Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: King Crimson
Label: Discipline Global Mobile
Release: 2014
Duration: 132:21
Rating: 4/5
The debate over the greatest progressive rock band will probably never get an epilogue, but there’s no doubt that King Crimson, even after more than forty-five years, remain the most important prog rock pioneers. At the end of the sixties their debut »In The Court Of The Crimson King« (1969), the first officially recognized prog rock album, pretty much revolutionized what people understood rock music to be. »The Elemets of King Crimson« is a double retrospective release that King Crimson put out during their ‘comeback’ American tour of the same name, which kicked off at the end of 2014. In the middle of the ‘The Elements of King Crimson’ tour, the band introduced their newest seven-piece lineup to audiences for the first time.
Joining the stern chief and sole remaining founding member, guitar genius Robert Fripp, in the new King Crimson are returnee Tony Levin on bass guitar and Chapman Stick, old pal from the seventies Mel Collins on saxophone and flute, new singer/guitarist Jakko Jakszyk (ex-Level 42, 21st Century Schizoid Band), and a three-headed drumming monster made up of yet another returnee, Pat Mastelotto, Gavin Harrison (also a member of Porcupine Tree) and the newest member, Bill Rieflin (an excellent occasional drummer, though most people know him best as a former touring member of R.E.M.).
»The Elements of King Crimson« offers a chronological cross-section of every King Crimson era, from the beginnings to the present. This is far from a selection of the best King Crimson classics from the studio albums, since there have been quite a few compilations like that in the past. Instead, it’s a bunch of rarities: remixes, extracts and alternative versions of familiar songs (in places missing a certain instrumental or vocal element), most of which fans haven’t heard yet, except for those who are signed up to the King Crimson fan club and own most of the albums released on Fripp’s label, Discipline Global Mobile. The first and especially the second disc also include a few short sketches of potential new King Crimson songs: the drum improvisation »The Hellhounds of Krim«, the extract »Hoodooo«, »Three Headed Doom (part 1)« and »Venturing Unto Joy«.
The first disc holds rare material recorded between 1969 and 1974. The instrumental, shortened version of the evergreen ballad »I Talk To The Wind« from »In The Court Of The Crimson King« is a nice reminder that after all these years Fripp has finally started playing older material live again with the new King Crimson, both from the end of the sixties and the first half of the seventies, material he almost completely neglected over the previous three decades. Jakszyk and Collins, both members of 21st Century Schizoid Band (a group made up of former King Crimson members and specializing in classics from the 1969 to 1974 period), contributed crucially to that.
The alternative version of the ballad »Cadence And Cascade« from »In The Wake Of Poseidon« (1970), with Greg Lake on vocals (instead of Gordon Haskell) and without Collins’s flute, is a real little treat, even if it lacks the usual psychedelic aftertaste. This vocally superior but instrumentally less appealing take on the evergreen ballad previously came out as a bonus track on the ‘deluxe’ reissue of »In The Wake Of Poseidon«. Of the former King Crimson singers, only Gordon Haskell is missing from »The Elements of King Crimson«, probably because he and Fripp didn’t part on the best of terms, whereas the moody guitar genius has slowly made peace with almost all his former bandmates over the years. That’s probably also why Fripp decided to include a live version of the »Lizard« (1970) masterpiece »Cirkus«, recorded in 1971 at the Marquee, with the late Boz Burrell on vocals, as played by the »Islands« (1971) lineup of King Crimson.
An alternative, early version of the »Islands« instrumental »Sailor’s Tale«, featuring Fripp’s ‘buzzing’ guitar improvisation (which King Crimson are finally playing live again after a long, long time), rounds out the roster of early-era classics, or the ‘Peter Sinfield era’, named after the original lyricist who also picked the name ‘King Crimson’ for the band. That’s followed by an alternative mix of the instrumental »The Talking Drum« by Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree). It sets the stage for the rarities from the ‘John Wetton era’, named after the beloved former singer and bassist who became world famous as a member of the supergroup Asia.
Wilson’s remix of the devilish improvisational merry-go-round »Fracture« and an extract of the brutal instrumental »Larks’ Tongues In Aspic (Part I)«, recorded during rehearsals of the current lineup in May 2014, are a reminder of how King Crimson ‘broke bones’ in 1973 and 1974 with their peculiar mix of symphonic prog rock, jazz fusion and heavy metal. After a very long time King Crimson are playing the first part of ‘larks’ tongues in aspic’ live again, even though the current lineup has no violinist, since former violinist David Cross left a major instrumental mark on the original version. The instrumental version of the »Red« standard »Fallen Angel« is by no means comparable to the vocal, ‘final’ version, but it gives a vivid look at what the instrumental ‘skeleton’ of this unforgettable song looked like.
No King Crimson retrospective can be complete without their most representative song, »21st Century Schizoid Man«, and this time it comes from the version found on the newly released live album »USA« (1975), which means that besides the improved remix and production, it features John Wetton’s vocals. The first disc wraps up with a short extract of the epic »Starless«.
The second disc covers the stretch from the early eighties to 2014, a period in which King Crimson went through almost as many lineups as in the seventies and recorded six excellent studio albums, plus numerous side projects and live albums. You could also call it the ‘Adrian Belew era’, named after the longtime American singer/guitarist who is still an important collaborator today as a member of various King Crimson side projects (ProjeKcts). After a breakup of almost seven years, King Crimson returned to the scene in 1981 with a trio of superb albums on which they grafted a whole bunch of brand-new sonic elements onto their recognizable style.
