King Crimson - The Condensed 21st Century Guide to King Crimson: 1969-2003

Title: The Condensed 21st Century Guide to King Crimson: 1969-2003 Artist: King Crimson Release Date: 10/16/2006 Re-Released On: 11/27/2006 Label: Indie, Discipline (UK) Album Type(s): Greatest Hits UPCs: 633367060426, 4582213910940 Genre: Rock Styles: Prog-Rock, Album Rock, Art Rock Moods: Austere, Complex, Epic, Rousing, Aggressive, Brooding, Fiery, Meandering, Poignant, Sprawling, Earnest, Gloomy, Intense, Ominous, Plaintive, Volatile, Wistful, Eerie, Energetic, Quirky, Reflective, Sophisticated, Paranoid, Trippy, Cerebral, Theatrical Total Copies: 0 Members Wishing: 3 Number of Discs/SwapaCD Credits: 2

1. 21st Century Schizoid Man
2. Epitaph
3. The Court of the Crimson King [Abridged]
4. Cat Food [Single Version]
5. Cadence and Cascade
6. Ladies on the Road
7. Sailor's Tale [Abridged]
8. Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Pt. 1 [Abridged]
9. Book of Saturday
10. Fracture [Abridged]
11. Starless [Abridged]
12. Red
13. Fallen Angel

1. Elephant Talk
2. Frame by Frame
3. Matte Kudasai
4. Discipline
5. Heartbeat
6. Waiting Man
7. Neurotica
8. Three of a Perfect Pair
9. Sleepless [Abridged]
10. Vrooom
11. Coda: Marine 475 [Abridged]
12. Dinosaur [Single Version]
13. Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream
14. The Power to Believe I: A Cappella
15. Level Five
16. Eyes Wide Open
17. Happy with What You Have to Be Happy With
18. The Power to Believe III
19. The Power to Believe IV: Coda

Year Type Label Catalog # 2006 CD Indie 1 2006 CD Discipline (UK) 0604

No other editions were found for this album.

King Crimson is a decidedly unwieldy band. Spanning more than 35 years (as of this writing) and at least seven distinct lineups, and complicated by the studio vs. live dichotomy (not to mention no hits to speak of), this is a band that almost refuses to be anthologized. Anything less than a box set doesn't really do the band justice, but anything more than two discs may seem like a grand investment to someone who just wants to get acquainted with them. Since King Crimson completely ceased to exist in the mid- to late '70s and early '80s, that seems a logical dividing point in examining the band's output. And that's exactly how Robert Fripp approached it when he assembled the 21st Century Guide to King Crimson in two volumes. Volume One covered 1969-1974 with two studio and two live discs, and Volume Two covered 1981-2003, also with two studio and two live discs. These were aimed at the uninitiated as "a comprehensive overview for new ears of all that is necessary in the Crimson corpus," and despite minor quibbling about what wasn't included, they served the purpose very well. Trouble is, the uninitiated might not be willing to drop the dough for such a lavish introduction no matter how thorough a portrait it paints of the band. So Fripp went back to the drawing board using these two box sets as a guide, whittling eight discs of material down to The Condensed 21st Century Guide to King Crimson: 1969-2003, a double-disc set. The first thing he did was to cut all the live material, which makes the task easier but doesn't tell the whole story of the band, who often displayed a talent for improvisation and an on-stage ferocity that they didn't achieve in the studio. Oh well, the live material will still be there for those who catch the King Crimson bug. So each of the remaining two discs per volume had to be trimmed down to a single disc, giving us one representing 1969-1974 and one representing 1981-2003. Of course, the KC faithful will argue about which tracks were included and which were left off, but again, this set was not designed for them. They've probably got the vast majority of this material anyway. But this set does do a decent job of representing the various sides of the band: from the proto-metal of "21st Century Schizoid Man" to the light and airy "Cadence and Cascade," from the skewed avant-pop of "Cat Food" to the driving "Red," and from the math rock of "Discipline" and "Level Five" to ballads like "Heartbeat" and "Matte Kudasai." Compiled for the curious, not the converted, The Condensed 21st Century Guide to King Crimson: 1969-2003 is sort of like a King Crimson hors d'oeuvre: a tasty morsel designed to whet the appetite for more. ~ Sean Westergaard, All Music Guide

Name Credits Adrian Belew Guitar, Vocals Andy McCulloch Drums Bill Bruford Electronic Percussion, Drums, Percussion, Drums (Electric) Boz Burrell Vocals, Bass Gordon Haskell Bass, Vocals Greg Lake Percussion, Vocals, Guitar (Bass) Hugh O'Donnell Design Ian McDonald Keyboards, Vibraphone, Reeds, Vocals, Woodwind, Mellotron Jamie Muir ?, Percussion John Wetton Vocals, Guitar (Bass) Keith Tippett Piano Mark Charig Cornet Michael Giles Vocals, Percussion, Drums Nick Evans Trombone P.J. Crook Cover Art Pat Mastelotto Percussion, Electronic Percussion Peter Giles Bass Peter Sinfield Illustrations, Sounds, Lyricist Robert Fripp Sleeve Notes, Mellotron, Devices, Guitar Robin Miller Cor Anglais, Oboe Simon Heyworth Mastering Tony Levin Vocals (Background), Guitar (Bass), Stick, Bass Trey Gunn Guitar, Stick