A way of doing things

"King Crimson is, as always, more a way of doing things. When there is nothing to be done, nothing is done: Crimson disappears. When there is music to be played, Crimson reappears. If all of life were this simple."

"King Crimson lives in different bodies at different times and the particular form which the group takes changes. When music appears, which only King Crimson can play then, sooner or later, King Crimson appears to play the music."

-- Robert Fripp

I own somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 recordings by King Crimson, more than any other artist in my collection by a couple of dozen albums. I've listened to them since around 1975 I think, probably introduced to them by my friend Chip, though I don't recall. The first album I remember owning by them is Starless And Bible Black, which is still among my all-time favorite albums. What I like about them is their continuing drive to push themselves into new areas -- musically, technologically, artistically. The range of music on their discs touches jazz, progressive rock, rock and roll, electronica/dance music, funk, pop, heavy metal, free improvisation and modern classical. While it's not all successful, it's always interesting and many of their albums are among the most listened to in my collection.

There is a lot of web-space devoted to King Crimson, so I'm not going to go through a thorough history or album by album analysis here; an outline and the high points. Recommended starting points are in bold. It's also worth noting that the Discipline Global Mobile website is the home of all things King Crimson and has both a download store for FLAC and MP3 files and a mail-order store for CDs. There are tons of freebies in the download store and they are usually posted on Mondays. They aren't always obvious so you have to open pages and look to see if it's got a cost or not. Not all of them are for casual fans as they are usually rehearsals or early versions from recording sessions, but if you're inclined they'd be a good way to catch the flavor of various versions of the band.

Mark I Version (1969-1971)

(a) Robert Fripp, Michael Giles , Ian McDonald, Greg Lake
(b) Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Mel Collins, Peter Giles, Keith Tippett, Gordon Haskell
(c) Robert Fripp, Mel Collins, Gordon Haskell, Andy McCulloch

• In The Court Of The Crimson King (a) -- 1969, studio
• Epitaph (Vol. 1-4) (a) -- 1969, live
• In The Wake Of Poseidon (b) -- 1970, studio
• Lizard (c) -- 1970, studio

The first version of King Crimson, called Mark I by fans, was the most traditionally Progressive in terms of "Progressive Rock" as a genre. It helped define the genre in fact. For some listeners this is the only version of Crimson as the style of these three albums is not found on anything following in their catalog. The group contained Robert Fripp (who is the one constant in all versions of KC), Ian MacDonald who would later be a founding member of Foreigner, and Greg Lake of future Emerson Lake and Palmer fame. While these albums are lyrically a bit top-heavy (courtesy of Peter Sinfield who would later pen words for ELP), they are lush, textured and exciting rock records. In The Court Of The Crimson King is one of the great debut albums in rock and is the best of this period -- personnel changes and friction in the band took its toll on the focus and quality of the music following their debut wax. The four disc live Epitaph provides an excellent view of what this version of the band was like in concert as the studio albums don't showcase the improvisational aspects that were part of the band from the inception. A number of the original members, without Fripp, have performed as The Twentieth Century Schizoid Band in recent years.

For the 40th anniversary of the band's debut, ITCOTCK and Lizard received new editions, remastered by Steven Wilson, with an additional 5.1 mix and a 24-Bit version on the double disc sets. The debut also comes in a massive 5CD/1DVD set with just about everything that exists connected to the first album, including video, rare early versions, alternate versions and some previously unreleased concerts.

Mark II Version (1971-1972)

Robert Fripp, Mel Collins, Boz Burrell, Ian Wallace

• Islands -- 1971, studio
• Earthbound -- 1972, live

This is the most under-rated and least recorded of the early Crimson era. A band in transition with not exactly the right members to move to the next level. None the less, much of the material is good and worth a serious listen. Definitely the bridge between the first and third version of the band.

