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INSIDE KING CRIMSON 1972-1975 AN INDEPENDENT CRITICAL REVIEW WITH DAVID CROSS

King Crimson

Eclectic Prog


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King Crimson Inside King Crimson 1972-1975 An Independent Critical Review With David Cross album cover
3.87 | 19 ratings | 1 reviews | 39% 5 stars

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DVD/Video, released in 2005

Songs / Tracks Listing

Excerpts from:
- Larks' Tongues In Aspic (Beatclub 1973 video footage)
- Easy Money
- Your's Is No Disgrace (Beatclub 1971 video footage)
- Book Of Saturday (Asia Live In Moscow 1990 video footage)
- Book Of Saturday
- The Talking Drum
- The Great Deceiver
- We'll Let You Know
- Lament
- Fracture
- Starless And Bible Black
- Red (John Wetton Live 2003 video footage)
- Providence
- Starless
- Starless (John Wetton Live 2003 video footage)


Line-up / Musicians

1973:
- Bill Bruford / drums
- David Cross / violin, viola, mellotron
- Robert Fripp / guitar, mellotron, devices
- Jamie Muir / percussion
- John Wetton / bass, vocals
1974:
- Bill Bruford / drums
- David Cross / violin, viola, kbds
- Robert Fripp / guitars
- John Wetton / bass, vocals
1975:
- Bill Bruford / drums
- Robert Fripp / guitars
- John Wetton / bass, vocals

WITH:
- Mark Charig / cornet
- Mel Collins / soprano saxophone
- David Cross / violin
- Ian McDonald / alto saxophone
- Robin Miller / oboe


Releases information

Music Reviews Ltd. CRP1825

Thanks to erik neuteboom for the addition
and to mandrakeroot for the last updates
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Buy KING CRIMSON Inside King Crimson 1972-1975 An Independent Critical Review With David Cross Music



KING CRIMSON Inside King Crimson 1972-1975 An Independent Critical Review With David Cross ratings distribution


3.87
(19 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(39%)
39%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(33%)
33%
Good, but non-essential (0%)
0%
Collectors/fans only (11%)
11%
Poor. Only for completionists (17%)
17%

KING CRIMSON Inside King Crimson 1972-1975 An Independent Critical Review With David Cross reviews


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Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by erik neuteboom
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars After I had purchased the (former Classic Rock Productions label) Inside editions of Yes, ELP, Genesis, Supertramp and Pink Floyd, I was desperately searching for the King Crimson Inside 1972-1975 DVD for years. It was so hard to get because shortly after the first edition was released, Robert Fripp hired a lawyer in order to prosecute the producers of the King Crimson Inside DVD. Then this DVD disappeared out of the records shops and was "officially no longer available". This week I was pleasantly surprised to discover the King Crimson Inside 1972-1975 DVD in one of my favorite record shops. On the back cover I read that it has been re-released in 2005 and former King Crimson member of the 'classic King Crimson 1972-1975 line-up' David Cross is involved in this project. This is a bit cynical because other King Crimson member of that classic line-up Robert Fripp is opposing against this DVD, you can read about that on Robert Fripp his website in his diary in July 2006.

While watching this DVD I got more and more excited because of the very good and inspired musical analysis (by journalists, musicians, record producers, band members, reviewers) and the amazing, sometimes very rare Seventies video footage. In this review I have created chapters that vary slightly from the DVD chapters, let's call it 'artistic freedom'.

THE BAND: It is mentioned that King Crimson "went through an awful lot of personal changes that clearly effected the band", "the new line-up made more experimental music, more based upon improvisation" and "This King Crimson is a fine example of British Art Rock" ...

THE MEMBERS: about Robert Fripp: "he is a bit like the Alec Guiness of the guitar, he has no single style", "Fripp can range from classical to soft jazz to heavy metal", "his distorted guitar sound was more close to Jeff Beck than Page or Hendrix but less bluesy" and "Fripp was not only a virtuosic guitarist but also somebody who thought what's best for the band". About Bill Bruford: "Bill was able to enhance the melodies around him" and "After Yes for Bill King Crimson was the perfect antidote, it was about art, music and expression and not about ego-mania". About John Wetton: "John was very versatile, reliable, he had a sense of power and funkyness", "his vocals were almost an instrument" and "John had an archetypical poprock vocal style". About Jamie Muir: "He was regarded as the secret weapon", "he could play everything and incorporate that in the band" and "It was beautiful organised chaos". And about David Cross: "his violinplay was great, it could be another improvised voice, from avant-garde and romantic to classical and jazz".

THE ALBUMS: the focus on this DVD is on three studio albums: Larks' Tongues In Aspic from 1973 ("King Crimson loved 5/4 and 7/4 signatures", the whole thing is very dark" and "it's never self-indulgent"), Starless And Bible Black from 1974 ("this album is more composed and less improvised than LTIA", "Wetton his singing is vastly superior than on LTIA" and "the song Fractured is Fripp at his best: jazzrock meets heavy metal meets alternative progressive!) and finally Red from 1974 ("the titletrack is the greatest ever King Crimson riff", "the song Red is heavier than Deep Purple and Black Sabbath in that time", "Starless is the finest piece of music King Crimson ever made"). I got goose bumps when an emotional and gently gesturing Robert Fripp told (1991 interview) about Starless as "a beautiful melodic line"!

THE VIDEO FOOTAGE: In comparison to the other legendary symphonic prog/Art-rock bands there is very little Seventies video footage and only the song Larks' Tongues In Aspic (on the Beatclub 1973 DVD compilation) is official. This video footage is extensively used on this Inside 1972-1975 DVD but the real excitement is delivered by the Atlantic Records Promotional Film from 1972 (unknown to me) featuring lots of great images (songs Easy Money and Improvisations On Easy Money) from all band members, especially Robert Fripp (playing fiery soli on his black Gibson Les Paul) and David Cross on his violin and on the white Mellotron M400 is breathtaking, THIS IS VISUAL PROGROCK HISTORY! Other video footage is from Yes with Bill Bruford (Beatclub 1971), Asia Live 1990 (with John Wetton on acosutic guitar), John Wetton Live 2003 (with Martin Offord on keyboards) playing captivating renditions of Starless and Red (the full versions are the two bonustracks on this DVD) and from David Cross (past and present like the song Terminal) who also gives some thrilling demonstrations on his violin and lots of interesting comments about his King Crimson period.

Attention to this message I received from Joolz:

Consequently, DGM is actively taking steps regarding both Inside King Crimson release and urges KC fans NOT to purchase them. Whilst DGM understands that there is a demand for rarely seen and archive footage of the band, Inside King Crimson is not that product.

For several months DGM has been undertaking research on producing a compilation of archive video footage of the band in all its incarnations. It is likely that the resulting DVD will include all the tracks mentioned on the Inside King Crimson DVD (minus constant interruptions and critical asides) in addition to many more performances, several of them seen for the first time. A full press release itemising tracks and performances will be announced once licensing and clearance negotiations have been concluded. In the meantime, we ask fans to be patient and to avoid the Classic Rock Productions.

Sid Smith Author of In The Court of King Crimson

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