THE BRONDESBURY TAPES

It's difficult to decide whether to rate this ** (collectors/fans only) or *** as the majority have rated. Historical interest is noticeable: here we are already on the brink of the formation of KING CRIMSON, much much more so than with their only proper studio album - its cheerful sixties pop was actually quite far from KC. Partly "Brondesbury Tapes" is circulating the same (and similar) stuff, and partly it shows what was coming In The Court Of The Crimson King next year. Of course saying so may lead you wrong, because there isn't much of the progressive, Mellotron-loaded new world of that seminal album, just outtakes of a couple of its mellow tracks, 'I Talk To The Wind' and... and... oops, sorry, that's all. But at least multi- instrumentalist Ian McDonald is already in for many tracks. So doubtlessly the group sound has improved from the Cheerful Insanity album (e.g. McDonald's flute/sax/clarinet). It's just mono and the sound quality not exactly perfect.

The technical imperfection however is not taking off my third star, it is the lack of coherence and overwhelming absence of repetition. Many tracks are here twice, some pairs not even notably different from each other, and that makes this CD taste like pure collector's stuff. Maybe a better organizing of running order could have improved things a tiny bit. Or maybe not. But the fact remains that of the 72 minutes only about one third says already all that there is to be said. Some of it is very good, yes, but the blood relation to King Crimson doesn't make it comparable to the latter.