King Crimson "The 21st Century Guide Vol.2 1981-2003" (4CD BOX SET) (2005)

Since "In the Court of the Crimson King," King Crimson has been seen as a strange band, one whose music is powerful and even bizarre, but not mainstream. Well put your fears aside for they have recently released an 'encyclopedia' of their 39 year-old reign of progressive rock.

The two volume set, "The 21st Century Guide To King Crimson" is a real punch at the music world...In volume one we have 9 KC albums represented by 47 tracks, with about 5 1/3 hrs. of listening time. Wow! It is excellent editing with good chunks of "The Court of the Crimson King", "Wake of Poseidon", "Islands", "Larks' Tongues In Aspic", "Starless And Bible Black", and of course "Red" with 24 min. of itself. The live pair "U.S.A." and "Earthbound" add additional live material from yet more live albums. 

This is put on 4CD's and is evenly divided between studio and live cuts. For a King Crimson fan who wants to build a collection this a good place to start. There is a 24 page booklet included in each volume that has valuable information like chronologies, album art, etc. This review is for those that maybe know a couple of albums but don't know where King Crimson is headed. Wait for my review of Volume Two.


King Crimson - 2005 - The 21st Century Guide Vol.2 1981-2003 CD 1 Studio 1981-1984
King Crimson - 2005 - The 21st Century Guide Vol.2 1981-2003 CD 2 Live 1982-1984
King Crimson - 2005 - The 21st Century Guide Vol.2 1981-2003 CD 3 Studio 1995-2003
King Crimson - 2005 - The 21st Century Guide Vol.2 1981-2003 CD 4 Live 1994-2003

1981-2003 CD 1 Studio 1981-1984
01 - Elephant Talk (4.47)
02 - Frame by Frame (5.11)
03 - Matte Kudasai (3.49)
04 - Thela Hun Ginjeet (6.29)
05 - The Sheltering Sky (8.26)
06 - Discipline (5.05)
07 - Heartbeat (3.57)
08 - Waiting Man (4.29)
09 - Neurotica (4.52)
10 - Requiem (6.39)
11 - Three of a Perfect Pair (4.12)
12 - Sleepless (5.27)
13 - The King Crimson Barbershop (1.39)
14 - Form No.1 (3.06)
15 - Bude (0.28)
16 - Potato Pie (4.36)
17 - Clouds (0.34)
18 - Einstein's Relatives (3.09)

CD 2 Live 1982-1984
01 - Entry of the Crims (4.45)
02 - Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part 3 (Edit) (2.50)
03 - Thela Hun Gijeet (5.57)
04 - Matte Kudasai (3.43)
05 - The Sheltering Sky (10.35)
06 - Neal and Jack and Me (5.42)
07 - Indiscipline (8.13)
08 - Sartori in Tangier (4.24)
09 - Frame by Frame (3.58)
10 - Man with an Open Heart (3.43)
11 - Waiting Man (6.02)
12 - Sleepless (6.14)
13 - Three of a Perfect Pair (4.26)
14 - Discipline (4.55)
15 - Elephant Talk (5.03)

CD 3 Studio 1995-2003

01 - Vrooom (4.41)

02 - Coda- Marine 475 (2.44)

03 - Dinosaur (6.40)

04 - Walking on Air (4.41)

05 - B'Boom (4.14)

06 - Thrak (0.46)

07 - Fearless and Highly Thrakked (3.53)

08 - Sex, Sleep, Eat, Drink, Dream (4.47)

09 - Radio II (0.46)

10 - The Power to Believe I- a Cappella (0.46)

11 - Level Five (7.18)

12 - Eyes Wide Open (4.12)

13 - Elektrik (8.03)

14 - Facts of Life- Intro (1.41)

15 - Facts of Life (5.08)

16 - The Power to Believe II (7.47)

17 - Happy with What You Have to Be Happy with (3.33)

18 - The Power to Believe III (4.14)

19 - The Power to Believe Iv- Coda (2.27)

CD 4 Live 1994-2003
01 - Vrooom Vrooom (5.06)
02 - Neurotica (3.42)
03 - Prism (Abridged) (2.57)
04 - One Time (6.56)
05 - Larks' Tongues in Aspic- Part Iv (10.49)
06 - Prozakc Blues (5.30)
07 - The Construkction of Light (8.42)
08 - Frakctured (8.41)
09 - The World's My Oyster Soup Kitchen Floor Wax Museum (5.53)
10 - Sus-Tayn-Z (Projekct Two) (7.54)
11 - X-Chayn-Jiz (Projekct Two) (4.21)
12 - The Deception of the Thrush (5.22)
13 - 2 II 3 (Projekct One) (1.58)