Earthbound
From ETWiki
Originally released: 1972 Personnel
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Tracks
- 11'45 21st Century Schizoid Man => Reviews
- 7'30 Peoria => Reviews
- 4'45 The Sailor's Tale => Reviews
- 7'08 Earthbound => Reviews
- 15'30 Groon => Reviews
Reviews
Reviews are listed in chronological order within each section. Please retain a chronological order when adding new reviews.
Entire Release
Date Submitted: 9-Jul-96
By: Henry Andrews (hha1 at cornell dot edu)
"There are reasons that this album is so controversial. The sound quality is every bit as bad as you've heard it is, and the performances are uneven. The two improvs are much more like traditional jams than the stuff Cross/Fripp/Wetton/Bruford do so well on 'The Great Deciever'. This is the kind of group grooving away behind the soloist (Mel Collins or Fripp) that Crimson became known for not doing later. Still, they're fun jams. Of the pre-written tracks, only Schizoid Man is really worthwhile - the other performances are fairly poor, but see the individual track reviews for more on that."
Date Submitted: 25-Jul-96
By: (watcher at pacificnet dot net)
"The first time I heard this album I thought "Man did this line-up bite live or what?" The main problem with this offering is the selection of songs and the crappy sound quality. Could they not find a better quality recording somewhere for Christ's sake? I have a couple of other gigs from this line-up that make Earthbound sound like amateur hour. Leaving Formentera Lady off of Sailor's Tale took some of the essence away from the piece[not to mention being a much better song live]. It would have been a much better idea to put Cirkus, Pictures of a City or even Ladies of the Road. This is where this line-up shined!"
Date Submitted: 25-Jul-96
By: Bruce Pike (JPike56 at aol dot com)
"I love this record despite its very obvious shortcomings. As a document, it seems to be all there is regarding this particular Crimson. I saw the Delaware show from which some of this stuff was taken, and I assure you that they were better than the sound quality reveals. Therefore, I want this one on CD, as well as the rest of the catalog, which I already own."
Date Submitted: 1-Sep-96
By: George Korein (Mopobeans at aol dot com)
"I haven't heard this one, but I have heard an outrageously overpriced bootleg of the same line up- I couldn't determine much from this bootleg because no matter how bad Earthbound's sound quality is, it couldn't be NEARLY as bad as this (you hear the guy fumbling with his recorder more than you hear the band). But I could tell this- Boz tried to sing "Pictures of a City" without effects, and it sounded bad. He tried to sing "Schizoid" without effects, and it sounded really bad. They a bit of "Groon". Why did this line-up play Groon so often? I haven't a clue."
Date Submitted: 3-Nov-96
By: Fernando Saicha (fsaicha at impsat1 dot com dot ar)
"Escuchar Earthbound por primera vez es encontrarse con un Crimson en estado salvaje: RAW MATERIALS... El criterio del orden emergiendo entre las cenizas del caos! Escucharlo en un tape recorder es exactamente lo mismo, en cuanto a sonido, que escucharlo en un Hi-Fi... Quizá parte del encanto radique en eso, o no??"
Date Submitted: 7-Feb-97
By: Joshua Chase (jchase at ecovote dot org)
"This is the only recorded music of any kind ever to bring me to the point of actual vomiting. Not because it's really that bad (this incarnation's "Schizoid Man" is actually my favorite), but because one day in around 1986 I played this album TOO LOUD on my Walkman and it absolutely fucked up my inner ear to the point of acute nausea. I swear I almost lost my lunch! I wonder what Bob would think of that... I'm afraid dealing with this less-than-first-division lineup made him a little sick to his stomach... that's why he went out and immediately recruited people like Jamie Muir and Bill Bruford when it finally went under. Still, I'd very much like to have the radio broadcast of the "Islands" band recorded in Denver, Colorado, USA in early 1972. If Mr. F ever decides to do a small box set of this version of KC, that broadcast would be worth including."
