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In The Court Of The Crimson King [LP]
LP
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Price | New from | Used from |
Vinyl, Import, November 1, 2019
"Please retry" |
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| $35.99 | $26.11 |
Vinyl, January 1, 1969 |
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| $39.99 | — |
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Editorial Reviews
One of the defining albums of British rock music & one of the finest debut albums of all time is available now in 200-gram vinyl format. Described at the time as “an uncanny masterpiece” by Pete Townshend, the album has achieved legendary status over the years. In the more than 40 years since its release In The Court of the Crimson King has never been out of print or unavailable in any of the world's main music markets & continues to enjoy consistently high sales. It is the only studio document of an extraordinary year in the life of King Crimson.
Track List:
Side A
1. 21st Century Schizoid Man (including Mirrors)
2. I Talk To The Wind
3. Epitaph (including A. March For No Reason and B. Tomorrow And Tomorrow)
Side B
1. Moonchild (including A. The Dream and B. The Illusion)
2. The Court Of The Crimson King (including A. The Return Of The Fire Witch and B. The Dance Of The Puppets)
Product details
- Package Dimensions : 12.44 x 12.32 x 0.39 inches; 12.7 ounces
- Manufacturer : LP Record
- Date First Available : February 14, 2024
- Label : LP Record
- ASIN : B09DS9FY74
- Country of Origin : United Kingdom
- Number of discs : 1
- Customer Reviews:
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Top reviews from the United States
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The music sounds great--open, clean, clear, and immediate sounding. There's no need to go into the music from the original album because if you're reading this you're no doubt familiar with the album. The Blu-ray information snafu has apparently been straightened out. There's an 'A/B/C' symbol on the back of the outer box under Sinfield's photo indicating the regions where the Blu-ray disc will work properly.
Disc 1 has the 2019 album mixes (tracks 1-5) plus instrumental mixes (tracks 6-10), all mixed from the original multi-track tapes. The instrumental mixes are interesting to hear sans vocals because you can hear just how tight and (for 1969) how groundbreaking the actual music sounded. This album is a long way from Giles, Giles, and Fripp.
Disc 2 contains the expanded edition in an alternate 2019 mix. There's some studio talk-back and silence during the "Wind Session" for almost two minutes before you begin to hear the band trying to put something together using various sounds for inclusion. The June '69 recording of "21st Century..." has vocals overdubbed by Greg Lake in a different studio plus overdubs from Jaksyzk and Collins in 2019, and the mix is a bit different from the finished version we all know, but its an exciting version to hear nonetheless. The alternate 2019 mix of "I Talk To..." is pretty close to the final version. The full length master of the duo version of "I Talk..." is an interesting attempt at this tune with acoustic guitars out front and an even quieter approach in the overall arrangement with some very nice extended flute work, compared to the final version. "Epitaph" is here in an isolated vocal version and an alternate take. The vocal take (with a slight echo for a nice effect) really lets you hear the lyrics, laid bare, with a slightly bare bones arrangement. Vocally very effective and moving and worth hearing. The alternate take is close to the finished track but differs a bit in its arrangement and is a welcome addition to this edition.. The first take of "Moonchild" is also here
which is again fairly close to the finished track, but its obvious its an initial try at this song. "The Court Of..." is a June '69 take and again has a slightly different arrangement from the finished tune. But hearing this take gets us closer to how the band finalized this (and other) songs with some nice McDonald flute work along with Giles' cymbal work, and acoustic guitar from Fripp. The trio version of "21st Century..." is a bit of an ear-opener with Fripp burning the frets, Giles adding some good percussion, and Lake's bass moved up in the trio mix to good effect.
Disc 3 has the original master edition of the album expanded with an instrumental take of "21st Century...", a studio run-through of "I Talk...", a backing track for "Epitaph" and the 'A' and 'B' sides of "The Court Of..." in mono of the single. The master edition of this album is another way to hear the album but holds no real surprises for Crimson fans. The instrumental take of "21st century..." gets us closer to the actual instrumental arrangement which is still pretty heady sounding for fans. The early take of "I Talk..." is just that--an instrumental run-through of the song in a 2019 mix by Steven Wilson. Again--some nice flute work from McDonald. The backing track of "Epitaph" is again another look into the finished take we all know, but nothing new. The single sides are (for those of you around back then when mono sound was still around) are a nice listen in that massed sound that gave music a bit more "oomph" coming out of the radio or your cheapo record player. Today, on a good system these sides still have the power and the glory of their time.
