Customer Reviews

Ladies of the Road (Special Edition)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The 1971-72 edition of King Crimson is among the least regarded, and their album "Islands" is not ranked among the best of the 1970's KC output, and although there is some excellent music on the album, I must agree that energy is sorely lacking. The reputation of this version of King Crimson was not helped by the atrocious "Earthbound," perhaps the worst-sounding record ever released, and one having little to do with the music I was used to hearing from King Crimson.

Now, through the magic of aging fans with disposable incomes, Robert Fripp has put together some of the live tracks of this Crimson, and I am impressed.

The shows are from the Zoom Club in Frankfurt, and give us a band that was tighter than I imagined, better focused than I imagined, and funnier than I imagined. In fact, LOR displays some actual humor in its selection of Prog Crime solos from "21st Century Schziod Man," and in some of the liner notes.

This music comes alive outside of the studio, and I think I prefer the versions here to the ones I've been listening to on the album these last 30 years.

The sound quality too, is excellent, especially in comparsion to the risible awfulness of "Earthbound," which besides having the cache of being an import album with a cool cover, was useless and confusing.

Some standouts: Pictures of City, played tight, edgy, showcasing Mel Collin's saxophones and unision riffing.

Sailor's Tale: Fripp at his 1970's best, intelligent, fiery, contained.

Cirkus: Boz sings well on this ulta-proggy song from "Lizard." Let the Mellotron rule! Excellent dynamics for a live album here.

My vote for the most underrate Crimson player: Ian Wallace who on LOR drums with art, force, and taste.

Disappointments: I would like to have heard the entire blues version of COTKC. My CD was flawed, in that the second disk was a duplicate of the first, however this has been amended.

For the King Crimson fan, this disk is a welcome rehabilitation of a band that no one had much regard for. We expect brilliance from the 1972-74 KC, but this gives that band a run for it's money.

This compilation features the much maligned version of King Crimson from 1971-72 that featured Mel Collins on sax, flute and mellotron, Boz Burrell on bass and vocals and Ian Wallace on drums in addition to stalwart Robert Fripp on guitar and melltron. This 2 disk live recording "Ladies of the Road" proves that this incarnation of the band is unfairly criticized. This version of the band is perhaps the jazziest incarnation of King Crimson to date. Mel Collins' avant garde sax playing shows the influences of John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders. His flute playing also adds an interesting aspect to the proceedings. Collins' playing is much more progressive than that of former sax player and future Foreigner member Ian McDonald. Ian Wallace proves to be the most pleasant surprise providing drumming that is both steady and jazzy. The stellar drumming of Wallace almost made me forget the absence of Bill Bruford. Wallace's liner notes suggest that he along with Collins and Burrell often attended jazz clubs when they were in the United States and the influence shows on this set. Burrell proves to be the latest in the line singing bass players who appeared in Crimson following Greg Lake and Gordon Haskell and preceding John Wetton. Cuts like "Pictures of a City", "Sailor's Tale" and "21st Century Schizoid Man" are given ferocious readings. The obscure b-side "Groon" becomes a funky jam. An arrangement of Donovan's "Get Thy Bearings" is also included. The second disk features an editing together of various solos by Fripp and Collins during the playing of "21st Century Schizoid Man". The second disk confirms the great musicianship of both Collins and Fripp.

I would have rated this set 5 stars but for a few problems. The bluesy version of "In the Court of the Crimson King" at the end of the first disk is faded out about a minute into the song. There is an abrupt minute of silence near the end of the second disk before the track resumes. The title track "Ladies of the Road" is nowhere to be found on the disk. However, after hearing this version of the band live I have decided that this is my second favorite line-up of Crimson. With only he line-up of Bruford, Wetton, Cross (and Muir) topping this one! If you enjoy this version of the band you should check out the King Crimson Club release "Live at Summit Studios" for more jazzy progressive rock soloing.

Robert Fripp's playing has undoubtedly matured through the years. If you are buying this record with the expectation that Fripp will play at the stratospheric level he presently does, then his sometimes meandering and sometimes jazz-tinged styling in this 1971-1972 recording may disappoint you. That being said, here his guitar playing is very good. But for me the real treat is Mel Collins' superb playing. If you enjoy a John Coltrane sort of free style saxophone, then you'll certainly want this 2-disc set. Mel pretty well shares duties with Fripp throughout disc 1, but to my ear he practically takes over during the 53 minute long disc 2. Many times the guitar and drums play off one another, but whenever Collins pipes in he virtually owns the stage. He's wonderful.

I must mention a small fault with disc 1. It closes with a blues version of 'In the Court....' Granted, a blues version was a novel way to play that masterpiece, but it sounds, well, dumb -- sort of in the same way Fripp's Discotronics stuff sounded dumb (which presumably is why that experiment was abandoned). But why oh why was that bluesy 'In the Court...' stopped abruptly at 00:48? Geez, not even a fade out. I would have liked the option of stopping it myself.

Disc 2 attempts to bleed various saxophone/guitar duels into another to make one l-o-n-g 'Schizoid Man' akin to the reworking of The Grateful Dead's 'Dark Star' on the most-excellent 'Grayfolded' recording; but here the editing is done badly. There is a seamless transition between track 1 and 2, but thereafter the breaks are quite evident. That being said, since the human ear is a great sound compensator the editing job really isn't that bad. Disc 2 still very listenable.

