-----Original Message----- From: zorn-list-admin@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:zorn-list-admin@mailman.xmission.com]On Behalf Of alastair@pretentious.co.uk Sent: Friday, October 04, 2002 2:18 PM [snip] But I did see the 21st Century Schizoid Band (Giles, Giles, MacDonald, Collins, Jaksyk) the other night - and they ROCKED. Mostly. [snip]
That sound you hear is me, screaming with jealousy. Supposedly 21CSB is going to make it over the the US sometime in the not-so-distant future. I could care less if it's effectively wallowing in trivia; this is four members of the earliest versions of King Crimson, playing music that they had more than a hand in shaping. Incredible. BTW, for those who follow such things, the long-delayed King Crimson Collectors' Club issue no. 12, the 1969 band's Hyde Park gig opening for the Stones in front of a gargantuan crowd, is now finally available through the DGM website, after a year of being stalled by Greg Lake. Also in preparation stages is 'Ladies of the Road,' a two-disc set from the no-longer-reviled '71-'72 lineup, the first disc being a survey of live material from their very first gigs to their final U.S. tour, and the second being something of a 'Greyfolded' or 'Infrared Roses' kind of thing where they'll offer a disc-long version of "21st Century Schizoid Man" featuring the best guitar and saxophone solos played during that song during the same stretch of years, one after the other. Sounds stimulating, maddening and barbaric all at once. Say what you will about prog in general and King Crimson in particular: I'm well aware that not everything the band has done over the years has been solid gold (though I'm clearly more biased than most), but for me they are the ONE prog band of their vintage that never forgot the root of the word "progressive" is "progress." That sense of adventure colors everything they've done, now even extending to their treatment of archival material. Steve Smith ssmith36@sprynet.com