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.