Well, disc 2 is a very listenable record until track 11. At 4:58 on that 11+ minute track Mel Collins is hitting the apex of one of his fabulous crescendos when suddenly there's silence, as though someone lifted the stylus from a turntable. And that dead silence continues for an entire 60 seconds after which time the piece fades in again. Then about 5 minutes later, at the end of the track (which also marks the end of this 53 minute extended sax/guitar duel), the piece abruptly stops again! Aaah! Did they run out of room on the disc? No, it's only 53 minutes long. What was Fripp thinking?! And although Boz sang the first verse way back in track 1, he is not allowed to return and finish this song. Truly, I think that even I could have done a better job of editing.

I understand this incarnation of King Crimson is the least favored among the enthusiasts; and I believe the reason is singer/bassist Boz Burell. Boz has never been accused of being a good singer even though that is the primary purpose for which he was hired. By the time these recordings were made he had been playing bass for less than 3 years, having played as a rhythm guitarist prior to joining Crimson. Drummer Ian Wallace's liner notes state it was Fripp who did most of the work of teaching Boz how to play with a drummer. (Caution: Lead Guitarist Teaching Rhythm Guitarist About Rhythm = Danger Ahead.) In other words, this band's vocals and rhythm section were weak.

Also, I must add the following. Ian went too far when he wrote, "Peter Sinfield's lyrics reeked of medieval imagery." A more accurate statement would be that Peter Sinfield's lyrics reeked. Good riddance, Peter.

Overall this is a good record, although somewhat dated. Ian Wallace and Boz Burrell's playing is okay, but Robert Fripp and Mel Collins' work is amazing. I would have given it a solid 4 stars if not for the editing at the end 'In the Court...' as well as the end of disc 2. If you are familiar with this King Crimson lineup, you will enjoy this. They were so much better live than in the studio. This recording/performance is not great, but nevertheless it is still very good.

OK, I halready hade the collector's club editions, so I had all the material on disc one. THat said, this is terrific stuff, providing a glimpse of the live capabilities of this all-too-underrated incarnation of the mighty Crim (since Earthbound just does not do justice). If you don't have the various collector's club releases, then this provides a superb overview of this period of live Crim.

Now, the real treat is disc 2 - the reason I bought this. Just for this alone, the disc would be worth more! I have always loved the wild improvisational passages that sprang forth from live versions of "21st Century Schizoid Man". This is the Uber-version - a pulsing, churning, soaring amalgamation of numerous performances of the song's central instrumental explorations - It is sick, sick, sick - gloriously crazed jamming at a sustained fevered pitch. I just got this today and have played disc two about four times in a row - man, I think I am growing tentacles - this stuff is so intense! If you love the intensity of the early Crimson, then you owe it to yourself to ingest this one - it is extreme brain food to be taken in healthy doses through the ears. MMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Look....I am not gonna waste your time by reviewing each song....if you are considering this album....you are already familiar with the studio versions....

What I will tell you is.....forget the EARTHBOUND live album...probably the worst sounding official album I ever heard..and to think...they said it was HDCD.....what a joke...I feel totally ripped off for buying that Earthbound piece of crap...but THIS album.....WOW!!!! It has everything you'd expect from a KING CRIMSON performance.....very transparent...and well balanced....tight drums and bass....and the musicianship...well.....that's what a KC performance or studio album is really all about......it's all here....and you have a front row seat......to experience over and over and over....

Just go order the CD...you wont be disappointed...I promise.

If you liked "Earthbound," you'll love this, for the sound is superior in most places. I've always liked this line-up of KC because it was the last to use the jazzy sax-mellotron-flute texture of the original KC (plus, it was the first line-up I saw live: Denver, March 1972). The album lacks the song for which is album is named, and halfway through the final track of disc two there is an inexplicable minute of silence, resuming only to break off mid-solo rather than conclude with the final verse. Aside from these bizarre editing decisions, this is a splendid anthology of performances.

The title says it all. The first of the two albums would unquestionably be worth getting on its own--great live music from an under-represented period of the band's history, although personally the jazzier, more saxophone-heavy Crimson isn't to my liking as much as the later, proggier bits. When you stick the second album into the mix, it's a crap shoot. If you really like early 70's King Crimson improvisations with lots of saxophone, you might like that second album. Personally, I've listened to it two or three times, generally wishing halfway through that I hadn't stuck it in the cd player and only listening the whole way through because of some combination of laziness and determination.

The first disc is a must if you are a true King Crimson fan, the sound quality is very good and the live version of "Cirkus" is awesome. Mel Collins frenetic sax work is a stand-out,as is Ian Wallace's drumming. However, for some unexplainable reason the last tune on disc one, which is a bluesy re-working of the "Court Of The Crimson King" cuts out after about a minute. In addition, "Formentera Lady" has been "abridged", to coin the phrase on the track listing. Why? They added a second disc that they could had both songs included in their entirety on, instead of confining the second disc to a seemingly endless series of solos taken from the middle of "21st Century Schizoid Man" that is best reserved for KC fanatics, only (a fanatic is defined as someone who would listen to the second disc more than once in their entire time left on earth). I have read articles by Fripp decrying how the recording industry treats musical artists -- how about the way that some artists treat their fans, by committing this kind of editing and abridgment without good reason and without a good (or any) explanation? Nevertheless, disc one is what this CD is all about and is why this still outing still rates 4 stars.

If you're jonesing for the classic song "Ladies of the Road", the CD you want is _Islands_. Don't make the same mistake I did; buy that one first.

This CD is for hard-core Crimson fans who have all the classic gems already.

Ladies of the road:

Disc 1:perfect.Wonderful songs,nice sound quality.

Disc 2:that Jam session could be terrific.But the quality sound is poor.