This is a good, but not great, live album from King Crimson. The first thing holding it from the “great” title is the sound quality. Recorded in 1972 the recording technology of the time wasn’t great. However, you would think with modern sound engineering they could have cleaned it up. The other element that gives pause to me is the blues and jazz music on this. A couple of the tracks really sound nothing like the King Crimson we expect. While that’s kind of cool, it’s also like buying a burger because you want one and getting a chicken sandwich instead. It’s good, but not what you ordered. Still, there are some awesome Crimson jams here. I’d recommend this to hardcore KC fans. Less severe cases will probably want to stay away, but for a cool live recording of this lineup (Robert Fripp, Ian Wallace, Boz Burrell and Mel Collins) it’s a nice acquisition.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2009  Volume 1 at lulu.com/strangesound.

They lead things off with the stomper. This is noisy and a metallic with hints of Hawkwind on the processed vocal line that also reminds me of Daleks from Doctor Who. The wailing saxophone is a nice touch, but the overdriven vocals take a bit away from it for me. Of course, the smoking instrumental jam just screams. Early parts of this extremely extended journey stay close to the studio take, but as they continue on they move into some powerhouse territory and then take it decidedly jazzy. Around the nine minute mark they bring it back out into the main song structure for the careening instrumental segment. The Daleks return for the final chorus. And they bring us out into the metallic closing jam from there.