Date Submitted: 19-Aug-97
By: Bill Nicholas (newguy at cybernex dot net)
"I got Earthbound as an Italian import about twelve years ago, when it was a lot harder to get anything obscure. I call this my "wishful thinking" KC album: It does not have the black cover, but very cheap drawings of, believe it or not, Fripp, Wetton and Bruford as they appear on the RED cover. But, of course, the music is still Earthbound. What WERE they trying to pull?
"I have, however, found a way to listen to this album. Forget it's King Crimson. Put on "Peoria," and pretend your dad just gave you one of those old soul compilations ATCO put out in the mid-60s. You'll think "hey, these guys rock." In this context, its really not that bad."
Date Submitted: 12-Oct-97
By: Steven Nyland (sqmfa at aol dot com)
"This is the sad member of the King Crimson line of products, the one that you hate but still have to own because it has that Crimson label on it. And it has it's moments. I think that the title track is kind of LET IT BE-ish in the way that it documents WHY this band, ultimately, had to break up: there was no vision, no central structure around which to revolve. They didn't suck, but than again they didn't RULE. The objective of great art is not to suck, which translates out to RULE. Well, Bob, you didn't get it right here.
"No matter : the next one blew the roof off the dump."
Date Submitted: 15-Feb-98
By: Paul-Martin Davies (pmdavies at france dot sun dot com)
"The terrible sound quality on this record could be forgiven were it not matched by the ineptitude of the playing. I can only assume that the interest that surrounds it comes from its rarity value. "Groon" is tedious, especially Ian Wallace's self-indulgence and the VCS3 noise that makes up its latter half, "Schizoid Man" laboured and overlong, and on the improvs, Boz shows that it is normally not a good idea to take to the stage tanked up. Its only saving grace is a half-decent improvised solo from Fripp in the second half of the title track. Perhaps if Fripp really does want to suppress this truly horrible record, he should make it freely available through DGM mail order at a price that genuinely reflects its worth (say, 1.99 UKP including postage)."
Date Submitted: 28-Nov-98
By: Ronald Vogel (rvogel at synchro dot com dot br)
"I have read all the reviews and comments about Earthbound.
"Some say it is excellent some say it is horrible and so on. I would like to remind everyone that when we analyse any KC material we should not take in consideration some regular aspects that we do when reviewing any other rock group's album.
"Earthbound is worth just because is King Crimson. Any KC release is worth just because is KC. Being a CRIMHEAD is liking and rejoice about everything coming from Fripp related to KC (Well, maybe not that much...).
"In fact, Eartbound really does not have a good sound quality, being better and worse depending of the bootleg we are able to find. Any bootleg from that formation has better songs than the ones in Earthbound.
"Lizard in Island Sun (Brighton Dome 71) has a worse sound quality but the contents are fantastic (All Islands but "Prelude" plus Cirkus, Pictures of a City, 21st Century Schizoid Man and Groon). That is the only bootleg i have with Ladies of the Road.
"Formentera Memories (Orpheum London 27/03/72) features the complete show, even with Fripp's funny comments.
"Academy of Music, New York also fetaures the coplete show but the quality is not that good.
"Denver Summit Stuios is quite different for not being a regular gig but a radio audition for live broadcasting purposes (maybe). Quality is also not that good. Contents are.
"What we may expect from DGM's CC # 2 (Jacksonville). Maybe the same songs but presented with care and Fripp/Singleton regular and welcome quality.
"That Earthbound does not represent KC in its full essence is something that i also agree with. But it is, so far and until now, the only live officila material we may buy from that formation. For the lucky ones who have the original record i say congratulations. Rejoice yourself for it is maybe a collector's item that will not be relased as a CD. For the rest...buy a bootleg, join DGM CC or wait for a forthcoming release of a live material."
