King Crimson - Help!

Given that you are trying to get a handle on what you will be hearing in concert, I would suggest starting with The Power to Believe, followed either by Lark's Tounge in Aspic or Red.  Leave anything prior to LTA alone for right now as it is very different from what KC has become.

In The Court,Red,Lark's & Starless is where i'd start as a newbie.

I'll stray from the many fine suggestions and put "Discipline" in there as well.  Fripp will be joined onstage by bassist/stick man Tony Levin, and the OP should become familiar with the sound of the mighty Chapman stick in Levin's hands! 

Edited by cstack3 - September 22 2014 at 00:08

im starting to get into these guys officially myself, well, mainly the 70's stuff (though i did listen to The Power to Believe and well aware of the song Three of a Perfect Pair, in fact it was the 2nd KC song i ever heard with the 1st being Schizoid Man of course). oh, and for other newcomers, the Big 3 (ItCotCK, LTiA, Red) is now available on iTunes if you want to go that route.

Hello amigos, this is my first post here ever.

I would like to know if any of the knowledgeable fan could tell me (or redirect me to another source) the complete list of instruments being played at the intro for the Lark's Tongue in Aspic, part 1 track, before the furious violin and guitar kicks in... I think I hear kalimbas (which I think have other names and variations) and a xylophone, but there are so many sounds over there, maybe things moved by wheels, the metallic sound in the end of this passage. Anyone?

 Thanks in advance.

RED I can recommend , but my curiousness about the record is focused on what Fripp originally wanted to accomplish on RED ..other than what was officially released and had to be settled upon due to the pressures of owing Atlantic a new album. That's a little deep, but think about it. Fripp was discouraged by the inability of Bill Bruford to understand the piece "Red". Fripp wanted to play more "Heavy Metal" style of music and Bruford may have been approaching the piece like Michael Giles would have or even Ian Wallace. What Fripp wanted to get out of that album...he did not. Evidently he did not..because he complained about it in several taped interviews. So...I'd like to hear RED in the tone that Fripp originally wanted.

Other observations to keep in mind: Most of Fripp's career...he has always written something that is reminiscent of something else. He truly began the extreme of that pattern when he first recorded "A Peacemaking Stint Unrolls" which later became The center section of fast tri-tone interval patterns in "Larks Tongues In Aspic part I" and 2 masterful repeated lines in "Lament", except at this specific time Mel Collins was on board and that change quite a bit of the distinctive "darkness" to the later versions that contained violin instead.

The material written for "In The Wake Of Poseidon" took place during their first tour of Europe and the U.S. Many of the songs written would have appeared on I.T.W.O.P. if McDonald and Giles had stayed with the band. I often compare the McDonald and Giles album with I.T.W.O.P. and the connection between both worlds is closely knitted artistically.

TODDLER wrote: RED I can recommend , but my curiousness about the record is focused on what Fripp originally wanted to accomplish on RED ..other than what was officially released and had to be settled upon due to the pressures of owing Atlantic a new album. That's a little deep, but think about it. Fripp was discouraged by the inability of Bill Bruford to understand the piece "Red". Fripp wanted to play more "Heavy Metal" style of music and Bruford may have been approaching the piece like Michael Giles would have or even Ian Wallace. What Fripp wanted to get out of that album...he did not. Evidently he did not..because he complained about it in several taped interviews. So...I'd like to hear RED in the tone that Fripp originally wanted. Other observations to keep in mind: Most of Fripp's career...he has always written something that is reminiscent of something else. He truly began the extreme of that pattern when he first recorded "A Peacemaking Stint Unrolls" which later became The center section of fast tri-tone interval patterns in "Larks Tongues In Aspic part I" and 2 masterful repeated lines in "Lament", except at this specific time Mel Collins was on board and that change quite a bit of the distinctive "darkness" to the later versions that contained violin instead. The material written for "In The Wake Of Poseidon" took place during their first tour of Europe and the U.S. Many of the songs written would have appeared on I.T.W.O.P. if McDonald and Giles had stayed with the band. I often compare the McDonald and Giles album with I.T.W.O.P. and the connection between both worlds is closely knitted artistically.

I wish the original line-up of Crimson would have been together still for the second album at least. As it is, using the best material from both albums you mentioned might have done for a better album, instead of the sad copy from the first album it ended up being.

Nogbad_The_Bad wrote: The sequence I would use would get you a broad flavor of the band ITCOTCK LTiA Discipline Thrak TPTB Red Lizard Island SABB ITWOP Beat

This . The first three albums on the list represent the three different stages of KC in the Seventies and early Eighties, then Thrak and The Power to Believe will give you a taste of the band's later stages. Red is considered by many to be their masterpiece, but Larks' Tongues in Aspic is where everything began.

My huge disappointment was the disappearance of the original "soundboard" recording of King Crimson live at The Fillmore East. Supposedly Pete Sinfield misplaced the tape after his exit from a plane in maybe Brazil? His luggage was supposedly missing along with the tape. Years later, Michael Giles discovered an audience tape of the show in his attic. He notified Bob Fripp , Fripp scheduled a meeting of the original members to discuss releasing a box set that would include the Fillmore East tape along with BBC recordings and a soundboard mix of King Crimson live at the Fillmore West. This recording does not do justice for the band. If you listen closely to the Fillmore East audience tapes, you can easily hear a more tightness about the unit. Robert Fripp claims that particular Fillmore East show to be the band's best performance of any.


Edited by TODDLER - October 26 2014 at 17:35

Rednight wrote: TODDLER wrote: Dellinger wrote: TODDLER wrote: RED I can recommend , but my curiousness about the record is focused on what Fripp originally wanted to accomplish on RED ..other than what was officially released and had to be settled upon due to the pressures of owing Atlantic a new album. That's a little deep, but think about it. Fripp was discouraged by the inability of Bill Bruford to understand the piece "Red". Fripp wanted to play more "Heavy Metal" style of music and Bruford may have been approaching the piece like Michael Giles would have or even Ian Wallace. What Fripp wanted to get out of that album...he did not. Evidently he did not..because he complained about it in several taped interviews. So...I'd like to hear RED in the tone that Fripp originally wanted. Other observations to keep in mind: Most of Fripp's career...he has always written something that is reminiscent of something else. He truly began the extreme of that pattern when he first recorded "A Peacemaking Stint Unrolls" which later became The center section of fast tri-tone interval patterns in "Larks Tongues In Aspic part I" and 2 masterful repeated lines in "Lament", except at this specific time Mel Collins was on board and that change quite a bit of the distinctive "darkness" to the later versions that contained violin instead. The material written for "In The Wake Of Poseidon" took place during their first tour of Europe and the U.S. Many of the songs written would have appeared on I.T.W.O.P. if McDonald and Giles had stayed with the band. I often compare the McDonald and Giles album with I.T.W.O.P. and the connection between both worlds is closely knitted artistically. I wish the original line-up of Crimson would have been together still for the second album at least. As it is, using the best material from both albums you mentioned might have done for a better album, instead of the sad copy from the first album it ended up being. McDonald and Giles fell in love. They were in la la land and Fripp's stomach was in knots when they announced their departure from the band while in L.A. I can't imagine how devistated Fripp was when they told him this. What would you have said to one of your friends if they presented you with a nightmare like this? He had the perfect band and with this awful result..nature was saying "bite the big one" to Fripp. He had to continue without Ian McDonald , a main contributor to the writing on I.T.C.O.T.C.K. until he could write something all on his own which was Lizard. Then who were the two broads on M and G's solo album cover.