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King Crimson - Live in Heidelberg, 1974 CD (album) cover

LIVE IN HEIDELBERG, 1974

King Crimson

Eclectic Prog


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4 stars This show was recorded in Heidelberg at 29th of March in 1974. And it is a great recording. The sound quality is excellent, just as the playing on the record. The recording starts with an improv, which is more or less an intro to Dr Diamond. This track was never released on a studio album but Crimson played this song a lot during the first months of 1974. It is a dark track about a driver of an underground train. Next is a long version of Exiles with excellent mellotron and violin interplay. This is followed by the second improv of this show. It starts heavy but ends in the vain of Trio, which is a nice bridge to the wonderful Starless. This is one of the classic Crimson tunes. It starts as a ballad and then developes through some heavy bass lines to an excellent epic. Next are two melodic tracks: The Night Watch, about Rembrandt's painting and Lament. Then comes the heavy Easy Money and the album ends with the opening bars of Fracture.

The only flaw on this album is that the tape runs out during Fracture, so only the first tree minutes appear on this CD. Except from the improvs this album doesn't really add something to what we already know: the 72-74 incarnation of Crimson was a great live band. The Night Watch and The Great Deceiver are still the best albums with live recordings from this era, but the fans will also really enjoy this album.

Report this review (#96240)
Posted Monday, October 30, 2006 | Review Permalink
4 stars As close as 5 stars yet still being 4 stars. This album NEEDS to be more popular. The world needs more exposure to the tonal King Crimson improvisations!

The album opens with an improvisation which is absolutely gorgeous. The bass is fuzzed and massive, providing a great landscape for Fripp to further excavate. This improv. hints at the next piece, Doctor Diamond, a rehearsed song that failed to show up on Red. It reminds me of the funky sections of One More Red Nightmare because it has a whimsical feel the majority of the song. It's nothing to get too terribly excited about. Exiles opens with pretty improv. which gives an opportunity for the mellotrons to be tuned. Fripp has truly mastered his instrument. He makes some truly interesting sounds at the beginning of this track that are innovative and would be interesting to see live. Exiles begins and ends as it would on the album, with improvised solos being the only difference.

Heidelberg II is my favorite King Crimson improv. It provides a space where the musicians can show their improv./spontaneous composing skills. You really, really need to listen to this track. It is different from most of the King Crimson improvisations because it is tonal (A Dorian I think?) and (this is obviously debatable) it sounds like a full-form Crimson composition. There's no hint of the dissonant improvisations present on Starless and Bible Black. David Cross provides interesting timbre on the electric piano rather than violin. Wetton... is Wetton. Fripp's tone is slightly different. It sounds more angular and vicious than usual. Bruford is perfect. Another thing that surprised me about this track is that it takes a sharp turn towards the end, and it melts together perfectly. Fripp turns down dynamically. Cross plays some mellotron strings, and then flutes. I am in heaven at this point. There are hints at chromaticism in the bass. The final 30 seconds have the quality of a 50's film score.. if 50's film scores were more psychedelic in nature and were created on the spot.

Starless isn't perfect. There are a few messups and it is slightly different from the version heard on Red. The Night Watch is fine. I don't understand why I used to like that song so much, but it is performed fine on this album. Lament is great. Easy Money is excellent and offers variety. Fracture is disappointing because we don't even get to hear a third on the track. But what we have is fine music.

The audio quality is as you expect it be for the time. Nothing to have a fuss about. Overall- a very fun listen and different than most King Crimson releases.

Report this review (#302573)
Posted Wednesday, October 6, 2010 | Review Permalink
Warthur
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Prevented from being a five-star release largely because it's incomplete (and most frustratingly of all, it cuts out three minutes into Fracture!), nonetheless this live release capturing one of the stops on the Starless and Bible Black tour (also included on the Starless boxed set) is a magnificent hour or so of King Crimson at their finest. There's some delightful improvisations captured, the songs are top notch, and by and large the band are at the peak of their game - and to cap everything off, the source is a soundboard recording, so the sound quality is crystal clear. Pretty good, though if you're keen enough on this era to be interested in this, you may as well save up and get the Starless box, which despite the expense is astonishingly good value for money compared to buying these live sets individually.
Report this review (#2246877)
Posted Wednesday, August 28, 2019 | Review Permalink

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