Date Submitted: 3-Jun-99
By: Priscilla Cooney (jcooney1 at home dot com)
"There is so little live documentation available, either in 'import' or official-release form, of this tragically overlooked and underrepresented KC lineup that I can hardly understand all the bombastic criticism found on this page re. this difficult to find release. The moment I obtained it following a long and exhaustive several-year-Iong search I promptly cued it up on the turntable. The audio quality conforms with the times guys! Lighten up!!!!!! The group improv is fantastic and as jazzy as KC ever got!! My only real criticism is that too many selections are mere edits of obviously much longer pieces. RF, if you're considering rereleasing this LP in CD form please consider releasing an expanded version without all the edits. The beauty of a KC listen is the entire journey. I would venture a guess that most of RF's frustration with the original LP release stems from industry-imposed time constraints placed on live recordings of that time. There was, at the time, no way to successfully offer up to the loyal KC public an accurate and fair representation of the band live. RF should reconsider creating an expanded " Earthbound " multi-CD release from this important KC period much like he did with the excellent " Epitaph " series. Now there's an idea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Date Submitted: 22-Jun-99
By: Andrew Marr (apm4547 at glaxowellcome dot co dot uk)
"I thoroughly agree with Priscilla Cooney's comments about the rawness and yet quality of this album. It deserves to be listened to and not sentenced to the annals of history. I for one would buy a CD of it even in an unextended form. My copy of the vinyl was second hand when I got it 25 years ago but whilst the scratches add to its ambiance I would quite like to listen to it as nature intended, a rare steak, not a well done one like the studio later live albums are."
Date Submitted: 5-Jul-99
By: Robert Towler (rltowler at aol dot com)
"Just reading all the reviews made me pull my Earthbound from my garage, the album was in there somewhere. I left it there for a reason, historically it was important but the sound quality in a word sucks. The garage cleaning was long overdue anyway. I want to hear new material."
Date Submitted: 5-Oct-99
By: John Spokus (whislingtk at hotmail dot com)
"I always thought yuck, is this all this Crimso line-up did in concert, until I found a boot on tape of this tour and heard live "Circkus"; totally awesome. Earthbound is a piece of crap,with the exception of "Schizoid Man" (my favorite version). I wish Fripp would come out with a good soundboard tape of this tour because The Academy Of Music show is mind blowing and a great example of what this line-up was all about; although the sound is plenty muddy you can equalize it a bit. I did this and re-mastered mine on to mini-disc and it helped some."
Date Submitted: 24-Oct-99
By: Mike (tamber at mindspring dot com)
"This was a difficult album for me to find, i must have looked for it for 6+ months. In retrospect it's difficult to review. One general theme i have noticed in the other reviews submited is the issue of sound quality. Personaly,I feel the album benifits from this. In fact i would not be suprised if it was made made to sound this way intentionally. every king crimson album has it's own distinct ambiance, the "poor" recording quality is a big part of earthbound's.
"The performances seem very haphazard and unfocused. this is not a side of king crimson one would expect. In fact they almost sound like a rock and roll band. Perhaps that is the piont of this album.
"I can't say earthbound is one the greatest king crimson albums ever. But i do feel it has an important place in the band's recorded catalog."
Date Submitted: 26-Feb-00
By: Bruce Roberts (broberts at stny dot rr dot com)
"Greetings, all! I would like to offer my observations on "Earthbound," considering it both (1) in and of itself and (2) in relation to one of the concerts from the "Earthbound" tour that I attended.
"I find "Earthbound" truly remarkable in so many ways, not the least of which is that it was even released. "Earthbound" stands in such complete contrast with the previous album, "Islands"; play these two back-to-back for friends, and see if they believe that the same band was behind both. To release "Earthbound" at this juncture would seem an unconventional and decidedly uncommercial move, and it's no wonder that Atlantic didn't want any part of it in the U.S. In fact, something like this was pretty brave even for a European label like Island; KC must have owed Island a new album, so - voila!
