EARTHBOUND

This is the only official King Crimson album that I never upgraded from LP to CD. It just isn't worth it. I originally found this album in a used record store for three dollars (it still has the price sticker). At the time I thought I paid too much. Now, while I'm glad I have it (just for the completion of their records), I can't justify spending any money to upgrade it.

The recording quality, as many have already said, is poor. It was recorded on a cassette deck from a mixer at a series of concerts in 1972. That doesn't excuse to poor sound. The more recent Collectors Club releases indicate that there were better tapes available.

As for the performances themselves, it's obvious that Boz Burrell at that time was a sub-par bassist, and although some recordings show him as passable, here he is an embarassingly bad vocalist. Ian McDonald, we know, was a pretty good drummer, although not up to the level of any of the other Crimson drummers before or after him, but he does a fair job on these tracks. Robert Fripp and Mel Collins play well, as always.

So, performancewise, I would give this three stars. But the poor sound, and bootleg style editing, like entering The Sailors Tale in the middle of the song, rate only one star.

So by the average, two stars.