Mark III Version (1973-1974)

(a) Robert Fripp, John Wetton, Bill Bruford, David Cross, Jamie Muir
(b) Robert Fripp, John Wetton, Bill Bruford, David Cross
(c) Robert Fripp, John Wetton, Bill Bruford

• Live In Guildford (a) -- 1972, live
• Lark's Tongues In Aspic (a) -- 1973, studio
• Starless And Bible Black (b) -- 1974, studio / live
• The Nightwatch (b) -- 1974, live
• The Great Deceiver (b) -- 1973-74, live
• USA (b) -- 1974, live
• Live In Central Park -- 1974, live
• Red (c) -- 1974, studio

For many King Crimson fans, this is the pinnacle of the band in the first era and for some, the pinnacle of the band period. There is considerable live documentation from these years and it shows a band developing and exploring musical edges with tightly composed, intricate instrumental lines along with what can only be described as free improvisation. A hard rocking unit still capable of very textured and lovely songs. The four disc Great Deceiver set is a facinating look at songs in continuous development over nine months of tours. Lark's Tongues in Aspic is the rosetta stone for much of the complex metal and progressive rock that followed; it's the only studio disc that features second drummer/percussionist Jamie Muir, who by all accounts had a profound effect on the rest of the band in term of experimentation and musical risk taking. Any of these discs is worth a listen but probably Red, the final recording before their first hiatus, is the most critical and certainly one of the two or three best releases in their entire catalog. Red also recently received a deluxe treatment for the band's 40th anniversary , also remastered by Wilson with an additional 5.1 mix, a 24-Bit version and some early trio versions of two songs.

Mark IV Version (1981-1984)

Adrian Belew, Robert Fripp, Bill Bruford, Tony Levin

• Live At Moles Club -- 1981, live
• Discipline -- 1981, studio
• Live At UMass Fine Arts Center -- 1982, live bootleg
• Beat -- 1982, studio
• Live At Cap D'Agde -- 1982, live
• Three Of A Perfect Pair -- 1984, studio
• DVD Neal and Jack and Me -- 1982/1984, live
• Absent Lovers: Live In Montreal -- 1984, live

Seven years after the dissolving of King Crimson Mark III, Robert Fripp organized some rehearsals with Bruford, bass player Tony Levin (whom he'd worked with on the first three Peter Gabriel solo albums plus Fripp's own Exposure) and guitarist Adrian Belew (who was then touring with the Talking Heads and who had worked with David Bowie and Frank Zappa). The band was initially called Discipline in rehearsals and first performances. By the time they recorded their album, Fripp decided that they were actually the next point of development for King Crimson. They re-christened themselves and for four years recorded three albums and toured heavily. The music is markedly different from the 70's catalog, largely due to the addition of the second guitar which was a new environment for Fripp and brought out new musical trajectories in his playing. Complex interlocking guitar parts (often described as "gamelan-like") and more accessible lyrics along with shorter song lengths and more traditional song structures characterize the work of this period. The first two studio discs are excellent and the third is 1/2 excellent and 1/2 throw-away. They disbanded in 1984, thus closing the second era of King Crimson.

Mark V Version (1994-1997)

Robert Fripp, Bill Bruford, Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Trey Gunn, Pat Mastelotto

• The VROOOM Sessions -- 1994, studio rehearsals
• Vrooom -- 1994, studio
• THRAK -- 1995, studio
• B'Boom: Live In Argentina -- 1995, live
• THRaCKaTTaCK -- 1995, live
• Houston, 11.2.95 -- 1995, live
• VROOOM VROOOM -- 1995-96, live
• DVD Deja Vrooom -- 1996, live
• Nashville Rehearsals -- 1997, studio rehearsals

The ProjeKcts (1997-present)

ProjeKct One
Robert Fripp, Trey Gunn, Bill Bruford, Tony Levin

ProjeKct Two
Robert Fripp, Trey Gunn, Adrian Belew

ProjeKct Three
Robert Fripp, Trey Gunn, Pat Mastelotto

ProjeKct Four
Robert Fripp, Trey Gunn, Pat Mastelotto, Tony Levin

ProjeKct X
Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Trey Gunn, Pat Mastelotto