"Obviously, the muddy sound of "Earthbound" was by choice, since the technology for a crystal-clear live recording was certainly available. The intention, I think, was to create a kind of "legal bootleg," so to speak, right down to the plain black sleeve. "Earthbound" is so rough and raw, in terms of both music and sound quality, that at the time of its release could have only POSSIBLY made sense to people familiar with KC's history to that point - and clearly not all of THOSE folks, either.
"Boy, it did to me, though, and still does 28 years later. I located "Earthbound" in the summer of 1972 (no small feat in central Virginia), and it absolutely knocked me out. I knew the four preceding albums backward and forward, and "Earthbound" was so . . . powerful . . . intense . . . abrasive . . . challenging . . . aggressive . . . different. Really, it just blew me away.
"Schizoid Man - incredible! Peoria (and, less successfully, Earthbound) - KC gone funky! Groon - kinda weird, but cool; a terrific drum solo from Ian Wallace, plus that great VCS3 sonic assault along the way that must have knocked people in Wilmington right out of their seats. Sailor's Tale - well, OK, I would have tossed this cut in favor of something else, but who knows, maybe Island (or KC) thought that they had to include ONE song from the previous album. All in all, really quite an experience.
"Along with my wonder in listening to "Earthbound," and being struck by how different this sounded from ANY previous KC music, I concurrently puzzled over why the concert that I had seen on the tour that yielded "Earthbound" was, in fact, so different from that album.
"This concert was in Roanoke, Virginia, in late March, 1972. Humble Pie were the headliners, and, believe me, they were who just about everyone there had come to see. Alexis Korner opened, followed by KC.
"Actually, before KC ever took the stage, an interesting event transpired that, sitting far away in the upper level and mostly waiting, waiting, waiting for KC to come on, I didn't even realize at the time. This was that Mel Collins, Boz Burrell, and Ian had joined Alexis Korner for some (or all?) of his set. This led to them hooking up with Korner soon thereafter in a band called Snape.
"KC played only four songs - Pictures of a City, Sailor's Tale, Ladies of the Road, and Schizoid Man. Pictures sounded pretty good, Sailor's Tale sounded pretty directionless, Ladies sounded just like it does on "Islands," and Schizoid Man sounded EXACTLY like it does on "In the Court" - not at ALL like it did six weeks earlier in Wilmington, Delaware, as captured on "Earthbound." Everything was done rather perfunctorily, with no trace of improvisation or even genuine energy.
"Interestingly, there was no mellotron or VCS3. I heard later that KC's equipment was lost/missing/stolen/something, and that everything they used was borrowed; I've no idea if this was really true or not.
"RF spoke at one point, prefacing a number (must have been either the third or the fourth) with this less-than-sunny introduction: "And now, to further document the most rapidly disintegrating band in music history . . ."
"After the final number (Schizoid Man, I think), Ian Wallace leaped into the air, let out a yell, and threw his drumsticks as far as he could out into the audience! And . . . that was it. No encore, and little or nothing in the way of thank-yous; they just walked off the stage. Of course, most of the audience was glad to have KC on their way in favor of Humble Pie. Me, I was disappointed not to hear more KC music, but I still felt lucky to have heard them at all.
"In retrospect, this concert must have had RF thinking, "What on Earth am I doing here?" He may have been irked that his band mates had gone onstage with Alexis Korner (although he probably didn't really care at this point; certainly, the others didn't care what RF thought, either). Here was KC preceding Humble Pie, of all groups, guaranteeing KC an unknowledgeable and disinterested audience (wonder what great brain put THAT bill together). They were forced to go with stripped-down instrumentation and borrowed instruments (assuming the missing equipment story is true). Pretty discouraging!
"Presumably, RF found comfort in the knowledge that this was to be one of the final performances of the "Islands"-era group, which I believe had already decided to pack it in and were only touring to fulfill contractual obligations. He knew that he would soon be free of these rock-and-rollers, free to return to England and assemble a new ensemble - the "Larks' Tongues in Aspic" band.
