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clint e.- 12-25-2008
King Crimson have typically been categorized as a foundational progressive rock group, although they incorporate diverse influences ranging from jazz, classical and experimental music to psychedelic, New Wave, hard rock, gamelan and folk music. King Crimson have garnered little radio or music video airplay, but gained a large cult following. Their debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, is widely regarded as a landmark in progressive rock. Their later excursions into even more unconventional territory have been influential on many contemporary musical artists. Bands such as Genesis and Yes were influenced by the band's initial style of symphonic mellotron rock.Tool are widely held to have been heavily influenced by King Crimson. Nirvana are known to have been influenced by King Crimson as a result of Kurt Cobain having mentioned the importance of the Red album to him. The band Porcupine Tree is influenced by King Crimson, and as with Tool, King Crimson (in the form of ProjeKct Six) has been the support band at their shows. The angular, dissonant guitar patterns associated with Fripp’s distinctive approach are also evident in the music of Alt-Metal pioneers, Voivod, Primus is heavily influenced by the King Crimson sound, and Iron Maiden members credit the band as a reference for them....

King Crimson's membership has fluctuated considerably throughout their existence, with eighteen musicians and two lyricists passing through the ranks as full band members. Fripp, the only constant member of King Crimson, has arranged several distinct lineups, but has stated that he does not necessarily consider himself the band's leader. The new King Crimson that evolved in July 1972 (again with some personnel changes) marks a turn toward a heavier progressive sound, with experimental and fusion overtones, that climaxes mostly on their unique semi-improvisatory live performances throughout the whole 1973 with the release of Starless and Bible Black, January 1974. Most of that album was recorded from live performances with the live factor dismissed.

David Cross left and so John Wetton, Bill Bruford and Robert Fripp were left to record the new album, Red, be it with the help of musicians from previous KC albums.(David Cross - violin, Mel Collins - soprano saxophone, Ian McDonald - alto saxophone, Robin Miller - oboe, Marc Charig - cornet). Red has been described as "an impressive achievement" for a group about to disband, with "intensely dynamic" musical chemistry between the band members that resulted in a record "aggressive and loud enough to strip the wallpaper off your living room wall". Fripp, increasingly disillusioned with the music business, was turning his attention to the writings of the mystic George Gurdjieff, and did not want to tour as he felt that the "world was coming to an end". The Red line-up never toured, and two months before the album's release Fripp announced that King Crimson had "ceased to exist" and the group disbanded on September 25, 1974

Early in 1981, Fripp considered forming a new group, with no intention of reforming King Crimson. However, a step that led to this was contacting Bill Bruford to ask if he wanted to join the new band.Bruford agreed and the pair recruited Tony Levin, he brought a new sound with the use of the Chapman Stick, described as an "utterly original style" created by "one of New York City's most sought-after studio musicians". Fripp also contacted guitarist Adrian Belew, who was on tour with Talking Heads Fripp had never been in a band with another guitarist before so the decision to seek a second guitarist was indicative of Fripp's desire to create a sound unlike previous incarnations of King Crimson. Belew, who also became the band's singer and lyricist, joined following his tour with Talking Heads. The four played live in the first half of 1981 using the name Discipline.

By October 1981, the band had begun using the name King Crimson. The group released a trilogy of albums: Discipline in 1981, Beat in 1982, and Three of a Perfect Pair in 1984. Beat marked the first King Crimson album to have been recorded with the exact same band members as the album preceding it. After Three of a Perfect Pair, King Crimson disbanded for around a decade, during which time Fripp formed the record label Discipline Global Mobile for King Crimson and related projects, besides starting the Guitar Craft music school in 1985.