ProjeKct Six
Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew

• ProjeKct One Live At The Jazz Cafe -- 1997, live
• ProjeKct Two Space Groove -- 1997, studio
• ProjeKct Two Live Groove -- 1998, live
• ProjeKct Three Masques -- 1999, live
• ProjeKct Four West Coast Live -- 1998, live
• ProjeKct Four The Roar of P4 -- 1998, live
• ProjeKct Four San Francisco, 11.2.98 -- 1998, live
• ProjeKct X Heaven and Hell -- 2000, studio rehearsals
• ProjeKct Six East Coast Live -- 2006, live

Referred to as "R & D for King Crimson", the ProjeKcts were subgroups of the band in new and different configurations, almost exclusively improvisational in nature, which for the period of 1997-1999 allowed ideas to be tried and run out before an audience. Probably the most significant developments were a) ProjeKct Two's use of Adrian Belew as a drummer and b) the introduction of extensive electronic percussion and live loop triggering by Belew and Pat Mastelotto in ProjeKcts Two, Three and Four. ProjeKct Three is the least Crimson-like of the first four ensembles, being a hyper-kinetic metal/electronica unit for lack of a better description. ProjeKct X was recorded at the same time as the next Crimson album, The ConstruKction of Light, and much of that disc can be heard in development . The ProjeKcts resurfaced in 2006 with ProjeKct Six, a duo of Fripp on guitar and Belew on drums that opened for Porcupine Tree. ProjeKct Five is a mystery thus far. ProjeKct Four is the most apparent bridge between Mark V and Mark VI -- all of the P4 releases are great. The download-only show from November 2, 1998 in San Francisco is nothing short of amazing.

Mark VI Version (1999-2003)

Adrian Belew, Trey Gunn, Robert Fripp, Pat Mastelotto

• The ConstruKction Of Light -- 2000, studio
• Heavy ConstruKction -- 2000, live
• Live In Nashville, TN -- 2001, live
• Level Five -- 2001, live/studio
• Greensburg, 12.2.01 -- 2001, live
• Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With -- 2002, studio
• The Power To Believe -- 2003, studio
• DVD -- Eyes Wide Open -- 2000/2003, live
• EleKtrik: Live In Japan - 2003, live

Back to a quartet after the ProjeKcts, this version is probably the heaviest (as in "bone crushing metal" or "new metal") King Crimson to date; this is the version that toured with Tool. The new material is tougher, darker and more complex and the spin they put on older material in the live shows in fun and exciting for long-time fans. The ConstruKction of Light comes directly out of the ProjeKcts but the band quickly moves onto other things . Pat Mastelotto is definitely moved to the steering position musically and his mix of acoustic and electronic percussion is inventive and astonishing. The Power To Believe is an excellent album and among the best the band has ever done in their nearly-40 year career. Heavy ConstruKction is probably their best live disc - the improvisations on discs one and two (and disc three which is all improvised) are the best they've ever done. In 2003 the band went on hiatus, Gunn and Mastelotto continuing to work together in TU and K'TU and Belew and Fripp appearing as ProjeKct 6 for a series of Porcupine Tree shows.

Mark VII Version (2008 - present)

Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Pat Mastelotto, Tony Levin, Gavin Harrison

• Park West, Chicago, 08.7.08 - 2008, live

The most recent version assembled in April 2008, switching in Tony Levin for Trey Gunn and adding Gavin Harrison from Porcupine Tree as the second drummer. They did a mini-tour in the fall of 2008 but that's all that has come out of this group thus far; the hope for a 40th anniversary tour in 2009 looks to be left as a hope. The sole document of the band is a live recording of the Chicago show which is only available as a download form the DGM website but worth the effort. They don't perform any new material, but the reworking of the old material is exciting and promising for the future.