"I'd be very interested in any input/information/opinions/whatever from folks, particularly accounts of other concerts from this tour.
"Last item: isn't it great to have something like ET, where 21st century schizoid men and women can hang out and ruminate over things like this that are of no consequence to the world at large, but are fun nonetheless? Thanks and congratulations to Toby, Daniel, and everyone that facilitates this!"
Date Submitted: 15-Nov-00
By: Stephan Clarke (clarkesrc at imajis dot com)
"I purchased Earthbound, probably not long after it came out. At first I was very dissapointed, mainly because of the sound quality. It didn't get nearly as much listening as the other KC albums.
"Today it is a treasure. I recorded the LP onto a cassette, running it through an equalizer and some filters. The sound on my cassette is much better, and now is enjoyabe to listen to. (I made it a double album, combining it with the LP "U.S.A.") It is ironic that the reason Earthbound sounds so bad is that the master was recorded on a cassette!
"Earthbound is a treasure because it contains a fair amount of material that is just not available live. The versions are different than the originals, and it gives another perspective to great music.
"My next project will be to rerecord Earthbound onto my computer and use computer software to clean up and enhance the sound. I will then burn it onto a CD. Believe me, it's worth it!"
Date Submitted: 13-Aug-01
By: René Cevasco (chevasco at entelchile dot net)
"Excelente y bizarrisima grabación en vivo, en absoluto low-fi. Corrosión y noise aplicados al tour del Islands con resultados abofeteantes. Una rareza difícil ya en vinil y que de hecho se agradece su próxima reedición. Imperdible, con tal vez la versión más heavy y terrible del Hombre esquizo del siglo XXI, de todos los lives editados. Un documento sonoro en toda su magnitud."
Date Submitted: 12-Feb-02
By: Richard Vasiliy (tijemart at yahoo dot com)
"Record rating 1.
"Overall rating 6. (By better record quality I’d add 2 to ratings).
"Best song 21ST CENTURY SHIZOID MAN.
"Worst song PEORIA (though bad sound of album makes all songs almost indifferent).
"After the four very strong albums King Crimson were recorded their live-concert. After the 1st listening my friend (who is the fan of King Crimson) has called this record PORNOGRAPHY, and it’s hard to disagree with him. I must say that King Crimson never could play pure jazz-rock, as they did on this live-album consisted of five compositions.
"You can find two of them on studio-albums - 21 CENTURY SCHIZOID MAN and A SAILOR’S TALE. But here they sound naively and repetitively, so it’s hard that it’s played by the great King Crimson! And the quality of the album recording is simply terrible!
"Of course Mr. Fripp and Co. oftenly created excellent compositions influented by jazz, but they have only small jazzy influences. Fripp is not McLaughlin, Santana or Miles Davis, he is the greatest progressive-rock guitarist but not the fusion guitarist and Mel Collins, Ian Wallace and Boz Barrell are not jazz-men too. And in fact we’ve had rather stupid and boring album...
"Three other compositions are sincerely weak, they are only ordinary unexpressive repetitively-improvisated jazzy compositions with monotonous rhythms and dull stupid singing of Boz Barrell. One of these compositions (GROON) were played by King Crimson since 1969 on lives.
"It’s very far from those King Crimson those we listened on previous studio-albums. I don’t think that you will find something interesting on EARTHBOUND."
Date Submitted: 4-Apr-02
By: (WeatheredWall at aol dot com)
"What is there to say? The recording is only slightly less embarassing than the performance. Why it was ever released remains a mystery."
Date Submitted: 12-Mar-02
By: (atfredrickson at yahoo dot com)
"Maybe this recording was intended for planting 6 feet under, "burried and earthbound for good" ;)
"I read the previous reviews and then gave the old EB a
"good listen afterwards. I'm gald that I never tossed it in the bin. Its a good piece of history to have if nothing else. At least for a Crim-head. I won't elaborate much on the the sound, performance or Boz' bad scat vox... Read the other reviews. Many good comments.
