Well done on this video of my favourite song of all time by any band!! Have heard this version with Greg Lake in it after John had walked out but never seen it. Brilliant.
"Open Your Eyes" was one of the best performances from the Budokan shows, and is a highly underrated Asia song. Geoff's vocoder work gives me chills everytime.
Greg Lake is an awesome singer/musician. I'm sure this was a worst case scenario where the band was contractually obligated to perform the gig. I think Greg did a fine job considering the songs are written for Wetton's voice which is very different stylistically. Yeah Wetton and Howe had a falling out, but the important thing is the band is back together in their original format, and making new music. Wetton has finally shook the monkey off his back, and they are as good as they ever were.
Jeff Downes did a killer job... he is half the sound and more subtlety than the rest combined :-) - Love the whole group but Downes killed it this show!
@Padarack1 He had a teleprompter to help him with the words, because it was alot to learn in a short time, but he rehearsed with the band, it's not like he showed up cold. He did an excellent job considering the circumstances. I don't think anyone including Greg Lake would say he was trying to replace Wetton. It was an impossible situation, most of it Wetton admitted was brought on by himself. They are back together in the original format so it matters little anyway.
@AragornIsStrider Yeah, I agree, pretty good. Lake somewhat understood the melodic point, and feeling with this one, and had an idea how to sing it ... Sang it ok. Love Carl's drumming and Steve's guitar-work in the end! And the vocoder bit in the intro is awesome ..
@inthepersuitofglory Ehhh... no. Those songs were written for Wetton's voice and are actually being played 1 1/2 notes bellow, which is why they don't sound as well.
AWSOME... IT BECAME BLACK METAL AT THE FINAL PART OF THE SONG... THEESE GUYS HAD DE KNOWLEDGE OF THE PAST, OF THEIR PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE... LONG LIVE ASIA... I´VE OPENED MY EYES...
What was the issue between Howe and Wetton during this time? Did they just not get along with each other? Was it musical differences? I read in an interview from Howe that that when Wetton returned to Asia in 1984 he called a band meeting and fired Howe right there.
Nobody's saying that, I love Greg Lake ... This was 1983. .. Am saying his voice not great with Asia's music. As for today, I just saw a recent clip of him in the midwest, U.S., with Keith Emerson and he sounded good!
@bmbell71 You don't have someone come and front a show if they don't have the words memorized. I was a kid, but I saw it ... found out later he showed up and READ the concert to the audience, off a teleprompter. Some of it in the songs was talking, not even singing. Ridiculous. A tragic affair, one of the saddest moments in life as a music fan. The ELP fans/denial people can lie to themselves and say the songs are great, because their hero Lake is up there .. Majority of fans know different
@TallVape Yeah I thought Greg made a good effort on this one. Must have had lot of the lyrics memorized on it, so didn't have to be READING all through the song ...
I respect Lake immensely, + his songs, ELP days & solo outside of ELP .. And in the ELP days (70s) he could sing as high as Wetton, but he couldn't by this time ... Everyone right down to the management made that wrong calculation ... Me and others aren't being hard on Greg but being hard on the collective people who put him there. And if it was unlikely he could get the lyrics memorized and such, they should have not done it. Make John sober up tell Steve to quit his politicking & DO THE SHOW
Yeah he really struggled with the high notes at this show. I think part of the problem was he didn't have all the words memorized, and often had to read them from a teleprompter, while singing ... Also he just didn't have Wetton's lungpower
@TheFearlessFreep Are you taking me to the 3rd grade, or 2nd grade playground, then? ... I 'started' nothing, just pointed out, on this historic concert that you gave Greg Lake credit completely undeserved; in effect blowing him, with probable intent to swallow. And that you refuse to acknowledge Wetton is a superior vocalist .. something blatantly obvious to most Asia fans, watching and listening to their TV that night. But, as mentioned below Greg did ok on the first 1/2 of this song.
@georgeangeludis Dead-on, exactly ... my other 3-pt. comment details how the powers-that-be made a huge mistake, thinking Wetton's voice was replaceable. Yeah from a 'neutral point of view' .. What does that mean? - That Wetton recorded the songs, is the reason the songs are loved, in a way people liked to sing along to them - but after that it doesn't matter if you have another, inferior singer sing them??? ... And Wetton if given a 2nd chance you can bet would have showed up to Tokyo sober
greg lake is an excellent singer, he's probably just not suited to singing john wetton's songs. proof of his excellence can be found in his performance of still you turn me on at the california jam.
