- 2CD history of King Crimson featuring many extracts & tracks appearing on CD for the first time, including many by the current line-up.
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Packaged in DVD sized fold out digi-pack style book case with 24 page booklet.
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Originally prepared for now postponed concert venue sales on King Crimson’s USA 2020 tour.
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Much sought after by fans.
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Seventh release in the Tour Box series.
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Introductory notes by Robert Fripp.
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Sleeve-notes by Sid Smith
A feature of every King Crimson tour since the current line-up started in 2014 has been the acclaimed Tour Box series, now into its seventh annual release. So, what to do when a tour is postponed?
Should there even be a 2020 tour box and if so, what themes and stories should it tell?
The answer to those questions is released on September 4th – with the circumstances in which it was compiled determining both music & written material.
As usual, the two discs aim to cover the full spectrum of Crimsonising with music and line-ups from 1969 – 2019. Disc one presents a mostly live/mostly new to CD selection of material including four tracks taken from the 2019 tour.
The main sleeve-notes by KC historian Sid Smith present a series of highly plausible ‘what if?’ scenarios. Starting from 1969, his 2000 word essay traces a counterfactual history of the band had various tours not been canceled or postponed, had various members not quit or had joined, following the routes and pathways a band called King Crimson could have followed had things turned out slightly different along the way.
Disc two, in keeping with the theme of Smith’s notes, presents pieces played only occasionally by the current line-up – Exiles & Sheltering Sky, pieces from the studio – both King Crimson & Robert Fripp that were never completed or developed in different ways, material that never made it to a studio recording – The Errors, Dr. Diamond, Trees (extract), Guts on my Side, etc. All combine to present a convincing musical counter-history of the band.
So, while in keeping with the spirit of earlier releases in the series, this is also a very different tour-box to its companions, and one which, as it has to stand alone and represent a tour that should have been/will be, also stands slightly apart…