"FYI. I have the HELP 6 version with black cover, black inner sleeve, black Island label with the pink Island "I". I guess I have an original. I picked it up used and in "good" condition back in the early 80's. Paid about 5 to 10 USD. I wanted it because of my curiosity and the collectabilty of it. And it is KC. This is back when I was discovering CRIM and it was all so mysterious.....
"I also had a re-issue version I picked up new. It had a differnet cover. I think it was issued by London, Decca, or something. (no, it was not the version with the rendition of the "Red" cover...) Anyhow, I wish I kept that one. I sold it after I got the original one. If anyone knows more about the later re-issue version it would be nice to know more... How could they re-issue such an LP...obviously out of Fripp's control
"But, I do look forward to the remasterd CD... I'm curious."
Date Submitted: 5-Sep-02
By: Hector Diaz (hectordiazt at yahoo dot com)
"Honorable Earthbound
"When knew about a Vinyl Eartbound around 70s. I was waiting some 3 years before to obtain my copy. On this time in my country Chile. It was very dificult time for obtain import records. For band such King Crimson, Beggars Opera or Gentle Giant only was a dream to obtain these records. On this time a way to obtain records was to have a pilot friend and to buy him. Many travels to failed because for this time Earthbound was a very very scase title. Someone that to live in a rich country is dificult that understand this.
"I remember when to obtain Earthbound with a friend named Simon Aliste we was, very very happy. All this months and years waiting was ending. The first song 21st Century Schizoid Man for me was tremendous. I was feeling such a Mahavisniu Orchestra. It was a very special moment in my life. A dream make reality.
"Today my vinyl copy is very good because I care it for all this time such a golden treasure. But today 5 September 2002 I buy my CD Earthbound by Honorable past days. Tonight I will sleep very happy and more tranquil because I have Earthbound and I can to buy it again many times."
Date Submitted: 11-Sep-02
By: (indyrod at yahoo dot com)
"Earthbound (remastered) is just a big ole party, courtesy of KC. All the hype concerning this performance of Schizoid Man, is definitely for real. Wow, I mean WOW. I've listened to it twice, and it just absolutely blows me away. The dueling improvs by Fripp and then Collins are just plain hot, with Boz and Ian following superbly. I don't know if this version of Schizoid Man is the best, but it is by far the most entertaining and frantic. Those boys were on fire, to say the least. Other standouts are Groon, the most bizarre version I've heard, and also the most entertaining performance. And the Earthbound track was quite good too, some excellent jamming. The most bizarre cut however is this performance of The Sailor's Tale. While still quite entertaining, it sounds like the tape started a little late, and ended too soon. But without doubt, this is one hell of a set of tracks from three different concerts. And, I have absolutely NO problem with the audio. It sounds perfectly good, if not outstanding to me. What a great recording, it's like "that" group at "that" time, was in a partying mood, and the music is just plain fun, if not thrilling and exciting at times. Shame on you, if you don't have it, or have it on order. It's what I usually call, a "Killer Album"."
Date Submitted: 11-Oct-02
By: Chris Jones (chris.jones.05 at bbc dot co dot uk)
"Earthbound is possibly the band's most atypical album. Infamous for its utterly non-digital genesis (recorded on a cassette recorder) its 'official bootleg' ambience sits strangely in the canon of a band infamous for their sonic precision. The truth is that at this point Fripp had hooked up with a bunch of musicians who, as he once put it, loved to 'blow'. Improvisation, always a key part of Crimson's modus operandi, here becomes 'jamming'. Mel Collins' squawking sax combines with Boz Burrell's scat singing on "Peoria" to produce the closest they ever got to funk. Yet the standard of musicianship remains high. "Groon" has to be one of the most adventurous things they ever attempted: all tricky jazz chords and knotty time changes and "The Sailors Tale" retains its feeling of wild abandon. Believe it or not, this is a snapshot of a touring band primarily having fun."
