So how many King Crimson fans do we have at DU?

[Alexander]

I would cut off an arm to see them live, particularly now. Their last album makes Tool seem like a bunch of pansies.

All in all, I own:

In The Court Of The Crimson King
In The Wake Of Poseidon
Starless And Bible Black
Red
Discipline
Three Of A Perfect Pair
Absent Lovers
The Power To Believe

I used to have "Islands", "Earthbound", "Lizard" and "USA" on my computer, but I had to re-format and lost them all.

So how many DUers enjoy King Crimson, and/or have seen a live show?

[Ariana Celeste]

1. I have In the Court of the Crimson King

And a few random tracks on my SO's pc.

I love it, my favorite song (out of what I have by them) is 'I Talk to the Wind'

Said the straight man to the late man
Where have you been
I've been here and I've been there
And I've been in between.

I talk to the wind
My words are all carried away
I talk to the wind
The wind does not hear
The wind cannot hear.

I'm on the outside looking inside
What do I see
Much confusion, disillusion
All around me.

You don't possess me
Don't impress me
Just upset my mind
Can't instruct me or conduct me
Just use up my time.

I talk to the wind
My words are all carried away
I talk to the wind
The wind does not hear
The wind cannot hear.

[WCGreen]

10. That is the best song on that album...

I loved King Crimson

[Ariana Celeste]

15. It's beautiful

:loveya:

[pdx_prog]

2. In the court

Three of a Perfect Pair
Beat

I have a lot of Bruford, Wetton and Fripp stuff also....

[riverdeep]

3. Nightwatch

I heard this album kicks ass, it's live. Ordered it from Amazon, waited months, then said they can't locate it. I can't find it anywhere. Anyone heard this supposed definitive live album?

[silvermachine]

27. It pretty much rules...

...and does stand as a great document of that particular lineup. There is also the Great Deceiver box set from the same time period, plus the releases that have come out through the DGC Collectors Club as well. The Collectors Club CDs vary in terms of audio quality but some of it is great.

[seemunkee]

4. One live show of KC and one of Frippertronics

Frippertronic show was in a small place called the Washington Ethical Society. The place only holds 200 people.

[dysfunctional press]

16. i saw fripp open for porcupine tree at the park west in chicago...

two nights in a row.
his album "exposure" was always a MUST when we were tripping...way back when.

i never saw king crimson as a whole-
but i did also see adrian belew at mables in cham-bana...saw him using the urinal next to me, in fact.

[ProfessorGAC]

5. Yes and Yes

I saw them twice in the Discipline through Three of a Perfect Pair era. I am much more a fan of that era than of the early era. The tour for 3 of a Perfect Pair was incredible. It's the only rock concert where i walked out with my jaw open. (It's available on DVD, too!)

For a live album, Thrack and Vrroom are terrific.
The Professor

[Tyrone Slothrop]

6. I'm a fan

Never seen them, though.

I think I have all of their albums on my computer somewhere (following a downloading spree last summer).

[gmoney]

7. I liked the Adrian Belew era KC

Discipline, Elephant Talk and such... not sure I'm a fan, but appreciate them. :)

[Orsino]

13. My favorites, too.

I think he kept the others awake.

[unsavedtrash]

8. big fan

Three of a Perfect Pair is my favorite

[LynneSin]

9. I love King Crimson - they're in my top #10 of all time favorite groups

I believe they're like 7 or 8.

Discipline has to be one of my favorite albums!

I REPEAT MYSELF WHEN UNDER STRESS I REPEAT MYSELF WHEN UNDER STRESS I REPEAT MYSELF WHEN UNDER STRESS I REPEAT MYSELF WHEN UNDER STRESS I REPEAT MYSELF WHEN UNDER STRESS I REPEAT MYSELF WHEN UNDER STRESS I REPEAT MYSELF WHEN UNDER STRESS I REPEAT MYSELF WHEN UNDER STRESS I REPEAT MYSELF WHEN UNDER STRESS I REPEAT MYSELF WHEN UNDER STRESS I REPEAT MYSELF WHEN UNDER STRESS I REPEAT MYSELF WHEN UNDER STRESS

[kedrys]

23. The more I look at it, the more I like it

I do think it's good!

(I love that song)

[Beetwasher]

11. I Saw Them W/ John Paul Jones at the Beacon a Few Years Ago

One of the best concerts I've been to in a long time. They were great and JPJ was friggin' amazing and when they played together it blew my mind.

[Madspirit]

12. Big Fan

...and have been since the started...many many years ago.
Lee

[Rob H.]

14. I have four of their CDs

Beat, Discipline, Three of a Perfect Pair, and The Concise King Crimson. I like Belew-era Crimson best, obviously. :P

[Floogeldy]

17. Count Me In

I've been listening to Court, Red, and Larks' Tongues a lot lately.

:hippie:

[Skittles]

18. I was so thrilled to hear them in the movie "Children of Men"

OMG I was instantly blasted back in time

[bbernardini]

19. Absolutely. However, I'm one of those weirdos that prefers "Discipline" onward.

Call me crazy, but I absolutely adore the 80s stuff and "THRAK," and to a lesser extent, everything after the double trio. I, too, saw them with John Paul Jones (but in Philadelphia). Also saw Fripp do opening Soundscapes for Porcupine Tree at Town Hall in NYC on the "Deadwing" tour.

[Steven_S]

20. I went to one of their concerts in 1970....

Somewhere in Manhattan. It was a very long time ago. Strawbs was the backup band. Both were incredible.

What's their last album that you mentioned?

[Alexander]

35. Which one? USA? Or Power to Believe?

USA is a live show circa 1974, just before Fripp broke the band up for 6 years.

