King Crimson 2

One of the pioneers of the progressive rock genre. The first official rehearsal of the band was on January 13, 1969. The first line-up comprised guitarist Robert Fripp, lyricist and lighting man Peter Sinfield (who “invented” the name of the band), composer and multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald, bassist and vocalist Greg Lake, and drummer Michael Giles…

Described by Variety magazine as "really about as good as rock documentaries get", the long-awaited, official King Crimson documentary by Toby Amies will be released in Limited edition form as an 8 Disc boxed set containing 2 Blu-Rays, 2 DVDs and 4 CDs. The set includes the full film, an early edited version of the film, live and studio performances from the 50th anniversary tour plus a plethora of additional footage. It also includes the music from the original soundtrack and more over 4 CDs - many tracks previously unreleased and/or new to CD.

The Abbreviated King Crimson: Heartbeat (1991). For an affordable and short (really short - 23 minutes) introduction to the wonders of King Crimson, The Abbreviated King Crimson: Heartbeat will do the trick. The EP was released to coincide with the appearance of the mammoth box set The Essential King Crimson: Frame By Frame back in late 1991. Split almost 50-50 between early Crimson and the later '80s version of the group, many classic tracks are left off (nothing off the fan favorite Red is present), so it's certainly not a definitive King Crimson anthology. Still, the band's attention to detail and perfection are nearly unparalleled, as evidenced by Adrian Belew's Police-sounding guitar gracing the ballad "Matte Kudesai," and Tony Levin's bass showcase "Elephant Talk"…

King Crimson opened 1970 scarcely in existence as a band, having lost two key members (Ian McDonald and Michael Giles), with a third (Greg Lake) about to leave. Their second album – largely composed of Robert Fripp's songwriting and material salvaged from their stage repertory ("Pictures of a City" and "The Devil's Triangle") – is actually better produced and better sounding than their first. Surprisingly, Fripp's guitar is not the dominant instrument here: The Mellotron, taken over by Fripp after McDonald's departure – and played even better than before – still remains the band's signature. The record doesn't tread enough new ground to precisely rival In the Court of the Crimson King.

About time! Mr Stormy finally lets fly on his most recent discoveries from the depths of the DGM archive. This is the ninth volume of these wonderful gems, and this collection has some very fine pieces within it. Unearthed treats from the murky, cavernous archives, some of which have been newly created from the multi-track reels of tape that we just happen to have lying around the place, some from CDR's and DAT tapes, and more recently from a multitude of hard drives!

Released in December 1970, King Crimson's third studio album, Lizard, is often viewed as an outlier in the pioneering British prog outfit's nearly half-century discography. It's not easily grouped with 1969's stunning In the Court of the Crimson King debut and 1970 follow-up In the Wake of Poseidon, and along with 1971's Islands it's considered a transitional release on the band's path toward the relative stability of the Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1973), Starless and Bible Black (1974), and Red (1974) trilogy. Plus, the Lizard sessions were difficult and the core group lineup acrimoniously collapsed immediately afterward, as bandleader/guitarist Robert Fripp, with lyricist Peter Sinfield, continued brave efforts to save King Crimson from disintegrating as the group's lengthy history was just getting underway.

It appears that just when you thought the folks at Discipline Global Mobile had re-released every single King Crimson track in as many configurations as possible, they surprise you with another compilation: 2005's The 21st Century Guide to King Crimson, Vol. 2: 1981-2003. Following in the footsteps of 2004's The 21st Century Guide to King Crimson, Vol. 1: 1969-1974, the second volume combines the best tracks from Crimson's studio albums from the advertised period, as well as mixing in live takes and rarities. When Crimson reconvened in 1980 after an extended hiatus, no one could have predicted that the group would have more in common sonically with Talking Heads and the Police than Yes and Genesis.

In the Court of the Crimson King (subtitled An Observation by King Crimson) is the debut album from the English rock band King Crimson, released on 10 October 1969 on Island Records in England and Atlantic Records in America. The album is one of the first and most influential of the progressive rock genre, where the band largely departed from the blues influences that rock music was founded upon and combined elements of jazz, classical, and symphonic music. The album reached No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 28 on the US Billboard 200, where it was certified Gold. The album was reissued several times in the 1980s and 1990s using inferior copies of the master tapes. After the masters were located in 2003, a 40th-anniversary edition of the album was released in 2009 with new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes by Steven Wilson.

Islands is the fourth studio album by English band King Crimson, released in December 1971 on the record label Island. Islands is the only studio album to feature the 1971-1972 touring line-up of Robert Fripp, Mel Collins, Boz Burrell and Ian Wallace. This would be the last album before an entirely new group would record the trilogy of Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Starless and Bible Black and Red between 1973-1974…