THE COMPACT KING CRIMSON

I got this CD from a friend who was really disappointed with this compilation and I understood very well why. I have known him quite well in terms of musical taste and background which was deeply rooted in classic progressive rock style. On particular to King Crimson is that he is the kind that grew with Epitaph or I Talk To The Wind from King Crimson debut album. I know very well that people with such background are usually not interested with a music that is highly influenced by new wave like King Crimson since 1981 (Discipline album). You can imagine that when he spun this cd for the fist time and he found repeated chords and notes of the opening track "Discipline" (5:01), he would definitely throw out the CD.

The problem with this compilation is that: it's taking two extreme poles in unbalanced way, being more on later music of King Crimson (Psicipline onwards) while the remaining is just some tracks from the debut album. This is worsen by the liner note by Robert Fripp that this compilation is taken from In The Court of Crimson King, In The Wake of Poseidon, Red, Discipline, Beat, and Three of a Perfect Pair. In fact there is no such track from "In The Wake of Poseidon" and also nothing from "Red". It's a fatal mistake! There is a statement in the CD inlay that this is a "Personal Selection Compiled by Robert Fripp for EG Records" but how come Fripp made this fatal mistake???

Overall, this is a lousy compilation! Therefore, it MUST be AVOIDED! Keep on proggin' ..!!!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW