21st Century Guide to King Crimson 1: 1969-1974 [Box set]

King Crimson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 9, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Discipline Us
• ASIN: B0002Y9TGA
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #121,441 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Japanese Limited Edition Issue of the Album Classic in a Deluxe, Miniaturized LP Sleeve Replica of the Original Vinyl Album Artwork. Includes Four CDs --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I'm glad I borrowed, I wouldn't have bought it.., November 20, 2004

By 

spiral_mind (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 21st Century Guide to King Crimson 1: 1969-1974 (Audio CD)

Does the world need another King Crimson boxset? Well.. for newcomers curious about one of the most cerebral, inventive and forward-thinking bands out there, this is indeed the best & most thorough overview available of their early phase. This part of KC's career is probably best for compiling, as their start was uneven until they found their own sound with their fifth album. There's just the inevitable catch-22 of big compilations: four CDs is a lot to buy for people just getting into the group, and for the dedicated it's redundant.

Each album also had its own sound/identity - particularly during the years covered by this set, where no two records were made with the same lineup. As you can imagine, compiling proto-metal and symphonic progressive rock and orchestral work and unclassifiable jazz-tinged weirdness together can make it all seem a tad disjointed. You'd be well served by one of the original albums if you're new to the band and hesitant to plunk down the cash for this monster. But this isn't the place to talk about them, so I'll just deal with this set.

It does offer a couple scattered goodies unavailable anywhere else. The instrumental edits of "In the Wake of Poseidon" and "Islands" are interesting new glimpses. The odd 1969 B-side "Groon" has been a hard-to-find rarity forever (EDIT: since I wrote that it's been included on In the Wake of Poseidon as a bonus track). The booklet is full of pictures, articles & reviews that should be new to most fans who don't have the previous compilations. Unfortunately "Larks' Tongues in Aspic pt1" and "The Sailor's Tale" are abridged. And here's a real travesty: "Starless," their evil masterpiece of tension and release, is chopped in half. Here it's presented as a moody ballad without the slow building bridge or the mad-blowing cathartic finale. Bollocks.

On the plus side, two discs here are live. (Live KC is usually where it's at, especially the 72-74 group which was big on spontaneous improvisation.) The live selection is almost superb - I say almost because it really begs for a full live "Starless" - and otherwise it's as good an overview as could be stuffed onto two CDs. If there's any other complaint to make, it's that the only piece of previously unreleased material is a meandering improv clocking in at a whopping 1:08.

The Guide gets four stars for its musical merits; one is missing because it's still a compilation. It's a lot to swallow, but it still gives an effective picture of an amazingly rich catalogue. At least, that is, until 1981 when all the rules changed again. But that's another story...

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars SOUNDCHASER, March 13, 2005

By 

Kerry Leimer (Makawao, Hawaii United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 21st Century Guide to King Crimson 1: 1969-1974 (Audio CD)

It seems legitimate enough to ask why this box set exists, with yet another on the way. Everything here is already available elsewhere. Between the original re-releases, the remastered re-releases, the anniversary re-releases, the 24-bit remasters, the multiple mini-lp versions, the HDCD editions and the Collector's Club releases, things are pretty well covered, covered again and then covered once more.

Not to imply that the music isn't worth it. And if you are new to King Crimson, starting with a box set such as this may be a decent enough way to get acquainted. For my money, the albums are still the best road to the King. Because the records were always very carefully put together, hearing the pieces out of sequence, surrounded by strangers, so to speak, never seemed quite the right thing to do. But this volume does a good job, even when you consider the dismembering that is an intrinsic part of building a box. There is of course a booklet which accompanies these generations of KC which is generally informative and provides the newcomer with a sense of the time and events around the band, its personnel and the critical response to the recordings and performances. If you're a collector, you will have seen parts of this as well, in "The Great Deceiver" box set and in the mini-booklets which accompanied the various anniversary and mini-lp editions.

