Captured during a 2016 concert in Vienna, the venerable prog rock band King Crimson shows that it is one of the few bands of the 60s that has aged like a wine, sounding richer and fuller than ever. Founding genius Robert Fripp, as well as original saxist Mel Collins team up with a THREE drumming band Pat Mastelotto, Jeremy Stacey and Gavin Harrison, as well as bass/stick man Tony Levin and guitarist/vocaloist Jakko Jakszyk to delve into material ranging from their earliest albums to modern material, creating an attractive musical mosaic on this 3 disc set.
Jakzsyk’s voice is a perfect mix of Greg Lake and John Wetton, so he can sound comfortable in material from two of the high water marks of the band. “Epitaph” and “The Court of the Crimson King” are dramatic and wondrous, with “Easy Money” sounding bitterly ironic, while the band sounds riveting on the pulsating “Starless and Bible Black” and “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part Two.” Mid period angular pieces such as “Fracture” and “Red” are wonderfully kinetic, and more recent pieces such as “Schoenberg Softened His hat” and “Ahriman’s Ceaseless Corruptions” are as fresh and challenging as one could hope for. Of course there is the classic “2st Century Schizoid Man” which has lyrics that are in retrospect quite prophetic.
Robert Fripp and company are doing an exemplary job of keeping the challenging music alive, especially when the word “challenging” means to have the listener grow, and not run for cover or taking a shower.