@TheFearlessFreep Ohhh please ... I'm not a rap fan and Lake did not do fine, overall. Go blow him somewhere else; the performance told the WORLD what a superior singer Wetton was (whether or not he was off dealing with his personal demons, at the time) ... Stronger management would not have let this happen
.... or 2 shows, as I understand it was ... Then go your seperate ways. The folks who made the decision ruined the band (along with John's personal problem and Steve being a great big crybaby, as I understand it, that he didn't get a writing credit on Alpha and his guitars supposedly weren't as prominent). Now the original guys are together and doing great, had a great tour this year so everybody should be pleased with that
Steve howe Was in the Middle of the birth of Georgia, when geffen took Asia to Montreal and prompt wetton and Downes to build a fast track album (based on the big sucess of the first one) taking away track such "daylight" and "lying to yourself". This Last one Was an idea by howe, it Was called "barren land", and also "masquerade" (yes unión) and "over and over" (later on phoenix). The decision Was not taken by wetton at that time fighting with alcohol. Somehow there are those reasons, of the no-liking of howe, about apha...
You need to realize this concert was a joke, and a disgrace to the band because the singer could not sing the songs. Lake's voice DOESN'T compare to John Wetton, he has not the range or lung-power. (Though I have commented to many Greg did pretty good job with this, particular tune) ... Your problem is you and others have no scope of history - EVERYbody in school, after this night went "What the hell was that all about?" "The lights and the music were great but the singer SUCKED, big-time" ...
Well done on this video of my favourite song of all time by any band!! Have heard this version with Greg Lake in it after John had walked out but never seen it. Brilliant.
Steve Howe´s solo is simply breathtaking. You can´t put more passion than that.
"Open Your Eyes" was one of the best performances from the Budokan shows, and is a highly underrated Asia song. Geoff's vocoder work gives me chills everytime.
Greg Lake is an awesome singer/musician. I'm sure this was a worst case scenario where the band was contractually obligated to perform the gig. I think Greg did a fine job considering the songs are written for Wetton's voice which is very different stylistically.
Yeah Wetton and Howe had a falling out, but the important thing is the band is back together in their original format, and making new music. Wetton has finally shook the monkey off his back, and they are as good as they ever were.
Jeff Downes did a killer job... he is half the sound and more subtlety than the rest combined :-) - Love the whole group but Downes killed it this show!
Simply Brilliant ! Geoff is the Best Prog Rock keyboardist !
グレッグレイク、ある意味レアな映像ですな😁
グレッグ最高😃⤴️⤴️
@Padarack1 He had a teleprompter to help him with the words, because it was alot to learn in a short time, but he rehearsed with the band, it's not like he showed up cold. He did an excellent job considering the circumstances.
I don't think anyone including Greg Lake would say he was trying to replace Wetton. It was an impossible situation, most of it Wetton admitted was brought on by himself. They are back together in the original format so it matters little anyway.
And yeah the vocoder in the intro bit kicks ass! Good thing the original song got put on the Asia: Gold CD
@AragornIsStrider Yeah, I agree, pretty good. Lake somewhat understood the melodic point, and feeling with this one, and had an idea how to sing it ... Sang it ok. Love Carl's drumming and Steve's guitar-work in the end! And the vocoder bit in the intro is awesome ..
@drumbeat01
in this live ther isn't ohn wetton, there is Greg lake
i remembered this concert,i was there,i was shocked that vocal changed
i really wanted to Jphn Wetton's voice
Greg did a great job.
@inthepersuitofglory
Ehhh... no. Those songs were written for Wetton's voice and are actually being played 1 1/2 notes bellow, which is why they don't sound as well.
AWSOME... IT BECAME BLACK METAL AT THE FINAL PART OF THE SONG... THEESE GUYS HAD DE KNOWLEDGE OF THE PAST, OF THEIR PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE... LONG LIVE ASIA... I´VE OPENED MY EYES...
What was the issue between Howe and Wetton during this time? Did they just not get along with each other? Was it musical differences? I read in an interview from Howe that that when Wetton returned to Asia in 1984 he called a band meeting and fired Howe right there.
