A new 10-CD box set titled The Official Live Bootlegs Volume 1, featuring recordings of five concerts by Asia‘s original lineup from various years of the prog-rock supergroup’s career, will be released on November 26.
Two shows featured in the expansive collection took place during the band’s initial early-1980s heyday, while the other three concerts were recorded after the original lineup reunited during the 2000s.
The concerts were recorded in May 1982 at Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo, New York; in August 1983 at The Centrum in Worcester, Massachusetts; in March 2007 at the Credicard Hall in São Paulo, Brazil; in May 2008 at the International Forum in Tokyo; and in December 2010 at The Forum in London.
Asia’s classic lineup featured former King Crimson and UK singer/bassist John Wetton, longtime Yes guitarist Steve Howe, Emerson, Lake & Palmer drummer Carl Palmer and Buggles/Yes keyboardist Geoff Downes.
The original band recorded two albums, 1982’s Asia and 1983’s Alpha, before Howe exited the group. Wetton, Howe, Downes and Palmer reunited in 2006 to mark Asia’s 25th anniversary and the group went on to record three more albums together — 2008’s Phoenix, 2010’s Omega and 2012’s XXX — before Howe again left the band in 2013.
The concerts feature Asia playing its classic songs “Heat of the Moment,” “Only Time Will Tell” and “Don’t Cry,” while the post-2000 shows also include renditions of tunes by the members’ other famous groups, among them Yes’ “Roundabout,” King Crimson’s The Court of the Crimson King and The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star.”
The Official Live Bootlegs Volume 1 can be pre-ordered now. A digital album featuring 24 tracks from the box set also will be released on November 26.
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