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PROG ROCK, PSYCH, AVANT GARDE...
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Exceptional CD Remasters
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Exceptional CD Remasters
Covering 1967 to 1977 - It Also Focuses On
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"...In This Faraway Land..."
1973 was a strange year for Prog Rock. By all
accounts the genre should have been stabbed in the Tolkien, kicked in the Third
Eye and left for dead in a Topographic ditch. But it prevailed even more than
it had done in 1971 and 1972 – the years of Yes, Genesis, ELP, Gentle Giant,
Focus, Van Der Graaf Generator - the Vertigo Spiral, Harvest, Charisma and
Deram Nova labels and of course – the mighty King Crimson over on Island
Records (Atlantic in the US).
KC were already one of the most cultish of
Progressive Rock bands to have ever spanked the planks - "Larks' Tongues
In Aspic" managing a decent No. 20 spot on the UK LP charts in April 1973
when many other genre names couldn't get arrested. At the opposite end of the commercial
abyss - Pink Floyd had unleashed the album monster "The Dark Side Of The
Moon" a month earlier – a record that has virtually defined chart longevity
for five decades straight (prisms and pyramids ahoy) - while Mike Oldfield was
clanging on his "Tubular Bells" in May. The whole broody, moody and
musically adventurous lot of them were huge albums – absolute global goliaths
really. Hell - Yes would even put the sprawling and deeply challenging double-LP
set "Tales from Topographic Oceans" on the No. 1 spot in Blighty in
December – a staggering achievement in 1973 and quite probably impossible to
achieve in 2018. Which brings us to this fifth platter from England’s defiantly
different KC – a sextet of musical birds body parts in jelly...
The last Remaster stab at this so-so album came
in 2000 for a 30th Anniversary Edition (Simon Heyworth and Robert Fripp did the
honours) - but this '40th Anniversary Series' Edition has had the magic and
nimble fingers of STEVE WILSON around it's sunny throat - and once again the
Porcupine Tree boy wonder has brought forth nuances that I for one hadn't heard
before (the DVD-A includes the 2000 Remaster and Flat Transfer versions too).
Here are the Talking Drums...
UK released 22 October 2010 - "Larks'
Tongues In Aspic: 40th Anniversary Series" by KING CRIMSON on Panegyric
KCSP5 (Barcode 633367400529) is a CD and DVD-Audio Reissue and New Remaster
that plays out as follows:
Disc 1 CD (68:02 minutes):
2012 Stereo Mix
1. Larks' Tongues In Aspic (Part I) [Side 1]
2. Book Of Saturday
3. Exiles
4. Easy Money [Side 2]
5. The Talking Drum
6. Larks' Tongues In Aspic (Part II)
Tracks 1 to 6 are their fifth studio album
"Larks' Tongues In Aspic" - released March 1973 in the UK on Island
ILPS 9230 and April 1973 in the USA on Atlantic SD 7263. Produced by King
Crimson (Engineer Nick Ryan) - the LP peaked at No. 20 and No. 61 on the UK and
US album charts.
BONUS TRACKS:
7. Larks' Tongues In Aspic (Part I) (Alternate
Mix)
8. Book Of Saturday (Alternate Mix)
9. The Talking Drum (Alternate Mix)
Disc 2 DVD-AUDIO, NTSC, Region 0 (Code Exempt):
AUDIO CONTENT
1. Original Album Remixed In MPL Lossless 5.1
Surround
2. Original Album Remixed In DTS 5.1 Digital
Surround
3. 2012 Stereo Album Mix In MPL Lossless Stereo
(24/96)
4. 2012 Stereo Album Mix in PCM Stereo 2.0
(24/48)
5. Original Album Mix (30th Anniversary Edition
from 1999)
6. Original Album Mix Alternate Takes and Mixes
in PCM Stereo 2.0 (24/48)
VIDEO CONTENT (Dual Mono)
1. Improv: The Rich Tapestry Of Life
2. Exiles
3. Larks' Tongues In Aspic (Part i)
4. Larks' Tongues In Aspic (Part II) as
Broadcast on Beat Club
KING CRIMSON was:
DAVID CROSS – Violin, Viola, Mellotron
ROBERT FRIPP – Guitars, Mellotron and Devices
JOHN WETTON – Bass, Vocals and Piano
BILL BRUFORD – Drums
JAMIE MUIR – Percussion and Allsorts
Like the other issues in this series the outer
card slipcase and 2-disc foldout digipak contained within are aesthetically
nice but only in a limited sort of way. The loose 16-page booklet leaves much
to be desired despite a short and informative set of liner notes by noted
writer and Prog music nut – SID SMITH. There's a snap of a 5-piece Crimson in London's
Command Studios in January 1973 recording the album as well as other outtake
photos - the stickered American LP artwork is pictured and the inner lyric bag
that came with both UK and US issues is here too as - a live shot of the band
on stage at The Rainbow Theatre in London in December 1973 (including a trade
advert for the show) - a small shot of the Rare Promo-Only US EP on Atlantic
Records and a Billboard advert for the 'new' LP and Tape of April 1973.
