Tokyo Heat

With the inevitable heat of summer already making itself at home, there’s few options so tempting as to roll down the windows and embrace the enthusiastic nostalgia of melodic rock brought by the uplifting graces of Tokyo Motor Fist and the vibrant charm of their latest album. “Lions” is so sweet and smooth that listening to it feels almost like a guilty indulgence, something that one would sneak a taste of alone in the kitchen by the blue light of an open fridge. There’s something raw and authentic about it that makes it instantly irresistible for fans of melodic hard rock at any point from the 80s to the present. Tokyo Motor Fist have captured the most decadent tones of melodic rock and are releasing a bright ray of sonic sunshine in a world that certainly needs that pure brand of brightness…

2 x CD with remixed/remastered 2022 audio: Live at The Budokan Arena, Tokyo, Japan, MTV satellite telecast concert (6 December 1983, USA time), remixed 2022 from the master tapes; Live at The Budokan Arena, Tokyo, Japan, previous night’s show (6 December 1983, Japan Time), remixed 2022 from the master tapes.

Asia are an English rock supergroup formed in London in 1981. The most commercially successful lineup was its original, which consisted of four members of different progressive rock bands who had enjoyed great success in the 1970s: lead vocalist and bassist John Wetton (King Crimson, Uriah Heep and U.K.), guitarist Steve Howe (Yes), keyboardist Geoff Downes (Yes and the Buggles) and drummer Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake & Palmer). Their debut album, Asia, released in 1982, remains their best-selling album and went to number one in several countries. Billboard listed it as the top album in the U.S. in 1982. The lead single from the album, "Heat of the Moment", remains their top charting and best-known song, reaching the top 40 in over a dozen markets. It peaked at #4 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

Soon after completing work on Watcher of the Skies, Steve Hackett conceived of a series of concerts involving many of the musicians from the Genesis project, to be recorded for a special live release. This two-disc set from a December 1996 performance in Tokyo is the end result…

Midnight In Tokyo 2, the second installment to the compilation series that rounds up hidden gems by Japanese artists that's perfect for listening at night in Tokyo, is here. This time the collection brings together some tasty electric jazz fusion from the '80s , compiled by Dubby, the man behind the online record store Ondas.