Unlike previous meet-the-music collections there does not seem to be an accompanying controversy about the pieces selected, who selected them and why. Some, like the snippet at the end of "Islands", aren't all that interesting. Others, like "Moonchild", here restricted to the lyric opening with subsequent doodling left off, reveals itself to be a charming song when heard absent of the always annoying I-do-this-then-you-count-two-and-do-that-improv (or was it a jam?) that set the low point for their debut album. Treating it this way seems to me to be a cake and eat it too outcome for Fripp: the worst piece on what some think to be their best album is somehow redeemed by presenting only Part the First.

But this box set is really about improvements in sound. Back in the day, King Crimson records were awaited not only for the great music, but for great recording and production. Still, improving the clarity of "rock" records is always a dicey affair: sometimes the only thing that holds together rock n' roll is the fact that you can not always hear precisely what's going on. Where the musicians may fail, where the music may fail, your brain obliges by filling in the gaps. If those gaps are made more obvious, your brain might not want to play along.

For example, the great staccato passage in "Lark's Tongues" now has a strikingly different feel to it. Where once the interaction of the bass and drums seemed to overlap slightly, the new mix reveals all the gaps making the exchanges between Wetton and Bruford sound more like a crisp, almost automated Q&A than an all-out on the edge but still in control thrash.

In some cases, such as the LTA balloon freak-out and Fripp's buzzing-insect effects, the sound is under greater control and comes across as more purposeful. The dynamic range is much better as well: quiet passages that were comprised of some distant pizzacato and bird song must have been absolute nightmares to accomplish on tape. Here, they come at you with a better than llife, noise-free delicacy. Much of the music from "In the Court of the Crimson King" also comes across as fuller, in this case clearly benefiting from the digital re-examination. Is this an improvement? While the sound is objectively "better" -- you'll notice better defined and rounded bass, a clearer sense of soundstage and more precise imaging throughout these remasters -- I'm not certain that the music itself always benefits from the change. But then, as technologically-driven as recording can be, there will always be compromises. Resolving what the recording of a piece of music should or should not be is best left to those who create it. After all, you can learn quite about about the artist by paying attention to these sorts of technical choices, as well as the artisitc choices remastering demands -- or an artistic choice such as the near complete absence of any trace of "Lizard".

This box set then, shows us two things. First, leaving the music open to such continuous evaluation and interpretation can be a worthwhile though not foolproof exercise (see Jacob Bronowski's essays on resolution) and, second, that after more than thirty years the work reflected here is still highly relevant, no matter how it's mastered. The only question that remains is asking how much longer a Crimson-starved world must wait to hear it all again as SACD versions...

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Court convenes..., November 30, 2004

By 

o dubhthaigh (north rustico, pei, canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: 21st Century Guide to King Crimson 1: 1969-1974 (Audio CD)

Meant as an update and a reconsideration of the Court of the Crimson King once covered by FRAME BY FRAME, this 4 CD set recasts essential turning points in the catalogue of Crimson with insight and inspiration. Two CDs of studio based recordings and 2 CDs of live tracks document what a powerful, and remarkably cohesive process King Crimson has been. Having subscribed to the Collectors' Club from its inception I wasn't sure how much more revelatory another packaging would be, but the sources of these tracks and their sequencing shows how deeply committed the band members have been to the graeter Crim.
Most amazingly to me is the constant revolution in my own regard for the Crim composed of Fripp, Collins, Wallace and Burrell, arguably one of the more maligned line-uos. Here in the live tracks they are every bit the measure of Wetton and Bruford, no mean feat.
If you have an avocation for the King and his Prime Minister, you'll know the tracks well enough. If you are new to KC, well, this as fundamental a grounding in the course of their trajectory as you'll ever compress into 150+ minutes. There are some surprises included as well! For the enthusiast, the appetite is well wetted for the next epoch!
A great holiday gift, an important document for anyone who loves this very odd Musicking, so a hearty thanks to all at DGM. Now, how about a DVD Audio release or a DVD box set to go with this?