King Crimson – 21st Century Guide To King Crimson Volume 2

It was 1981 when I first heard of King Crimson. My bass player was into, what he called, Art Rock. Before Peter Crane started playing with my group, Sacred Rite, I was listening to all the popular ‘non-radio’ rock at the time -Scorpians, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, UFO, etc. It was Pete that introduced me to bands like Yes, Pink Floyd, and one of the more obscure bands that fit into that category- King Crimson. Since we were very proficient at anything we decided to cover, we tried pulling off Crimson’s, 21st Century Schizoid Man -to no avail.

I don’t really know what happened but I never really listened to King Crimson again. I remember, at the time, I found most of the music on Court of the Crimson King to be just a little left field for my taste. As I grew older and even more proficient in my musical abilities I probably would have benefited quite a bit if I had taken a second chance on King Crimson. Unfortunately, most “radio music” in United States isn’t all that musically diverse and King Crimson was a least likely suspect to gain much widespread acceptance. I rarely even heard King Crimson mentioned unless the April Wine version of 21st Century Schizoid Man came on the late night radio broadcast, and even then, King Crimson was usually referred to as that ‘other band’ that did the song.

I received a promotional copy of 21st Century Guide To King Crimson Volume 2 a few weeks ago and I’m happy to report that my jaw has been on the floor several times since then. King Crimson is simply the most amazing rock band I have ever heard -EVER! “How did I let myself miss this incredible music?” This is the question I’ve been asking myself for almost three weeks now. These guys are not only extraordinary on their instruments, their artistic vision, though sometimes avant-garde, also goes unmatched, in my opinion.

Now I do realize many readers are already familiar with this amazing band, but I felt the need to share my new discovery with others like me, the ones that didn’t give King Crimson a second chance after the first listen.

Everything about 21st Century Guide To King Crimson Volume 2 is first class, all the way. I pulled the booklet out of the sleeve, opened it up and practically got to know this band in person. Inside there are notes from Robert Fripp’s journal, and though I’m sure it is not the entire 23 years worth of journal entries, all of the important information concerning the creation and recording of the music that is embodied on these four discs is present.

The four discs are titled accordingly- In The Studio: 1981-1984, Live: 1982-1984, In The Studio: 1995-2003, and Live: 1994-2003. The biggest problem I have in reviewing this set is I have never had so much music by one artist and liked it all so much. To pick it apart and to say one section is better than the other is impossible. It is all THAT GOOD. I will admit, I am an old school listener. I enjoy albums from beginning to end. If I have to skip songs on a CD I just won’t bother to listen to it at all. With this box set -I have not only listened to each disc several times – I have started with disc one and taken in the entire 5 ½ hours several times. Needless to say, all of my free time has been consumed with this box set since it arrived at my doorstep.