Music Is Our Friend: Live in Washington and Albany | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | 20 November 2021 | |||
Recorded | August 22 & September 11, 2021 | |||
Venue | The Anthem, Washington D.C. (Disc 1 & tracks 1–5 of Disc 2) and The Egg, Albany (Disc 2, tracks 6–9) | |||
Genre | Progressive rock | |||
Length | 136:15 | |||
Label | Discipline Global Mobile | |||
Producer | David Singleton | |||
King Crimson chronology | ||||
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Music Is Our Friend: Live in Washington and Albany is a live album released by King Crimson on 20 November 2021. It is an official bootleg featuring King Crimson's final performances in North America in September of that year (and presumably the final tour by the band). [1] [2] It also features four songs from the pre-tour "Friends And Family" show in Albany. [3] [4]
The Music Is Our Friend tour was scheduled for 2020, but was postponed a full year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour began in July 2021 in Florida. There was a two-week break, and multiple shows had to be moved due to extreme weather, but no shows were cancelled. [5] According to Robert Fripp, this is most likely the final tour by the band as there has been no activity from the band since.
The album was released as a double CD with each CD around 60 minutes long. The first 15 tracks were from the final performances of the "Music Is Our Friend" Tour. The last four were taken from the pre-tour in Albany. The songs they play come from throughout the entire band's lifetime. [6]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
All About Jazz | [4] |
Writing for All About Jazz , John Kelman enjoyed the album, stating that the band had evolved and taken old music and made it new again. He considered the release to be a large step forward for the band, highlighting all of the band members' skills as musicians. [4]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Introductory Soundscape" | Robert Fripp | 6:53 |
2. | "The Hell Hounds Of Krim" | Gavin Harrison, Pat Mastelotto, William Rieflin | 3:35 |
3. | "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part I" | Fripp, John Wetton, Jamie Muir, David Cross, Bill Bruford | 8:04 |
4. | "Pictures of a City" | Fripp, Peter Sinfield | 8:35 |
5. | "The Court of the Crimson King" | Ian McDonald, Sinfield | 9:46 |
6. | "Red" | Fripp | 6:07 |
7. | "Tony Cadenza Deals It Slitheryacious-To-The-Max" | Tony Levin | 1:11 |
8. | "Neurotica" | Levin, Fripp, Bruford, Adrian Belew | 4:46 |
9. | "One More Red Nightmare" | Fripp, Wetton | 6:09 |
10. | "Indiscipline" | Levin, Fripp, Bruford, Belew | 9:21 |
Total length: | 64:27 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
11. | "Epitaph" | Fripp, Sinfield, Michael Giles, McDonald, Greg Lake | 9:08 |
12. | "Radical Action II" | Fripp | 2:29 |
13. | "Level Five" | Trey Gunn, Fripp, Mastelotto, Belew | 7:06 |
14. | "Starless" (12:15)" | Fripp, Richard Palmer-James, Wetton, Cross, Bruford | 15:22 |
15. | "21st Century Schizoid Man" (12:44)" | Fripp, Sinfield, Giles, McDonald, Lake | 14:48 |
16. | "Tony Cadenza Serves It Piping Hot" | Levin | 1:19 |
17. | "Discipline" | Levin, Fripp, Bruford, Belew | 5:08 |
18. | "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part II" | Fripp | 6:53 |
19. | "Islands" | Fripp, Sinfield | 9:09 |
Total length: | 71:48 |
King Crimson were an English-based progressive rock band formed in London in 1968. Led by guitarist Robert Fripp, they drew inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, blues, industrial, electronic, experimental music and new wave. They exerted a strong influence on the early 1970s progressive rock movement, including on contemporaries such as Yes and Genesis, and continue to inspire subsequent generations of artists across multiple genres. The band has earned a large cult following, especially in the 21st century.
Robert Fripp is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session musician and collaborator, notably with David Bowie, Blondie, Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Daryl Hall, the Roches, Talking Heads, and David Sylvian. He also composed the startup sound of Windows Vista, in collaboration with Tucker Martine and Steve Ball. His discography includes contributions to more than 700 official releases.
Larks' Tongues in Aspic is the fifth studio album by the English progressive rock group King Crimson, released on 23 March 1973 through Island Records in the UK and Atlantic Records in the United States and Canada. This album is the debut of King Crimson's third incarnation, featuring co-founder and guitarist Robert Fripp along with four new members: bass guitarist and vocalist John Wetton, violinist and keyboardist David Cross, percussionist Jamie Muir, and drummer Bill Bruford. It is a key album in the band's evolution, drawing on Eastern European modernist classical music and European free improvisation as central influences.
Red is the seventh studio album by English progressive rock band King Crimson, released on 6 October 1974 on Island Records in the United Kingdom and Atlantic Records in North America and Japan. The album was recorded at Olympic Studios in London in July and August 1974, and produced by the band themselves.
