EARTHBOUND

a failure? NO!!!! yes, the album has bad sound quality - so what? this is a live album, amd I have heard worse regarding the sound quality. "Vital" by Van der Graaf Generator comes to my mind, which is one of the best live albums ever and would get 5 stars from me. but I digress...

The distortion of Burrell's voice during "21st Century Schizoid Man" is an intended artistic effect here and very fitting with the lyrics. It is accomplished by Burrell singing through a ring modulator. I definitely don't think Burrell is a bad singer or that he did not fit in with King Crimson; he fitted a lot more than the overly schmaltzy Greg Lake, for example. he is my number 1 singer for KC. a lot of jamming on this album ""Groon", "Peoria"), and I think those jams do work. Wallace tends to play a bit monotonously though (which is my main complaint about "Islands" too, by the way); of all the drummers King Crimson ever had he is my least favorite. a brutal rendering of "Sailor's Tale" which many do not like because of the rather tranquil verson of" Islands", but I like it a lot more than the studio version. ("Islands" always appears to me to be having toned down in the studio after recording). all in all, a live album that is definitely a great addition to any record collection. due to the perfomance of Wallace I deduct one star, so this makes it 4 stars for me. the bad sound quality does not enter into my rating at all, by the way; I hear the music and nothing else and don't let my judgement be affected by sound quality. great sound can't save a bad album, and bad sound can't ruin a great one