Ten years after (May 1994), King Crimson start rehearsing again, this time as a double trio (added to the four above, are Pat Mastelotto on percussion, and Trey Gunn on stick). It is in this time that the Discipline Global Mobile label is started, enabling for the first time Mr. Fripp and associates to release their own music by their own (high) standards. This "double trio" formation released the EP VROOOM in 1994, followed by the studio album THRAK in 1995, and the challenging avantgarde live album THRaKaTTaK in 1996. The new King Crimson sound featured elements of the interlocking guitars on Discipline and the heavy rock feel of Red

The double trio scheme will only release two full albums and various ep’s, yet it will lead to its “fractalization” to groups of three (or four), thus forming the ProjeKcts. Five such ProjeKcts will live and flourish (One, Two, Three, Four, and X), and their live and studio sessions will be released by DGM, along with numerous other recordings from all periods of King Crimson (some under the King Crimson Collector’s Club; bi-monthly releases for members only). In the hands of DGM, the King Crimson back catalogue grows enormously, making it one of the biggest for any rock group ever. By the time the ProjeKcts were complete, Bruford and Levin had ceased to be involved with King Crimson, Belew, Fripp, Gunn, and Mastelotto remained, releasing the studio album The ConstruKction of Light (2000), accompanied by the album Heaven and Earth released under the name ProjeKct X in the same year.

The band continued their activity throughout the decade. In 2002 the EP Happy With What You Have to Be Happy With was released,[51] and in 2003 the studio album The Power to Believe came out with the band touring in support of it. November 2003, Trey Gunn announced his departure from the band. Levin would become the active bassist of King Crimson again, with the subsequent line-up scheduled for rehearsals in 2008 and consisting of Fripp, Belew, Mastelotto, Levin plus a second drummer, Gavin Harrison of Porcupine Tree, who joined King Crimson in November 2007. They began rehearsals in March 2008.

Sourced from my vinyls Red = Discipline, Blue = Beat, Y = Three of a perfect pair, compiled with continuity and respect for maximum enjoyment of 80 minutes of King Crimson in topform.

Enjoy... and merry Christmas. smile.gif



King Crimsom _ Red, Blue and Yellow

Download are in ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here.

dingus- 12-25-2008
i've never followed King Crimson much, though i've always been aware of their existence from the early 70's. i did pick up "Power to Believe" last year and its is superb from a technical standpoint, though in order to fully enjoy it i have to be in the right mood. i do find Adrian Belew's vocals pleasing and wish there was more of them on the album.

to this day my favorite work by Fripp is from Peter Gabriels 1976 debut solo album. understated excellence.

clint e.- 12-26-2008
I too have to be in the right frequency (mood) to listen to their complex, innovating and intense music.
Fripp's unique tones, use of effects and philosophical approach to the guitar has put him into a class by himself.
Talking about collaborations, i like his work with the Bowie/Eno trilogy (Low, Heroes, The Lodger) and again with Brian Eno they created two brilliant ambient classic gems, "No Pussyfooting" and "Evening Star."


user posted image


No Pussyfooting I'd uploaded these filess a few months ago. Not an ogg. format but 192Kbps even though worse listen to. Evening Star wink.gif

doctorbongo- 12-27-2008
This is a bit too weird. I was able to reorganize my albums when I got a PERFECT second cabinet, to go with my custommade first record cabinet.

During the process I "rediscovered" my Roxy Music albums and have
gotten immense pleasure out of listening to them again, esp. on my latest
system. The songs keep sticking in my head, and unlike a lot of catchy
dreck, this is welcome. So I read Clint's summary on King Crimson, and
I was thinking it would be great to see one on Roxy Music, and I came
upon this online:

In November 1970, ceramics teacher and aspiring rock musician Bryan Ferry advertised for a keyboard player to collaborate with him and Graham Simpson, a bass player he knew from his art college band, The Gas Board. Earlier in 1970 Ferry had auditioned as lead singer for King Crimson (who were seeking a replacement for departed vocalist Greg Lake) and although Robert Fripp and Pete Sinfield decided that Ferry's voice was unsuitable for King Crimson's material, they were impressed with his talent and they subsequently helped the fledgling Roxy Music to obtain a contract with E.G. Records.

Coincidence? You be the judge.

Okay, it's coincidence, but it's COOL coincidence.

doctorbongo- 12-27-2008
Incidentally, I believe these are two bands that never had a true hit in the U.S.
But that's okay, because Mariah Carrey and Madonna made up for it with all of their fine musical hits....

clint e.- 12-27-2008
Certainly their main goal in music where (are) not the pop chart hit's wink.gif nevertheless, with "Love is a Drug" a single from the album Siren, Roxy Music got their biggest US hit, peaking at Nº30.
Coincidence or not, i read that in a music mag today in an article called "the stories behind the singles that rocked the world". smile.gif

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