King Crimson USA Expanded Edition 2LP 200g Vinyl Robert Fripp 40th Anniversary Mixes DGM 2020 EU
Title: USA
Catalog Number: KCLLPX152
Label: Island Records
Reissued by: Discipline Global Mobile
Barcode: 633367792518
Edition: 40th Anniversary Edition
Original release year: 1975
Reissue year: 2020
Number of discs: 2
Revolutions per minute: 33⅓ rpm
Disc size: 12"
Vinyl Weight Grade: 200gr
Limited Edition: Yes
Total Item Weight: 880gr
Pressing country: EU
For Market Release in: EU
Added to catalog on: August 8, 2020
Collection: King Crimson Robert Fripp Remasters
Note: Never eligible for any further discounts
Vinyl Gourmet Club: No
In 2009 Steven Wilson and Robert Fripp started working on King Crimson's 40th Anniversary with a series of new remixes that have been released in several digital formats. Consumer demand for the remixes on vinyl led to two boxed sets being issued in late 2018, but they're now available in Limited edition individual albums release with 2,000 units per title, pressed on 200 gram vinyl.
- Limited Edition (2000 units)
- 2LP 200 Gram Super-Heavyweight Vinyl
- 40th Anniversary Mixes
- Expanded Edition
- Remixed by Robert Fripp, David Singleton & Tony Arnold
- Cut by Jason Mitchell at Loud Mastering
- Gatefold Cover & Booklet
In common with much of Crimson's output, it was not well received at the time by critics, though its critical reputation has grown immeasurably in the intervening years to the point where a review of the 21st Century Guide to King Crimson boxed set in 2004 identified the album as the point "...where Fripp maps out the guitar blueprint for the entire post-punk movement."
The reputation of the 1972/1974 King Crimson line-up is now revered by critics and fans alike with the material very sought after. USA is the seventh in a series of audiophile King Crimson vinyl reissues. Manufactured on 200g super-heavyweight vinyl and housed in a reprint of the original sleeve.
"As Robert Fripp had done with King Crimson's first live LP, Earthbound (1972), USA is a single-disc concert package documenting the quartet during its 1974 swing through North America. As with its predecessor, USA was also issued as a sonic cenotaph of the concurrently defunct Krim. So insistent that the band would not be resurrected, Fripp concluded the LP's liner notes at the time with another three-letter epitaph: "R.I.P." The 1973/1974 King Crimson included the collective efforts of Fripp (guitar/mellotron), David Cross (violin), John Wetton (bass/vocals), and Bill Bruford (drums/percussion). USA also includes notable violin overdubs by Eddie Jobson on the tracks "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Pt. 2" and "21st Century Schizoid Man," as well as electric piano addendums to "Lament."
The opening drone re-creates the typical performance prelude, lifted directly from the Fripp and Brian Eno sonic sculpture No Pussyfooting (1973). The brusque juxtaposition of the ethereal opening to the aggressive "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Pt. 2" jolts the audience into the rips and snorts found during this tautly rendered instrumental. The readings of "Lament" and "Exiles" demonstrate this band's overwhelming sonic sensibilities. They are able to contrast and incorporate thick, viscous melodies and rhythms with alternately underlying sensitive, as well as ultimately beautiful, musical responses. A majority of the release is taken from a performance on June 28, 1974, at the Casino in Asbury Park, NJ, with the notable exception of "21st Century Schizoid Man," which was recorded two nights later at the Palace Theater in Providence, RI." - Lindsay Planer, All Music
Musicians:
Bass, Vocals – John Wetton
Drums, Percussion – Bill Bruford
Guitar, Mellotron – Robert Fripp
Violin, Keyboards – David Cross
Track Listing:
Side A
Walk On: No Pussyfooting
Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part II
Lament
Exiles
Side B
Improv: Asbury Park
Easy money
Improv
Side C
Fracture
21st Century Schizoid Man
Side D
Starless
Recorded live by the Record Plant N.Y.C. June 28, 1974 at the Casino Arena, Asbury Park, New Jersey
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