King Crimson
USA

THE REVIEW

A long-awaited reissue of an album that for years (before the recent countless offerings from DGM) was the only official live album by King Crimson (not counting the embarrassing "Earthbound" ('72), which Fripp himself has rather defined as the first official bootleg).

Released in 1975 as a headstone marking the group's disappearance - which was then believed to be definitive -(and indeed the back cover bore the small inscription R.I.P.), this live album (mainly recorded during the concert in Asbury Park, on June 28, 1974) nevertheless left a bitter taste for many. On one hand, the sound quality of the recording was impeccable (and certainly remains the best of the period) yet some post-production choices appeared questionable, if we can put it that way. The first bone of contention was the decision to have the violin parts in "Larks Tongues in Aspic Part II" and "21st Century Schizoid Man" overdubbed in the studio (by the virtuoso Eddie Jobson, accustomed to the role of substitute already for Curved Air and Roxy Music). This choice, probably due to the fact that the muscular rhythm section of the renowned Wetton-Bruford duo tended to inevitably overpower Cross's violin, has however made these tracks somewhat "artificial" (and this certainly clashes with the "live" concept). Other grievances included the fading out of "Easy Money" (perhaps because Fripp's solo was a bit too "rarefied") and Wetton's "manipulated" voice in "Schizoid Man," an effect that suited Greg Lake's choir-like voice but was inevitably cacophonous in this case.
Despite all these criticisms, the album (and especially this CD reissue that adds two excellent tracks from the aforementioned concert) definitely deserves four stars.

The highlights for me are the version of "Starless" that closes the album (the best I have heard, although still inferior to the studio version since it lacks Ian MacDonald's killer solo), that of "Exiles" (which I would rank on par with the one on the third disc of "The Great Deceiver"), and the unavoidable improvisation "Asbury Park," powerful and corrosive. The reissue of the staple "21st Century Schizoid Man" is certainly noteworthy too, but after hearing the farewell concert at Central Park, I wouldn't consider it the definitive version.