SAILORS' TALES

This is a release which is difficult to properly assign a score to. On the one hand, purely on the basis of the quality of the music here, I'd say it's a solid four star release; the studio albums covered (In the Wake of Poseidon. Lizard, and Islands) all have their charms, but they suffer from being overshadowed by In the Court of the Crimson King preceding them and Larks' Tongues In Aspic following on from them.

On the live side of things, Earthbound is a horrible release which should never have been put on the market to blacken the reputation of the Islands-era lineup. However, by bringing together here a great swathe of live recordings of the Islands-era lineup, Sailors' Tales comprehensively redeems their reputation.

The 1971 live sets are mostly proper soundboard recordings from the extensive gigging which preceded the recording of Islands, and so sound pretty good; the 1972 live sets are primarily taken from cassette recordings from the soundboard (as opposed to reel-to-reel) and the sound quality is much more variable; the major exception is the superb Summit Studios session, which - having taken place "live in the studio" - offers the finest-sounding document we have of the Islands-era lineup in full flight.

Overall, I'd say they were a pretty good lineup in their time, but at the same time I wouldn't give any of their live sets the full five stars. There's always something preventing it - whether it's Boz stumbling over the lyrics here and there, or Ian Wallace going entirely too self-indulgent with one of his drum solos (he has a bad tendency to make them drag out way too long), or Peter Sinfield mucking about with the VCS3 a little too much, or the sound quality taking a hit, there's no one set here which attains quite the transcendent level that, say, the mid-1970s lineups of the following years would gain, though they're still a damn good band.

So, a four star boxed set? Again, yes, assessed solely on musical quality. At the same time, as a historic artifact, as a really in-depth experience to wallow in and explore over an extended period of time, I'd give it five stars. The price tag is a little high, but considering the sheer amount of music you get here, I'd say it represents amazing value for money. (Compare the price tag to the cost of buying the relevant albums and live King Crimson Collectors' Club issues individually.) The good ship King Crimson sailed a difficult course during the era documented here, but the journey is a fascinating one to accompany Cap'n Fripp on.

In The Wake Of The Strange Tales Of Sailors

Following the previous years' megabox, Sailors' Tales summarizes a period of King Crimson, as opposed to a singular event in the history of King Crimson. However, this period was a bit more tumultuous than the 80s Krim. After In The Court Of The Crimson King, King Crimson only existed as a studio entity. There was no permanent lineup of musicians until the Lizard sessions, which after recording Lizard promptly dispersed. Finally, when it came to recording Islands a stable lineup coalesced around Ian Wallace, Boz Berrell, Mel Collins, Peter Sinfield, and Fripp. This is the lineup that dominates this box. The Islands quintet toured extensively, even producing Crimson's much maligned first official live album, Earthbound. With The King Crimson Collectors Club, this lineup has been fleshed out a bit more, with some excellent live albums (such as Detroit 71, Live At The Marquee, and Summit Studios) that show that they could make a maelstrom that could swallow ships whole. So, a collection of 16.5 discs of primetime live Crim from this era was most welcomed by myself.

For the most part, this hits the mark. When this band cooks, the fire really does burst. Collins, Wallace, and especially Fripp tear the sonic tapestry with abandon. Fripp's tones at this time were immaculate and he could really deliver a laser beam of pure sonic hell when he wanted to. Sinfield's addition of playing the VCS3 adds wonderful ambience and a bit of aural terror when applied correctly (mostly in The Sailor's Tale and Groon) and makes Wallace's drum solos much more interesting than a typical drum solo. They also had a tendency to expand certain songs and fully let the musical demons fly, which is what this lineup of Crim does best IMO. As for the best shows...I would give it to Wilmington, Detroit, and New York. Another plus for this box is the scarcity of repeated material. The two Marquee discs, Summit Studios, and Earthbound are the only shows to be previously released (not counting the studio albums, of course), which is a very good ratio for these KC Megaboxes.

However, there are two big unfortunate drawbacks. The first is sound quality. This fluctuates throughout the box, ranging from excellent to perfectly acceptable to fairly poor. (The main exception to this is the Summit Studios disc, which to be fair, was recorded professionally in a studio, thus not really an appropriate comparison to the rest of the shows which were recorded on a stage, usually from cassette sources.) This certainly isn't the most subtle band, but it is still nice to be able to hear everything clearly, which for some shows isn't the easiest task. That said, nothing in this box is as bad as some of the recordings on the Larks' Tongues box (which given the dates both shows come from is a bit odd), so I wouldn't rank it last in this catalogue. But it definitely stands out, especially after the clarity of the Thrak & Eighties boxes. The second issue is the big one for me...tape dropouts. Cassettes are not an efficient way to record long form sound sources. They much be changed fairly often. This would probably be less of an issue with shorter songs, but especially with the long form pieces Crimson play, this gets to be frustrating very quickly. There are 15 incomplete pieces here, which doesn't sound like a lot, but these don't just cut off a minute of the beginning...most of these cut off somewhere in the middle, once the piece gets fully revved up. This is most infuriating in things like Groon, The Sailors Tale, and 21st Century Schizoid Man. Also, disc 16, Live At The Barn in Peoria, is particularly plagued by this issue, with only Fripp's announcement, Ladies of the Road, and Cadence & Cascade unaffected by incompleteness of recording. That's about 10 minutes of music, and certainly not the 10 minutes I would have chosen, with Groon, 21st Century Schizoid Man, and an improv in the setlist. I have to imagine there was a better choice of a show to include in this box. Even something that has been previously released, would have been an improvement, as this one show in particular is almost impossible to listen to. Luckily, there are several gigs that appear without the dreaded tape change, all of which are satisfying if for no other reason.

All in all, this is one of the better megabox sets that Crimson has been rolling out for nearly a decade now. Well packed with new material, Sailors' Tales is certainly worth the price, even with the issue of tape dropouts and uneven recording quality. That said, this certainly isn't for casual fans. If you enjoyed any of the King Crimson Collectors Club releases of this lineup, you should investigate this set. If you don't care for the Islands lineup, this probably won't change your mind. I would give this a 3.5 on my personal scale and I feel 3 stars is about right for progarchives. Conditionally recommended.