Bellissimo brano (e che dire dell'inserimento di Greg LAKE, sembrano canzoni scritte per lui)
Nobody's saying that, I love Greg Lake ... This was 1983. .. Am saying his voice not great with Asia's music. As for today, I just saw a recent clip of him in the midwest, U.S., with Keith Emerson and he sounded good!
@bmbell71 You don't have someone come and front a show if they don't have the words memorized. I was a kid, but I saw it ... found out later he showed up and READ the concert to the audience, off a teleprompter. Some of it in the songs was talking, not even singing. Ridiculous. A tragic affair, one of the saddest moments in life as a music fan. The ELP fans/denial people can lie to themselves and say the songs are great, because their hero Lake is up there .. Majority of fans know different
Stop writing Greg's voice is bad in these days. I disagree! It changed, but it's very strong, deep and still kicks ass!
@TallVape Yeah I thought Greg made a good effort on this one. Must have had lot of the lyrics memorized on it, so didn't have to be READING all through the song ...
I respect Lake immensely, + his songs, ELP days & solo outside of ELP .. And in the ELP days (70s) he could sing as high as Wetton, but he couldn't by this time ... Everyone right down to the management made that wrong calculation ... Me and others aren't being hard on Greg but being hard on the collective people who put him there. And if it was unlikely he could get the lyrics memorized and such, they should have not done it. Make John sober up tell Steve to quit his politicking & DO THE SHOW
Yeah he really struggled with the high notes at this show. I think part of the problem was he didn't have all the words memorized, and often had to read them from a teleprompter, while singing ... Also he just didn't have Wetton's lungpower
:3
@TheFearlessFreep Are you taking me to the 3rd grade, or 2nd grade playground, then? ... I 'started' nothing, just pointed out, on this historic concert that you gave Greg Lake credit completely undeserved; in effect blowing him, with probable intent to swallow. And that you refuse to acknowledge Wetton is a superior vocalist .. something blatantly obvious to most Asia fans, watching and listening to their TV that night. But, as mentioned below Greg did ok on the first 1/2 of this song.
De alguna manera ELP ( Lake y Palmer) + Yes (Howe y Downes)
@georgeangeludis Dead-on, exactly ... my other 3-pt. comment details how the powers-that-be made a huge mistake, thinking Wetton's voice was replaceable. Yeah from a 'neutral point of view' .. What does that mean? - That Wetton recorded the songs, is the reason the songs are loved, in a way people liked to sing along to them - but after that it doesn't matter if you have another, inferior singer sing them??? ... And Wetton if given a 2nd chance you can bet would have showed up to Tokyo sober
greg lake is an excellent singer, he's probably just not suited to singing john wetton's songs. proof of his excellence can be found in his performance of still you turn me on at the california jam.
Wetton's voice never changed. However, the voice of Greg Lake (featured here) changed VERY much... and not in a good sense I think. Pity!
@TheFearlessFreep Ohhh please ... I'm not a rap fan and Lake did not do fine, overall. Go blow him somewhere else; the performance told the WORLD what a superior singer Wetton was (whether or not he was off dealing with his personal demons, at the time) ... Stronger management would not have let this happen
.... or 2 shows, as I understand it was ... Then go your seperate ways. The folks who made the decision ruined the band (along with John's personal problem and Steve being a great big crybaby, as I understand it, that he didn't get a writing credit on Alpha and his guitars supposedly weren't as prominent). Now the original guys are together and doing great, had a great tour this year so everybody should be pleased with that
Steve howe Was in the Middle of the birth of Georgia, when geffen took Asia to Montreal and prompt wetton and Downes to build a fast track album (based on the big sucess of the first one) taking away track such "daylight" and "lying to yourself". This Last one Was an idea by howe, it Was called "barren land", and also "masquerade" (yes unión) and "over and over" (later on phoenix). The decision Was not taken by wetton at that time fighting with alcohol.
Somehow there are those reasons, of the no-liking of howe, about apha...
You need to realize this concert was a joke, and a disgrace to the band because the singer could not sing the songs. Lake's voice DOESN'T compare to John Wetton, he has not the range or lung-power. (Though I have commented to many Greg did pretty good job with this, particular tune) ... Your problem is you and others have no scope of history - EVERYbody in school, after this night went "What the hell was that all about?" "The lights and the music were great but the singer SUCKED, big-time" ...