Trey Gunn is an American musician, known for being in the progressive rock band King Crimson from 1994 to 2003. He plays Warr Guitar and Chapman Stick instruments.
California Guitar Trio (CGT) is an acoustic–electric band formed in Los Angeles in 1991 with the aim of expanding the potential of acoustic guitars played in the New standard tuning (NST) introduced by Robert Fripp on Guitar Craft courses. The California Guitar Trio's core lineup consisted of Paul Richards, Bert Lams, and Hideyo Moriya. Today's CGT lineup includes founding members Richards and Lams, with the addition of Tom Griesgraber, a Chapman Stick virtuoso. Highly regarded instrumentalists, the CGT have achieved worldwide renown for their eclectic repertoire, precision arrangements, and expansive sonic palette. The California Guitar Trio has toured globally for over three decades, performing more than 2,000 concerts. CGT has released 21 albums, with their music being streamed over 120 million times on Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.
Ian Richard McDonald was an English musician, composer and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of the progressive rock band King Crimson in 1968, as well as the hard rock band Foreigner in 1976.
21st Century Schizoid Band were a King Crimson alumnus group formed in 2002.
"21st Century Schizoid Man" is a song by the progressive rock band King Crimson, released in October 1969 as the opening track on their debut album In the Court of the Crimson King. Often regarded as the group's signature song, it has been described by Rolling Stone as "a seven-and-a-half-minute statement of purpose: rock power, jazz spontaneity, and classical precision harnessed in the service of a common aim" and as an early example of heavy metal.
Michael "Jakko" Jakszyk is an English musician, record producer, and actor. He has released several solo albums as a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as lead singer and second guitarist of King Crimson from 2013 to 2021 succeeding Adrian Belew in the role. His work has been variously credited to "Jakko", "Jakko Jakszyk", and "Jakko M. Jakszyk".
"Starless" is a composition by English progressive rock band King Crimson. It is the final track on their seventh studio album, Red, released on 6 October 1974.
The ProjeKcts are a succession of spin-off projects associated with the band King Crimson.
"Larks' Tongues in Aspic" is a musical suite by the English progressive rock band King Crimson. Spanning thirty years and four albums, the series comprises five parts, all of which carry unifying musical motifs. Parts I and II were released as the introductory and final tracks on King Crimson's 1973 album of the same name, part III was featured on their 1984 album Three of a Perfect Pair, part IV appeared on 2000's The Construkction of Light, and the final part, "Level Five", was included on the 2003 album The Power to Believe. Despite breaking the naming convention, Robert Fripp, King Crimson founder and only constant contributor to the suite, insists that "Level Five" is part of the pentalogy.
A Scarcity of Miracles is the lone album by Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins, released in 2011. It united singer and guitarist Jakko Jakszyk with three musicians best known from King Crimson, guitarist Robert Fripp, saxophonist Mel Collins and bassist/Chapman Stick player Tony Levin. Porcupine Tree member Gavin Harrison was featured on drums. Jakszyk and Harrison would go on to participate together in the next incarnation of King Crimson.
Live at the Orpheum is a live album by the band King Crimson, released by Discipline Global Mobile records in 2015. The album was recorded on 30 September and 1 October at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, California on the band's The Elements of King Crimson US tour of 2014.
Live in Toronto is a live album by the band King Crimson, released by Discipline Global Mobile records in 2016. The album was recorded on 20 November at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto, Canada during the band's The Elements of King Crimson tour of 2015. It is the second full-length release by the current seven-piece incarnation of the band and featured new compositions never before released by the band on record.
Live in Chicago, or Official Bootleg: Live in Chicago, June 28, 2017, is a live album by the English progressive rock band King Crimson, released through Discipline Global Mobile records on 14 October 2017. The album was recorded on 28 June at the Chicago Theatre in Chicago, Illinois during the band's 2017 United States tour. It is the first full-length release by the eight-piece incarnation of the band and features new songs and rearrangements of compositions mostly from the early 1970s.
Live in Vienna, or Live in Vienna, December 1, 2016, is a triple-disc live album by the English progressive rock band King Crimson, originally released in a limited capacity in Japan as Live in Vienna 2016 + Live in Tokyo 2015 on 27 September 2017. The expanded album, just titled Live in Vienna, was released through Discipline Global Mobile on 6 April 2018.
Meltdown: Live in Mexico City is a Blu-ray and triple-disc CD live album by the English progressive rock band King Crimson. Recorded over five nights in July 2017, Meltdown was released on 20 October 2018 and was produced by the band's keyboardist Bill Rieflin from Multitrack recordings. The release was announced in August 2018 and was preceded by streaming of the track "Indiscipline" on 4 October.