Recorded: 1972, Released: 1998
Tracks: Pictures of a City; Cirkus; Ladies of the Road; Formentera Lady; The Sailor’s Tale; 21st Century Schizoid Man
Best track: Schizoid Man
Track to skip: Sailor’s Tale after the guitar solo
Right off the bat I’ll say that this is for hard-cores only. Even though the KCCC is now a free-for-all, don’t go frothing at the mouth, running around saying, “I gotta get Live in Jacksonville!!” The recording quality isn’t the greatest, but that’s the case in a lot of the KCCC discs. Of course if you have a thought about buying some of them, then you’ll probably be aware that they’re intended for the long-time, hardcore Crim-dorks. Like me!
I hate drum solos. At the end of an excellent Sailor’s Tale (with a hugely cool Fripp solo) the band decides to do a stupid drum solo (with VCS3 effect). This thing is longer than the track itself! Geez, does the band really need a break after 5 songs? I think drum solos should be banned, except for things by Neil Peart, Terry Bozzio, Bill Bruford, and occasional Mike Portnoy stuff. Other than that, please, get over it.
Besides the above annoyance, this disc is cool. I’m not sure if I like it better than Earthbound (haven’t listened to it in a long time), but it’s a nice thing. This version of King Crimson is a lot better than most people give them credit for. I’m glad that Fripp is in the process of re-writing the history on these guys. Like I said in the previous two reviews, Mel Collins kicks major bootie. OK, they all do (except for Boz, who is fine and doesn’t offend me at all). It’s nice to hear this band perform the earlier material (Cirkus) and as always there’s a dandy version of Schizoid Man. Being the band’s signature song, I don’t think it was ever performed badly from ’69 to ’74. Yes, this is for hard-cores, but you’ll dig it when you get it, and it just might change your mind about the talent of this group.
Rating: 86
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