One of the most representative songs from this period was certainly the instrumental »Discipline« (this time in an alternative version) from the album of the same name. Alongside new wave influences, you could feel the percussive influence of traditional Indonesian gamelan music, which left an important mark on some of their creations in this period. Fine proof that King Crimson stayed an experimental powerhouse even through the ‘problematic’ eighties for progressive rock can be heard on the live version of »Neurotica« (working, original title »Manhattan«) from the chaotic »Beat« (1982), where the aforementioned Belew shines in the central role during the performance at the Roxy.
The instrumental extract of an early version of the »Beat« standard »Neal And Jack And Me« offers only a brief glimpse of how remarkably lucid this lineup of King Crimson was, while the newly reworked version of the evergreen »Sleepless« from »Three Of a Perfect Pair« (1984) really comes off fantastic, with a mix by the leading figure of modern prog, Steven Wilson. A fun fact for anyone who didn’t know it yet: »Sleepless«, the only King Crimson song with an official video, was originally called »Bearsville«.
The eighties were followed by almost seven years of hiatus and a return in 1991, although the album »Thrak« as a ‘double trio’ (two guitarists, two drummers and two bassists) only came out in 1995. From this period comes an early version of the song »Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream«, recorded during a studio ‘warm-up’ in 1994. That version of King Crimson didn’t last long and soon ‘fragmentized’ into various side projects (ProjeKcts), which is kind of a shame, because live especially they spread fear and panic with brutal improvisational blowouts like »Thrak« (here the version from the Shepherd’s Bush Empire show, 1996) and »The Deception of the Thrush« (this version was recorded live in 1998 at the side band ProjeKct Four’s West Coast Live festival appearance).
The turn of the century also brings an early version of the instrumental »Heaven & Earth«, which came out in a different version on the album »Heaven And Earth« (2000) by ProjeKct X and later on King Crimson’s twelfth studio album »The ConstruKction of Light« (2000). Belew’s era wraps up with the live version of the »The Power to Believe« (2003) standard »Level Five«, recorded at a show at Park West. The newest music King Crimson members released, in 2011, came out on the excellent album »A Scarcity of Miracles« by the side project Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins. This album gives us a shortened version of »Separation« and an alternative version of the title masterpiece, »A Scarcity of Miracles«, which has become a regular part of the new King Crimson’s live setlist and strongly recalls some of the creations from the ‘Sinfield era’.
Longtime King Crimson devotees, who are what this double release is really meant for, will be richly rewarded by »The Elements of King Crimson«, since this two-disc set of rarities contains plenty of previously unreleased goodies from every chapter of their colorful career, stuff that until now was only available under special, rather ‘complicated’ conditions. Somebody might grumble that Fripp and company completely skipped one of their most beloved classics, »Court of The Crimson King«, and ‘forgot’ about alternative versions of popular eighties and nineties standards like »Elephant Talk«, »Thela Hun Ginjeet«, »Frame By Frame«, »Three of A Perfect Pair«, »Dinosaur«, »One Time« and so on, but then they’d have had to put together a triple release at the very least. Either way, with »The Elements of King Crimson«, the wait for the long-awaited new King Crimson studio album, if not for a new European tour, has now gotten a lot easier.
Line-up
Robert Fripp – guitar, mellotron, soundscapes
Tony Levin – bass guitar, Chapman Stick
Jakko Jakszyk – vocals, guitar, lyrics
Mel Collins – saxophone, flute
Gavin Harrison – drums, percussion
Pat Mastelotto – drums, percussion
Bll Rieflin – drums, percussion
Greg Lake – vocals, bass guitar
John Wetton – vocals, bass guitar
Adrian Belew – vocals, guitar, lyrics
Bill Bruford – drums, percussion
Boz Burrell – vocals, bass guitar
Ian Wallace – drums, percussion
Peter Sinfield – VCS3 synthesizer, lyrics
Ian McDonald – woodwinds, mellotron
Michael Giles – drums, percussion
Trey Gunn – Chapman Stick, Warr guitar
Jamie Muir – drums, percussion
David Cross – violin
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Peter Giles – bass guitar
Mark Charig – cornet
Production
Robert Fripp
Track list
CD 1 (65:29)
1. Wind Extract (0:30)
2. I Talk to the Wind (4:12)
3. Cadence and Cascade (4:29)
4. Cirkus (guitar extract) (0:15)
5. Cirkus (live) (8:43)
6. Hoodoo (extract) (0:23)
7. Sailor’s Tale (6:12)
8. The Talking Drum (6:42)
9. Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (Part I) (extract) (2:35)
10. Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (Part I) (extract) [David/Jamie] (2:40)
11. Fracture (live) (11:28)
12. Fallen Angel (extract) [RF harmonics] (1:14)
13. Fallen Angel (6:22)
14. 21st Century Schizoid Man (live) (8:27)
15. Starless (extract) [Mark] (1:18)
CD 2 (66:52)
1. Discipline (5:03)
2. Three Headed Doom (Part 1) (0:44)
3. Neurotica (Manhattan) (live) (6:12)
4. Neal and Jack and Me (extract) (1:44)
5. Sleepless (5:19)
6. Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream (recording session) (4:57)
7. THRAK (live) (9:00)
8. Venturing Unto Joy (edit) (1:11)
9. The Deception of the Thrush (live) (7:09)
10. Heaven & Earth (early edit) (7:43)
11. Level Five (live) (6:44)
12. The Hell Hounds of Krim (0:56)
13. Separation (edit) (2:40)
14. A Scarcity of Miracles (7:32)
