THE YOUNG PERSONS GUIDE TO KING CRIMSON

With appropriate weighting to the monumental first album and to some of the stronger of the dissonant later material, "Young Person's Guide" represents an excellent vinyl introduction to the group's classic period. Add in a lavish booklet with eminently rounded views of the group from every quarter and you have a package that the CD era can barely dream of.

It's true that several classics are missing, like "Schizoid Man" and the purest mellotron epic "In the Wake of Poseidon", and "Lizard" is unfairly unrepresented. But touches like the "Cat Food/Groon" combo, "The NIght Watch", and "Book of Saturday" are models of efficiency. "Red" demonstrates that the group could rock out in a structured way while still leaving space for individual expression, and "Trio" expresses a link to the great JADE WARRIOR. Then of course there is "Starless", with an eye cast back to the group's debut and forward to the as yet undefined 1980s and beyond.

While some of the later 1970s incarnations of KING CRIMSON were not always appealing to my ears, I recognize the groundbreaking spirit that defined this period, and the restraint and foresight demonstrated in hanging up their skates when they did. Ah, the wisdom of youth.