Rating: Summary: Best use of DVD's potential that I've seen. Review: This disk makes tremendous use of this format's potential. Great sound quality for the concert footage. King Crimson is on the bleeding edge again.
Rating: Summary: Heard as King Crimson should be Review: This DVD features the Thrak era King Crimson double trio. The musicians on lineup #5 of KC are Robert Fripp: guitars, guitar synth, Frippertronics, Adrian Belew: guitar, guitar synth, sustainer guitar, vocals, Tony Levin: bass, stick, upright electric bass, Trey Gunn: touch guitar (a point of notice, the instrument has something like 10 - 12 stings and covers bass to guitar in range), Bill Bruford: drums, electronic drums and Pat Mastelotto: drums, percussion. I mention the instrumentation because, as you noticed, there's quite a bit of it. One of the nicest things about this double sided concert is the selection of material which ranges from aggressive to almost light in nature. This isn't your parent's King Crimson. These guys are all veterans of progressive, jazz and pop which is what you can expect on this DVD. The recording quality is excellent. There are a lot of fast jumps and occassional poorly edited video sections on song transitions (something like Belew playing alone, switching from synth guitar to guitar as the band comes in only to switch to Trey Gunn who is literally not playing) but beyond a few little glitches the videography is good as well. Be aware the concert footage is not contigious, that is, each song is titled and fades with one or two exceptions. This isn't a problem for me but may be for others. The good news, no goofy special effects or dumb camera angles. The performances are captured as is, there's even a few mistakes. The previous reviewer didn't know what to call this music. Very simply it is formally considered Progressive Rock although there are metal and jazz elements. Keep in mind King Crimson started Progressive Rock and is one of the few bands to have actually redefined their music and sound over the 30+ years the band has been around. This disc is not as heavy on the improvisation as many King Crimson CDs have been of late. What you get is probably the widest range of musical intensity you are likely to find. Keep in mind that in the prog tradition songs are extended at times and there is a good bit of improvisation within structured songs. I am mentioning the purely improvisational material which is not featured in this performance. The extra features are all interesting and the Frippertronics bonus is also fun to watch. Fripp sits on his stool spinning around to various devices as he records bits and pieces of guitar timbres that he processes and occasionally solos to. For those that thought this style of music was not valid pay attention, you'll see Fripp creating music right before your eyes. It's also important to realize that Fripp was one of the first guitarists in rock to experiment with guitar and effects as a complete form of music. Favorite performances, Frame By Frame, Red, VROOM, THRAK, One Time and Lark's Tongue in Aspic II. There's 13 more tracks not counting the Frippertronics tune so you are getting extrodinary bang for the buck. Since it is a 2 sided DVD it is like getting a double DVD set. Most of the material is from the Thrak and Discipline era (80's to mid 90's) with a sprinkling of mid 70's songs. If you haven't heard King Crimson since the first album this will surprise you although thematically the music is still in the same dark vein quite frequently. Adrian Belew brings pop sensibilities to the group which balance the more ferocious instrumental attack. If you liked the mid 70's and later King Crimson this DVD is a must have. Watch for their new CD, The Power To Believe. Based on their last two mini albums this CD will redefine Progressive Metal and showcase their more Ambient side.
Rating: Summary: Make Room For Vroom Review: This DVD gave me way more than I thought I was getting. Two sets of shows, one on each side. You can see the various line ups of the band over it's long history, and take elements of each, and see how a song would sound. As for the concerts themselves, these are not a bunch of old hippy farts flogging in the wind. There is major artistry going on here.
Rating: Summary: A MUST HAVE DVD! Review: This DVD is (so far) the pinnacle of music concert video releases. The 5.1 Digital Sound is the true way to hear the 6 members of King Crimson. Their performance is basically flawless, and though there are better Thrak tour performances, this one is wonderful. (I did say flawless, what can be better? I guess flawless with an extra...???) The whole DVD is great, including the Schizoid game, the road movies, the hidden Fripp Soundscape footage, the history of the band, you can even set the bias of the show to the band member you prefer, when available. My personal favorites: One Time, Dinosaur, Talking Drum/Larks' Tounges Part 2, and Three Of A Perfect Pair. Bruford's drum intro to Indiscipline is amazing. Etc, etc! This title was actually rumoured to be used as a sampler for all new DVD players with dts format, though I don't know which brands this would include. I think that would be a great idea too. A must have DVD!
Rating: Summary: An evening with the premiere artistic rock band. Review: This DVD is a must for any Crimson fan. Seeing the double trio in action is magic. The sound is fantastic and it is a great to see these musicians do what they do best. Belew and Levin are in rare form. The setlist is from two shows taped in Japan. The photo archive and interactive part is also worth the price of admission.
Rating: Summary: A great DVD for a great Show! Review: This DVD is a real treat to watch! Great songs!, great musicians! And it's very different from the video. With the possibility to watch some songs form different angles, it seems like you see something new each time you watch it. There is some interesting extras too, where you can even participate. The only problem is for me minor; the quality pf the picture is not as good as recents DVD. But if you like King Crimson, it's a must.
Rating: Summary: Top-knotch musical DVD Review: This DVD should be a benchmark for other bands to attempt to match: not only is it a concert, it's a virtual smorgasbord of after-hours fun for any Crimson fan. In places one can choose to select a camera angle by which to watch one band member alone (although, to be sure, Robert Fripp will never go down in history as the world's most animated stage performer). The song selection is excellent although I wish they had performed more of the older stuff. The interactive game allowing one to select which combinations of lineup to perform "21st Century Schizoid Man" is good fun as well...perhaps someday Deep Purple will produce a DVD allowing one to select which five people to perform "Smoke on the Water." If there are any drawbacks to the disc, I did not like the menu; it took a while to figure out how to "go with the flow" and capture which selection I wanted. Also, it's a shame that it has to be two-sided (half of the show is on one side and half on the other; they should have just had the first side be the show and the second side be nothing but extras, if at all possible). Also, the back of the box alludes to "hidden extras." How does one find these goodies? Could one possibly be the Beat Club performance of "Larks Tongues In Aspic" from late 1972?
Rating: Summary: king in their element Review: This video DVD has set the bar for all future work to be produced in the future. It features DTS 5.1 surround system and is loads of fun for the crimson fan.Also, other groups may want to see how to professionally produce a wonderful DVD video. I'm looking forward to future projects from Mr. Fripp and company.
Rating: Summary: Deja Vroom Review: Very good disc.If you like King Crimson, Buy it. Multiple angles and many features DVD's will have in the future.You can choose who is front man and center channel.They are getting old but they can kick it out.
Rating: Summary: Not What I Expected Review: Well Folks, the Crimheads everywhere have been gushing over this DVD... I'm a fan from 'way back, too, and bought it full of anticipation. Unfortunately, The new Crimson is so virtuosic that the performances are even more "by the book" than usual, which lends a creative lifelessness to this DVD, despite the generally excellent material. Yes, all the camera angles and such are fun to play with once or twice, but whoever picked them must not be a musician... it's hard to see what anyone is actually playing. Also, only a couple of songs have this capability, not the whole disk. The sound is typical of late '90s Crimson: hard edged and lacking the oceanic subtle tonal distinctions of earlier incarnations. If you appreciate all of King Crimson, but really are focused on the spirituality of the performances on the Great Deceiver ('73 tour), which I quite obviously am, then you will be intrigued by this disk, but won't return to it very often. Hey Mr. Fripp... sir, are you listening? Let's have the Great Deceiver on DVD... please? Surely there is footage from that era?
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