Downsides - the print is tiny and there are no
photos or memorabilia pictured under the see-through CD trays (both sides
lazily left blank) and the digipak itself has all the imagination of a common
cold. Hardly exciting in any way and when you consider just how stunning the
Jethro Tull 'Book Format' reissues are (I think there's eight now all of which
have received universal fan worship and rightly so) – the presentation on all
of these so called 'Definitive' 40th Anniversary Series Editions is
staggeringly ordinary by comparison. But that's where the carping ends because
on these babies - it's all about the sound...
All that 96 kHz and MPL Lossless techno
jiggery-pokery mentioned on the card slipcase aside - the Audio is amazing
right from the get go. For this Panegyric reissue ROBERT FRIPP and STEVE WILSON
(of Porcupine Tree) carried out the 2012 multi-track mix from original tapes -
whilst SIMON HEYWORTH (of Nick Drake fame), ROBERT FRIPP and ANDY MILES did the
Stereo and 51. Surround Mastering at Super Audio Mastering Studios (DVD
authoring by NEIL WILKES at Opus Productions). The DVD-A 'contains a complete
album's worth of alternate takes and mixes, plus 43 minutes of previously
unseen filmed performance of the band'. It all 'feels' clearer than the '30th
Anniversary' reissue put out by Virgin in 2000.
From the moment that the percussive pinging of
"Part I" of "Larks' Tongues In Aspic" kicks in - the sound
is sweet and continues so for 13:35 minutes. When that huge riffage does emerge
it may be time to turn this sucker down but you will of course want to turn it
up again to catch those beautifully played violin passages (madness and
sweetness in the same song). John Wetton's voice isn't the greatest for sure on
the unreasonably short "Book Of Saturday" – a moment where Crimson
sound closest to Yes (at least musically). Side 1 ends with 7:41 minutes of
"Exiles" - again so clean during that building fade in. Without doubt
one of my favourite tracks on an album I'm not that pushed on - the violin,
acoustic guitars and Mellotron parts are beautifully present in this mix.
The cleverly structured "Easy Money"
talks of suspect dudes in 'moccasin sneakers' - fabulous audio to that Bass
break - but again for me Wetton's voice just let’s the side down a tad.
"The Talking Drum" is another seven-minutes of whirling winds and far
away electronic buzzing bees that soon emerge into a sly percussive pattern -
violin taking the enjoyable romp home. Part II of the title track takes no
prisoners and goes straight into that cool guitar grunge - returning to
familiar sounds as it progresses - and again all of it so impress sonically.
With "Exiles" it's my second fave-rave on the album.
I've listened to the 5.1 Surround Mix (on a
friend's set up) and I can only describe it as 'powerful' with a capitol 'P'.
I'm reminded of hearing those 'Quad' albums back in the Seventies - instruments
coming out of speakers that you'd swear you've never heard before. As with all
of these reissues - I can understand the completist reason for the Flat
Transfer of the album but it’s just that - flat - and after the Wilson version
- hard to go back to.
To sum up – their fifth studio outing "Larks' Tongues In Aspic" isn’t my fave-rave KC LP (never has been) - but this gorgeous CD and DVD-A Audio makeover by Steve Wilson and Robert Fripp has made me hear it again – and favourably.
And despite my reservations about that so-so presentation – you keep coming back to the Audio – the best this Lark has ever sounded...and that's ultimately the best fan news...
To sum up – their fifth studio outing "Larks' Tongues In Aspic" isn’t my fave-rave KC LP (never has been) - but this gorgeous CD and DVD-A Audio makeover by Steve Wilson and Robert Fripp has made me hear it again – and favourably.
And despite my reservations about that so-so presentation – you keep coming back to the Audio – the best this Lark has ever sounded...and that's ultimately the best fan news...
