetton left the band, then returned, followed by Steve Howe’s departure (Howe went on to the successful GTR project, before resuming a solo career). The band carried on, making one further album with Mandy Meyer, and a few singles beyond that, before splitting up. Geoff Downes later formed a new version of the band (w/ John Payne), and Wetton went on to record a number of solo albums). The original line-up reunited in 2006, releasing Fantasia : Live In Tokyo (2007), and would release 3 further studio albums – Phoenix (2008), Omega (2010), and XXX (2012), before Howe left again (to focus on YES), and the band recorded just 1 further album in 2014 (Gravitas, with Sam Coulson), before the passing of John Wetton in 2017.
ASIA didn’t release an official Live album in their original line-up until the reunion happened, although there were radio shows and audience recordings out there from the ’80s, as well as now hard to find series From The Asia Archives in the early 2000s (which I might think included some of these shows came from?). So, this Volume 1 of the bands “official Bootleg” recordings will be easier to obtain and a nice addition to their catalogue for fans. The 5 shows in this slipcase box set include > 1982 (Buffalo, NY, USA), 1983 (Worcester, MA, USA), 2007 (São Paulo, Brazil), 2008 (Tokyo, Japan) and 2010 (London, UK), with all shows taking up 2 CDs each. *BMG also recently released a 5CD slip box of the ‘reunion’ albums. As one who has very little live Asia, I am looking forward to this.
“This historical collection represents some of our finest and most defining live moments,” says Geoff Downes, “from the very first ASIA tour in 1982 and the Alpha tour the following year through three of our many ‘Reunion’ shows. It was such a privilege to take ASIA’s music to these different continents and feel the warmth and support from fans all over the world. We hope this brings back great memories and inspires others to appreciate the music of ASIA”.
This the first time these recordings have been made officially available by ASIA and they are presented together in a superb collector’s edition boxset with original artwork by Roger Dean, who created all of ASIA’s album artwork.
Outsider Rock 