Greatest Prog Rock Live Albums

Earthbound, originally released in 1972, was one of the earliest (if not the first) “official bootleg” released by a major rock band, consisting of a series of deliberately lo-fi live recordings of King Crimson’s Islands era line-up on tour in the USA. When issued, because of its mid-price it was excluded from the main album charts in the UK but topped the mid-price charts rubbing shoulders with Jim Reeves & Mantovani. Atlantic in the USA didn’t even bother to release it. By then, the band had broken up & the label had already been alerted to the likelihood of a new King Crimson line-up promised for later in the year. Like the later live album, USA, Earthbound remained unavailable in the early CD era, with both finally being released in 2002 on CD. Ironically this non-availability served to enhance interest in the album while DGM’s live releases made fans aware that there was a larger story to be told of this line-up’s history. When Robert Fripp was asked to guest on the second Grinderman project, Nick Cave noted: “I wanted to work with Robert Fripp because he has done some of the most uniquely unsettling guitar work I have ever heard along with some of the most delicate and finessed” explained Cave. “I grew up listening to a lot of the King Crimson stuff. The vinyl copy of the phenomenal live album Earthbound, is one of my most treasured possessions.”

The new version of Earthbound features an expanded version of the original album on CD & DVD. As a series of stereo only/low-fi recordings, a 5.1 edition was neither possible nor appropriate. However, also included on the DVD of this release is the full performance from Summit Studios, captured on the same US tour in 1972, appearing in both new stereo & quadraphonic mixes, providing the only live surround recordings of this line-up. This release also features 15 minutes of material not included on the original mail order only CD of Summit studios as issued by DGM in 2000. The DVD also features the “Schizoid Men” sequence from the Ladies of the Road live album & a transfer of a 1972 vinyl edition of the Earthbound LP.