THE CRIMSON PROJEKCT: OFFICIAL BOOTLEG LIVE 2012

Apparently it's not only diehard fans who can't get enough of KING CRIMSON; the musicians themselves often show an almost obsequious attachment to the throne. The six-person Crimson Projekct is only the latest in a cycle of KC legacy acts, not unlike the alumni-tribute 21st Century Schizoid Band but focused on the opposite end of the musical electromagnetic timeline, performing infrared '80s and '90s material instead of the ultraviolet early repertoire of the Schizoid setlist.

And why not? The sextet already includes half of the Double Trio Crimson line-up, plus a graduate of Robert Fripp's Guitar Craft seminars (Markus Reuter, class of '98). What doesn't make sense is the lack of any artistic license applied to the music. All the selections (four songs from the "Discipline" album; three more from "THRAK"; and the inevitable title track from "Red") were recycled more or less note for note, or Frame by Frame, as Adrian Belew croons in the song of the same name.

It's hard to argue with the talent involved, even if the duplication of effort doesn't quite add up. Pat Mastelotto attacks his percussion with enough ferocity and flair to make the extra drummer (Belew Band regular Tobias Ralph) somewhat redundant. Ditto bassist Julie Slick, who never manages to emerge out of the long shadow cast by veteran Tony Levin.

All six together create an impressive racket, but the concert needed to be seen in person (as I did in October of 2011, when the two halves of the Projekct first joined forces). On disc, the experience is reduced to a secondhand memento, played with all the skill but none of the invention typically associated with Prog Rock's perennial monarch.

[Consumer alert: this abbreviated set, only 45-minutes long, was recorded in the summer of 2012, when the hybrid band was touring in support of Dream Theater. The much later "Live in Tokyo" disc, released on the Inside Out label and featuring twice the music, is the better bargain]