Power to Believe is the album that would kick Tool's ass any day of the week. It was released in 2003 and is not only as heavy as anything released today, but about 50 years ahead of its time.

[wildhorses]

21. fan here

:thumbsup:

[RandomKoolzip]

22. I wish there was studio version of "Dr. Diamond" somewhere.

They played that song with the Bruford/Wetton/Fripp/Cross lineup, 73-74, and its available on some bootlegs and imports, and it's probably the best song Crim ever did.

Out of all the lineups, BTW, my fave is the one that produced "Starless and Bible Black" and "Red."

The current (well, post-1984) lineup of Crim relies far too much on Tony Levin's prediliction for the wanky ostinato to be be truly rewarding as a listening experience, at least in my opinion. And they coud stand to rock out a little more now and again.

Anyone got any bootlegs? I'd like to start a collection (I have a tiny handful of live recordings at my disposal).

[Initech]

24. Yo! Huge Crimson fan here.

I have all of their studio albums, but none of the live stuff.

[Alexander]

25. You're missing out.

[Initech]

30. Which ones are the best ones?

They have over 300 live albums available on their website.

[Alexander]

36. Here are some good live albums I've got...

"Absent Lovers" is an excellent Belew-era live show in Montreal. It was the last show of their 1984 tour.

"Earthbound" is their first live release, circa 1971-1972. It's good if you like hearing other permutations of KC, but not the best.

"USA" is the end of the Wetton-era KC, circa 1974. I recommend this, it's excellent and contains some of their best Wetton-era songs.

There's also a whole slew of box sets and live collections, which constitute most of the 300 live albums you're talking about. It's hard to go wrong with this group - even Earthbound is good - so it's really a question of which KC lineup you prefer. I myself like the early 1969-1970 Greg Lake years, the 1973-1975 John Wetton years, and of course the Belew-era KC, which has existed since 1981.

[silvermachine]

26. Pretty big fan here...

...but can't get into the post Discipline era stuff that much. Not too crazy about Levin or Belew, I'm afraid. Faves are In The Court, Poseidon, Starless & Bible Black, and Red, but I do like everything from the 1969-1974 era a lot. I saw them in Pittsburgh in 1974, and again in Alexandria at the Birchmere a few years ago when Adrian Belew had the flu and couldn't perform, so they went on without him and did improvs all night. It was actually a really brilliant and heavy sounding show. Seen Fripp solo 3 times.
I have to say, in all honesty, that although I will always love this band and acknowledge the very singular contribution that RF has made to music during his career, his incredibly elitist and increasingly contemptuous attitude toward his audience is really off putting and insulting. When I saw him at the Ram's Head in Annapolis a couple of years ago, he went into a diatribe about various levels of musicanship and what constituted being a "master musician" (aka Fripp) as opposed to the "happy gigster" (i.e. %99.999999999999999 of the rest of the musicians in the world) that was about the most insufferable, pedantic, and condescending load of bollocks that I'd ever heard issued from another musician's lips. I saw a posting that someone made fairly recently where they stated that being a big Crimson fan these days requires a certain amount of masochism because of Fripp's attitude, and I can't help but agree to some extent.

[mitchum]

32. I've always said that Fripp desperately wants to be a cult leader...

but unfortunately for him, he doesn't have the necessary high level of charisma.
Hell, he has very little at all.

[Joe Fields]

28. Count me in.

You forgot Lark's tongue.....

[Alexander]

34. I had Larks' Tongues....on my computer, pre-format.

Sadly, it got erased. Although "Larks Tongues II" and "Exiles" are prime cuts.

[blindpig]

29. Four shows

Twice in '75, 84, 05. Hate that Bruford quit the line-up, but who could deal with Fripp for near 30 years?

KC makes most all other bands with pretense of "heavy" look like kiddies.

Serious music.

[maxsolomon]

31. i even have "thrak"

"red" is my favorite.

[CBGLuthier]

33. What, No Lark's Tongue in Aspic Fans?

Mainly for the opening that just gets louder and louder and crazier.

Love all their work in all their incarnations. Particularly fond of In the Court of, Wake of Poseidon (even if it is essentially a remake of the first album) and Discipline. Used to have a copy of Belew Levin Bruford lineup in Japan on VHS but that went the way of all things tape.

[Alexander]

37. You could argue that every album is a remake of the last one.

On most of them, they have a heavy, jazz-influenced I-IV-V structured song ("21st Century Schizoid Man", "Pictures Of A City", "Level 5", "Starless", "Three Of A Perfect Pair").

They have a softer melodic ballad to contrast with it ("I Talk To The Wind", "Cadence And Cascade", "The Book Of Saturday", "The Night Watch", "Matte Kudesai").

They have a percussive, pulsating instrumental, usually in 5/4 time as inspired by (or in one case, direct theft of) "Mars: Bringer Of War" ("The Devil's Triangle", "The Talking Drum", "Industry", "Dangerous Curves").

They usually, especially pre-1975, had an epic, end-of-the-world type song with mellotrons ("In The Court Of The Crimson King", "In The Wake Of Poseidon", "Exiles").

Even their newest album, The Power To Believe, is structurally similar to Wake Of Poseidon. You could literally substitute every track on Wake Of Poseidon with its corresponding Power To Believe track. However, they sound nothing alike.

[mitchum]

38. I've been using Frippertronics (or as Pauline Oliveros and Terry Riley...

originally dubbed it the "Time Lag Accumulator") for years. It's like a drug. A very good drug.
Started off with two small child's reel to reels, later on moved to the same Revox machines used by Fripp, and now use a combination of tape and digital.

I prefer pre-Discipline King Crimson