KING CRIMSON - A BEGINNERS' GUIDE TO THE KING CRIMSON COLLECTORS' CLUB

The King Crimson Collectors Club was set up by Robert Fripp in the late '90s to release bootleg and unreleased studio recordings. I think it's still around today but I'm not sure. This sampler contains selections from the first 11 club releases. I don't know how widely available this ever was; I got my copy given to me by someone who went to a KC concert and bought it there. I was never a member of the club but I still give this one a spin every so often.

"21st Century Schizoid Man" is taken from the band's performance in Central Park, NYC in 1974. At one point you hear a police type whistle from the crowd which goes well with the music. Fripp does a killer solo here. This is an audience recording and you can tell by the reaction of the people near the microphone how blown away they are by it. "Lark's...Part 1" is a live in the studio recording in mono. This was before the group recorded the album yet. Sounds great.

"The Sailor's Tale" is another live in the studio recording. Although without Mellotron, this version is even better than the one on Islands. Especially Wallace's drumming and Fripp's banjo-like guitar playing at the end. "Thela Hun Ginjeet" is a truly awful sounding audience recording from before Discipline was recorded. "Elephant Talk" from 1982, on the other hand comes from a soundboard and not only sounds great but is superior to the album version.

"People" is taken from a soundboard of a concert in NYC from the Thrak tour. Great sound and performance. "Funky Jam" is just that, a funky in studio jam. It was recorded when the group got back together in 1994 for rehearsals. "Seizure" is the best song here. Taken from a performance of ProjeKct Four. I wish Crimson would have worked on this song and turned it into a stone cold classic.

Live Crimson is always good Crimson, even if the sound quality is horrible. Nice to have but don't kill yourself trying to find a copy. 3 stars.