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About King Crimson
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In the Court of the Crimson King (40th Anniversary Series)
by John Kelman
It was, quite simply, a sound that shook the music world. When King Crimson emerged from the dust of the considerably more oblique and largely absurd trio of Giles, Giles and Fripp--whose one release, The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp (Deram, 1968), was aptly titled--nobody could have anticipated that this group would literally change the face of the pop world, and almost single-handedly define a new musical genre: progressive rock. Crimson co-founder/guitarist Robert Fripp has, with a number ...
Continue ReadingKing Crimson: KCCC #39: Live in Milan June 20, 2003
by John Kelman
It might seem that King Crimson co-founder/guitarist Robert Fripp's mail order-only King Crimson Collectors Club (KCCC)--an ongoing series of live performances in either CD or download-only formats-- might be overkill. But for the committed Crimhead, “enough" and “King Crimson" don't belong in the same sentence. Fearlessly and perennially looking forward with each new incarnation and taking risks each and every night, some shows are undeniably better than others. But every show made available has something distinctive to offer the committed ...
Continue ReadingKing Crimson: KCCC #38: Live in Philadelphia, PA August 26, 1996
by John Kelman
Following on the heels of the definitive The Collectable King Crimson Volume Three: Live at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, 1996, Live in Philadelphia, PA August 26, 1996 (the 38th mail order-only King Crimson Collectors Club edition) is a touch anti-climactic. Despite a fine sounding board mix, it's not as sonically dynamic as Volume Three, nor is it as strong a performance as the Shepherd's Bush show, which came midway through the Crimson Double Trio's final tour of Europe and ...
Continue ReadingPark West, Chicago, Illinois August 7, 2008
by John Kelman
When it was announced, in late 2003, that touch guitarist Trey Gunn was leaving perennial art rockers King Crimson, to be replaced by returning bassist/stickman Tony Levin—a member of the group during its 1980s and 1990s runs—anticipation was high. Gunn's strength was as a virtuosic melodic foil for guitarists Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew as well as holding down the bottom end, but Levin has always been considered Crimson's ultimate groove-meister. When Porcupine Tree drummer Gavin Harrison was recruited in ...
Continue ReadingThe Collectable King Crimson Volume Three
by John Kelman
Recorded half-way through a forty-date tour across Europe and North America, Live at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, 1996 isn't the first live document of progressive rock group King Crimson's mid-1990s Double Trio. But this third volume in the double-disc Collectable King Crimson series--following the 1972-74 configuration's Volume One (DGMLive, 2007) and 1981-84 Crim's Volume Two (DGMLive, 2007)--which makes some of the best of its previously mail order-only live shows available on a larger, commercial scale, represents a number of ...
Continue ReadingKing Crimson: Live at the Pier, New York, August 2, 1982
by John Kelman
Live at the Pier, New York, August 2, 1982 is the 37th entry in a series of King Crimson Collectors Club releases from DGM Mail Order which, along with the download-only DGMLive, has been documenting King Crimson's five touring incarnations from 1969 through 2003 with archival live releases (a new line-up is preparing for a brief tour in August, 2008, celebrating Crimson's 40th anniversary; what's to come, however, is anybody's guess). With sources ranging from lo-fi audience to close-to-commercial soundboard ...
Continue ReadingThe Collectable King Crimson Volume Two
by John Kelman
The second in a series bringing together some of the best live material from its nearly four decade off-again-on-again existence, The Collectable King Crimson Volume Two collects two shows from the art rock group's 1980s incarnation. As much as Volume One (DGM, 2007) was a stunning example of the sheer power and improvisational prowess of 1973-1974 Crimson, Volume Two provides a sharp contrast between 1980s Crimson's very first performance and a more polished set fifteen months later. When ...
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