| CUSTOMER REVIEWS: | 5/5 - 5 Stars just isn't enough
The reality is that Fripp, Bruford, Belew and Levin, the core of this box set (yes, I know Bruford and Levin left at one point) have had more to do with the advance of Music,especially in this avant-garde direction, than any four fellows since, well.... maybe since a quartet from northern England a few decades ago.
<br />In any case, what's on offer, even if you have most (and you wouldn't have all) of the tunes on these discs, is a chronology of the dangerous life in the Court of the Crimson King. The thrills are so heady, the puzzlers are so confounding, that you'll enjoy the assembly here so much that you'll feel like you are re-discovering these songs. I love every bloody second of this set! Jayzuz! It gits me, down deep. The perils in negotiating "Fractured" justify the price all in itself. The live sets showcase what I've always held about Crim: they are always and ever a live and living enterprise that thrives on the notion that failure and bloodshed are imminent. But what is clear is that they are also the spiritual parents of Steve Wilson and his Porcupine Tree colleagues, as well as Erki Sven Tuur in the classical world, and the California Guitar Trio, Nguyen Le and his colleagues in France. In short, where Music itself goes to consider its coming into the world, there you will find the King and his Prime Minister working out how to bring Music into a world that strives so hard to keep it out.
<br />In a few days' time, Fripp will be releasing LOVE CAN NOT BEAR, his Soundscapes from the World Financial Center. Like John Adams' ON THE TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS, it will have a profound impact on how we regard the tragedies that befall us and what Music can do to carry us through those times. Along with this intrepid account of the history of a group of men, some with facial hair and glasses, you will have before you poetry on which to dwell through the course of your life.
5/5 - Very good recopilation of fantastic music
In this second set of King Crimson guides there is music of the 1981-2003 period. There are two studio CD's plenty of the music of this period. Though it is not advertised anywhere, the studio CD's are HDCD encoded and they have fantastic sound. The two other CD's are a collection of live recordings of these period. In this case they are not HDCD encoded, but they also sound very good. If you want an introduction to the KC music of this period, this collection is excellent.
5/5 - Fantastic
I stopped paying attention after "Thrak", so discs three and four were a complete surprise - some of KC's strongest work ever. I bought this for nostalgia reasons (best of the 80s) and discovered a vital band making intense, uncompromising music. Passion, precision, total confidence ... this set renewed my interest in Crimson. |
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Thursday, December 17, 2009
Last visit: 16/12/2009
