21ST CENTURY SCHIZOID BAND (KING CRIMSON ALUMNI GROUP) - OFFICIAL BOOTLED V.1

I think it is a real shame that this brilliant group of King Crimson alumni needs to be hidden away in the tributes section. With two founding members of King Crimson - Ian McDonald and Michael Giles - and a further two - Peter Giles and Mel Collins - who were part of that band very early on it is hard to complain about the band members pedigree. Jakko Jakszyk was the only one here that at the time of this "live in the studio" recording had not previously been a member of King Crimson, but Jakszyk too has now recently joined the ranks of King Crimson and is touring with them at the moment.

The present album was recorded live in the studio just before the band performed some great shows in Japan, one of which was captured on film and released as Live In Japan. The track list of this teaser CD is a little selection of tracks that they performed on those shows all of which originally came from the 1969 to 1972 period of King Crimson when these guys were part of that band (but never all of them at the same time).

Three tracks represent the ground breaking 1969 debut In The Court Of The Crimson King, two from the second album In The Wake Of Poseidon, and two from the fourth album Islands. Lizard is however overlooked. Everything is excellently performed and Jakszyk does a fantastic job as a vocalist and guitarist. Having these brilliant songs recreated by some of the people who originally wrote and performed them back in the days utilizing modern recording technology is simply great. This is especially significant in virtue of the fact that Robert Fripp and co had completely turned their backs on material from the band's early days. The 21st Century Schizoid Band is much truer to King Crimson's original sound and spirit and they carry on the flame and preserve the great legacy of that band better than anyone else.

This "official bootleg" disc is a very nice addition to any progressive Rock collection, but the subsequent live releases from 21st Century Schizoid Band are even more interesting. I highly recommend the aforementioned live concert video Live In Japan and even more so the later double live CD Pictures Of A City - Live In New York both of which offer a wider range of tracks from King Crimson's early days as well as a few selections from the members solo albums.

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