Date Submitted: 21-Dec-02
By: Eric (ericodijk at zeelandnet dot nl)
"There is only one album in the KC history NOT worth buying, it is this one!
"The only interesting part is Schizoid Man, and you can find it elsewhere, like on the Schizoid Man EP.
"There are better played and better sounding versions of Groon and Sailor's Tale on other albums, like the new Ladies Of The Road, which is in fact a collection drawn from a few Collectors Club releases. If you want those, buy Ladies Of The Road. About the other two songs, if you want some quality Mel Collins stuff, go listen to that new album as well. In fact, if you own both the EP and Ladies of the Road already, like I do, you can make a collection by yourself from those two and burn your own cd. You can, because you paid for the albums, didn't you? Then, call it My Own Earthbound Clone and put it in your collection (no, do not make copies for others) so it looks like your KC collection is complete. Yes, it is legal.
"But be wise: don't buy Earthbound. It is truly unfair to the musicians who were part of this band. Mr Fripp was right when he originally decided not to put it on cd. Now that he did, you could just buy it and look if there are any photo's or new pieces of artwork in it.
"This line-up deserves better, and there is, like those two other releases I mentioned."
Date Submitted: 14-Jan-04
By: Scott McFarland (mcfarland at ac-tech dot com)
"This just really isn’t very good. This band’s music is far too simple and average to fit in with the rest of the KC canon."
Date Submitted: 26-July-07
By: Vic Peppler (vic108 at verizon dot net)
"I lived close to this gig and missed it for a jam with friends that night. Friends that were there say that THE MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA opened for KC and were GREAT. The liner notes speak of RECORDED IN A VAN IN THE RAIN or something like that, and knowing the place where it was recorded and the weather that night, I know why EARTHBOUND sounds WEIRD to some. Anyway, this was a REAL minor gig for KC: in Wilmington, Delaware at the Armory, if I remember correctly. Maybe, that's why I bought it back in the day - sort of a slight connection there? I still kick myself for NOT going... Some have said that at this point Mr. Fripp felt like KC was out of control. Or maybe, the pressure was off that night and KC decided to explore a little bit? I THINK that's what folks sense from this recording - just my take on things. Although the CD is MUCH better than the original LP, the quality IS lacking. That said, I still think it's worth the price and listen. 21st Century Schizoid Man is a real gem though! Maybe, I need to dig this out of the pile again and give it a good listen for old times sake!"
21st Century Schizoid Man
Date Submitted: 9-Jul-96
By: Henry Andrews (hha1 at cornell dot edu)
"Powerful, Intense. Some excellent solos from both Fripp and Mel Collins. There's more energy in this version than in any other I've heard, and that makes it quite worthwhile - I prefer it to 73/74 versions because it really rocks out. Boz's vocals are run through the VCS3, which makes them distorted to a frightening level. (try taking out your vocal cords, putting them into the blender, setting it on 'disintegrate' and singing). It's a bit much, but then again the song is pretty intensely out there to begin with. Probably the most worthwhile track on the album, so go find the 21stCSM single, because it's on there."
Peoria
Date Submitted: 9-Jul-96
By: Henry Andrews (hha1 at cornell dot edu)
"An oddly funky traditional rock jam for Crimson (as is the other 'improv'). Mel Collins provides some fine sax playing, although goes a little nuts with screeches in later parts of the song. Boz comes in with some improvised vocals, but to me they don't really add much - he screeches a bit. He and Ian provide competent but not spectacular backing, and Fripp's solo near the end is distinctly non-Frippian, and not particularly inspiring. More of a funky rhythm guitar sound than his usual lead."