The sound as I said, is great. Each disc slips into a paper jacket. The original gate-fold album jacket (as they were called in those vinyl only days) is here in all it's (small but thick cardboard stock) glory, with a pocket for Discs 1 and 2. This is a repro of the original vinyl album, with lyrics and that cool graphic of a smiling face with hands in the inside panels. Disc 3 and the Blu-ray are packaged similarly in a gate-fold jacket with a period repro of a tape box. Inside are b&w photos of the band, including Pete Sinfield. The 22 page booklet has a lengthy essay by Sid Smith, along with some nice period photos, on the band, and the music, with quotes from band members. There's also a list of tracks for each disc and a list of equipment used for each band member--a nice touch.
Is this worth purchasing? With all the previous versions of this album (of which I own my share) I would still have to say yes. For longtime Crimson fans and/or fans of this particular album, this is a good look into the making of this album plus an updated mix which opens the sound up even more than previous versions. And as I've said before about good reissues--hearing this album in the present time is different than hearing it back in the late '60s--when this music was bowling most everyone over who heard it--I still covet my original vinyl "import" version of the album I bought back then on a whim. This album is another example of the creativity of musicians back in the '60s/early'70s--something that will more than likely never be repeated. Bit now with this much expanded edition, we can all revel in this great music from a great era of music.
And if you want to learn a lot more about the band and their music, there's an updated 2019 edition, just published in Britain, of Sid Smith's book on the band, "In The Court Of King Crimson, An Observation Over Fifty Years". In its 608 pages it takes the band and their music up through the present time. Hopefully for those fans who are interested the book will become available in the U.S. soon. I wrote a review of the new edition that's buried in the reviews for the paperback edition from years ago that sells for fairly big money now.
I'm going to focus on just one thing, the 5.1 surround on the blu-ray. I own the 40th as well and have a player that can play DVD-Audio, i.e. the MLP 5.1 lossless track. If you're like me you may be wondering why fork over another $35 to get another 5.1 by Steven Wilson (aka surround sound genius). In my few listens trying to compare I'd have to say I really enjoy the 50th version. The 40th is great, but it just has a different feel. First obvious thing is the width of the soundstage. The 40th has a much narrower soundstage. On 21st Century 40th, Greg Lake seems to almost in your lap, screaming the lyrics at you, while the 50th, he's further away, as he is in all songs on the bluray. I wouldn't be surprised if some like the feel of the 40th better. The 50th is overall a much more mature sound, with each instrument clearly defined in the soundstage and you feel like you're in the recording studio with the band, especially when the wind instruments are playing. The 40th, especially on 21st Century, is much heavier and in your face. It's almost like different bands playing the songs, think Metallica vs. Pink Floyd maybe.
Now there is of course a ton more content on the bluray not to mention 3 CDs worth of songs. After 3 listens to the same album in one night, it's time to to step away, lol. Knowing me I don't think I will be listening to the alternate album much, mainly because it doesn't get much better than the original, so why mess with it. It will interesting to see if there is much difference in the stereo mixes of the 40th and 50th. I can't imagine there would be much, but I could be wrong. May update the review if needed.
As far as the packaging, the 50th is much better. A very nice article by (of course) Sid Smith with a lot of interviews and information that I didn't know. Also well written. Most of the pictures I'm sure I've seen before, but the booklet is put together well. Each disc is in an album type sleeve with the old LP inner sleeve. Much easier to deal with than the 40th packaging and trying to pry the discs out.
Overall, if you're a relic of the near past like myself and still buy physical media and enjoy surround sound, you need to own this. If you're a relic of the far past (or at least want to be) and own a record player and a stereo system, go for the new LP instead of the bluray package.
Top reviews from other countries
El producto llegó en excelentes condiciones y mucho tiempo antes de lo prometido.
Reviewed in Spain on December 31, 2023