Talaye Sorkh Crimson Gold (2003) Jafar Panahi, Hossain Emadeddin, Kamyar Sheisi, Azita Rayeji

King Crimson is a decidedly unwieldy band. Spanning more than 35 years (as of this writing) and at least seven distinct lineups, and complicated by the studio vs. live dichotomy (not to mention no hits to speak of), this is a band that almost refuses to be anthologized. Anything less than a box set doesn't really do the band justice, but anything more than two discs may seem like a grand investment to someone who just wants to get acquainted with them. Since King Crimson completely ceased to exist in the mid- to late '70s and early '80s, that seems a logical dividing point in examining the band's output. And that's exactly how Robert Fripp approached it when he assembled the 21st Century Guide to King Crimson in two volumes.

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.

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.

When King Crimson hit the road in 2003 in support of The Power to Believe (2003), they brought with them this very interesting piece of multimedia memorabilia only available at live shows. The Power to Believe Tour Box (2003) includes both a glossy 20-page, full-color book as well as a 65-minute audio CD containing excerpts from recent interviews as well as a few musical nuggets that almost got away. The disc commences with seven tracks (approximately 16 minutes) taken from a pre-tour press conference. The Q&A features Adrian Belew (guitar/vocals/electronic percussion/lyrics/spoken word), Robert Fripp (guitar/spoken word), as well as Trey Gunn (Warr guitar/spoken word) and was held at the Hollywood, CA-based Sushi on Sunset, Saturday January 18, 2003…

This audio-only companion to the Eyes Wide Open double-DVD package features King Crimson performing at Kouseinenkin Hall in Tokyo, Japan, on April 16, 2003. The quartet of Adrian Belew (guitar/vocals), Robert Fripp (guitar), Trey Gunn (Warr guitar/fretless Warr guitar), and Pat Mastelotto (drum traps/buttons) is a neo-progressive and practically industrial-sounding force to be reckoned with, emerging from the fraKctionalization of the double-trio version of the group - which also included contributions from Bill Bruford (percussion) and Tony Levin (bass/Chapman stick). Now pared down to its essence, the band is leaner and able to effortlessly maneuver through some of the most challenging material to bear the King Crimson moniker…

Heaven & Earth (Live and in the Studio 1997 – 2008) is the eighth of the major box set releases from English progressive rock group King Crimson, released in 2019 by Discipline Global Mobile, Panegyric Records, Inner Knot & Wowow Entertainment, Inc…