Date Submitted: 6-Jan-97
By: Collette Collins (ncollins at epix dot net)
"Long ago I heard the tales of an album that Fripp snatched away from the market. An album that held a mysterious quality about it -- simply the mystery of what it sounded like. Recently I acquired a copy of this terrible monstrosity. With some disgust I listened to a butcher job by rock-and-roller Boz Burrell on the track entitled Peoria. Boz tries very hard to scat and ends up fumbling for words that do anything but admonish the band's name. I believe he stumbles upon the much heard "it doesn't matter what you think about me, but it matters a whole lot about what I think of you." Meanwhile, Fripp plays a rockin' jazzy riff that falters then attempts to cover up Boz's faux pas that slurs the essence of King Crimson. Wallace drums away and Collins takes a break part way through the jam to play a tambourine or something. The jam is awesome as a classic rock-jazz piece and I imagine that all the tracks on Earthbound would sound great had I been a member of the original audience, yet with the poor recording and Boz's obvious preludes to becoming a heavy rock musician, I must say that Earthbound was rightfully banished from the store shelves by Fripp. I also wonder...what ever became of Keith Tippett (the original schizoid pianist) and the other musicians on the album 'Islands'. They did not just sit in for one King Crimson album. Where did they go when the time to tour came round? Hmmmmm............."
The Sailor's Tale
Date Submitted: 9-Jul-96
By: Henry Andrews (hha1 at cornell dot edu)
"This is, for me, the big disappointment of the album. I've always liked the studio version of this - sort of a taste of what's to come in terms of Fripp guitar instrumentals. This version fades in after the opening section, and consists mainly of Fripp soloing over the Mellotron riff. Sadly, the soloing isn't too good. Lots of unintentional feedback screeches, but even disregarding that, there's not much here to grab hold of and enjoy. We get a bit of the build-up coming out of this section, and then it fades out again. Really quite unsatisfying - I hope he releases a full version, preferably from a different show."
Date Submitted: 19-Feb-97
By: Matt George (bmgeorge at pacbell dot net)
"This version is absolutely horrifying. If you get your paws on this record, skip this track immediately! Fripp replaces his excellent detuned banjo solo on the studio recording with a completely lifeless fuzz-tone meandering with unintentional ear-splitting feedback. Also, the mellotron keyboard is completely out of tune and Collins it seems isn't keeping proper tempo. I heard that it was raining heavily during this concert and the effect on the sound was not good. This is true. Fripp should not have included this on the record. The rest of the album is OK except for this track."
Earthbound
Date Submitted: 9-Jul-96
By: Henry Andrews (hha1 at cornell dot edu)
"'Start something up, Ian', someone yells, and we get going with a nice, if not incredibly unusual beat. After a bit, Mel Collins comes in with some nice, confident sax work, and Boz joins him with some fairly creative bass lines. A bit later Boz also adds some vocal improvs, but as in "Peoria", I think he tries too hard, and really shouldn't come that close to screaming. Towards the end, we get a guitar solo with a more as-expected Fripp sound, but nothing incredibly stunning. Although since the whole jam is in one chord, I suppose there's not but so much he could do."
Date Submitted: 4-Jul-99
By: (toast at gateway dot net)
"Earthbound is one of my favorite k.c. 'songs'."
Groon
Date Submitted: 9-Jul-96
By: Henry Andrews (hha1 at cornell dot edu)
"This 15 minute live version of the 3 1/2 minute song splits into three parts. The version of the actual song is fairly incoherent - the timing is weird, and the band just isn't precise enough to carry it off. Collin's sax bleeps sound rather desperate, and Fripp's guitar work is just too disjointed. Wallace's drums are busy (as are M. Giles' on the original), but he doesn't manage to hold the crazy time of the piece. The next third is Wallace's 'normal' drum solo. . Nothing special, nothing too horrible. Last is more drum solo, but through the VCS3. This is... interesting. It's a neat idea, but it's not really applied all that well - no structure, just another way of messing around with the sound. There's no particular direction. Towards the end of this part, Fripp returns with an oddly screechy solo - sounds almost violinish. The whole thing is too long (esp. the drum solos) and just not particularly coherent."
