This article needs additional citations for verification .(July 2016) |
The Great Deceiver | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Live album by | ||||
Released | 30 October 1992 | |||
Recorded | 23 October 1973 – 30 June 1974 | |||
Genre | Progressive rock, experimental rock | |||
Length | 264:31 | |||
Label | E.G. Virgin | |||
Producer | Robert Fripp | |||
King Crimson chronology | ||||
| ||||
Vol. 1 of 2007 double CD re-release | ||||
![]() The original release was a four-CD box set. It was re-released in 2007 as two double-disc sets. |
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
All About Jazz | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Baltimore Sun | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Entertainment Weekly | B [4] |
Record Collector | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Great Deceiver is a 4-CD box set by the band King Crimson, consisting of live recordings from 1973 and 1974, released on Virgin Records in 1992. In 2007, it was reissued on Fripp's Discipline Global Mobile label as two separate 2-CD sets, each featuring new artwork. The box set is titled after a song from the group's 1974 album Starless and Bible Black .
The box set features portions of concert recordings of the band from 1973 to 1974. All tracks are performed by the lineup of guitarist/keyboardist Robert Fripp, bassist/vocalist John Wetton, violinist/keyboardist David Cross and drummer Bill Bruford. Percussionist Jamie Muir left the band in early 1973, and hence is not featured on the set. The band's 30 June 1974 concert from Providence, Rhode Island is presented in its entirety on CDs 1 and 2; this was the second-to-last live concert ever performed by this incarnation of King Crimson.
King Crimson's "Walk On" music in 1973-74 was an excerpt of "The Heavenly Music Corporation," from the album (No Pussyfooting) by Robert Fripp and Brian Eno. These "walk-ons" are reproduced here, and indexed as separate tracks.
Three recordings from this box set were previously available on other King Crimson albums, albeit in slightly altered forms. An abbreviated version of "We'll Let You Know" appears on the Starless and Bible Black album, released in 1974. Similarly, an abbreviated version of "Providence" was included on the Red album, also released in 1974. The live performance of "21st Century Schizoid Man" on CD Two was issued in 1975 as part of the album USA , featuring overdubbed violin from Eddie Jobson.
Many of the recordings on this album are band improvisations. One such piece is "The Law of Maximum Distress", which appears in two sections, as it was believed at the time that the tape had run out in the middle of the performance. This supposed incident gave the piece its title, a reference to Sod's law ("Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, at the worst possible moment."). As Robert Fripp notes in the CD jacket, "Most live recording follows the policy of two machines in use simultaneously to meet an eventuality such as this. We learn." However, it was later discovered while compiling the 2009 Live in Zurich Collectors' Club release that the middle portion of the track had actually been severed from the tapes and dubbed over for inclusion on Starless and Bible Black, as "The Mincer". The complete track was later digitally reassembled and released in 2014, as part of the Starless box set. [6]
The liner notes to The Great Deceiver runs to 68 pages. These notes feature comments from Fripp, Wetton and Cross, annotated excerpts from Fripp's 1974 diary, reviews of the previous King Crimson box set, Frame by Frame: The Essential King Crimson (1991), and a complete listing of all concerts performed by the band in 1973 and 1974.
The track "Exiles" is credited to Fripp/Wetton/Palmer-James on this box set. The correct credit, as listed on Larks' Tongues in Aspic and confirmed by BMI's records, is Cross/Fripp/Palmer-James. Despite having no legal co-writing credit for the song, John Wetton has indicated in interviews that he wrote the bridge for "Exiles."[ citation needed ]
(Note: Only the first half of "The Night Watch" is taken from the Glasgow performance; the second half was taken from the Zurich show featured on CD Four. The liner notes indicate that there were technical problems with both recordings, and that the splice was done "to honour the spirit and sense of Glasgow's performance".)
Executive producer: Robert Fripp. Mixing by Fripp, Tony Arnold and David Singleton.
Chart (1992) | Peak position |
---|---|
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [7] | 68 |
King Crimson were an English progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London. The band drew inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, 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 earned a large cult following.
Starless and Bible Black is the sixth studio album by English progressive rock band King Crimson, released in March 1974 by Island Records in the United Kingdom and by Atlantic Records in the United States. It carries over most of the same lineup which appeared on the preceding album, Larks' Tongues in Aspic, with only percussionist Jamie Muir not returning. In order to more faithfully capture the band's live energy, much of the material on this album was tracked in concert and edited together with studio recordings.
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 classical music and European free improvisation as central influences.
Red is the seventh studio album by English progressive rock band King Crimson. It was released on October 1974 through 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. The track "Providence" was a free improvisation recorded at their 30 June 1974 concert at the Palace Theater in the city of the same name. Parts of some of the pieces were conceived during previous improvisations performed by the band live. "Starless" was originally considered for their previous album, Starless and Bible Black (1974), but was deemed incomplete at the time. The lengthy version included on this album was refined and performed during concerts throughout 1974.
King Crimson Live in Mainz is a live album by the band King Crimson, released through the King Crimson Collectors' Club in March 2001. The album was recorded at Eltzer Hof, Mainz, West Germany, on March 30, 1974.
The Beat Club, Bremen is a live album by the band King Crimson, released through the King Crimson Collectors' Club in February 1999. It was recorded on the German programme Beat Club, in Bremen, West Germany, on October 17, 1972 and first aired on November 25. The video of this performance is included in the deluxe "Larks' Tongues in Aspic" box set.
The Night Watch is a live album by the English rock band King Crimson, recorded in Amsterdam in 1973, and released in 1997.
B'Boom: Live in Argentina is a live album by the band King Crimson, released in 1995. All songs were recorded between 6 and 16 October 1994 at the Broadway Theatre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, except for "Heartbeat" which was recorded in Córdoba.
USA is a live album by the English band King Crimson, released in 1975. It was recorded at the Casino, Asbury Park, New Jersey, on 28 June 1974, except “21st Century Schizoid Man”, which was recorded at the Palace Theatre, Providence, Rhode Island, United States, on 30 June 1974. Violin and electric piano overdubs by Eddie Jobson were recorded at Olympic Studios, London in 1975.
Live in Central Park, NYC is a live album by the band King Crimson, released through the King Crimson Collectors' Club in April 2000. It was recorded at the Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park, New York, USA, July 1, 1974. This was the last performance by the 1970s incarnation, and the last by King Crimson before reforming in 1981.
Live in Mexico City is a live album by band King Crimson, first released as a free Windows Media Audio download in 1999. Some tracks later appeared on the live albums Cirkus: The Young Persons' Guide to King Crimson Live (1999) and Vrooom Vrooom (2001), and as part of the expanded "THRAK BOX" in 2015. The album was recorded at the Metropolitan Theater, Mexico City, Mexico, 2–4 August 1996
Frame by Frame: The Essential King Crimson is a 4-CD box set by the band King Crimson, released in 1991.
David Cross is an English electric violinist and keyboardist best known for playing with progressive rock band King Crimson from 1972 to 1974. Cross appears on their studio albums Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1973) and Starless and Bible Black (1974), as well as “Providence”, a live track on Red (1974), in addition to numerous concert recordings that have been released by Robert Fripp's Discipline Global Mobile label in the decades since, including USA (1975) and The Night Watch (1997).
Richard William Palmer-James is an English guitarist, songwriter and lyricist. He may be best known as one of the founding members of Supertramp ; writing lyrics for several songs by the progressive rock group King Crimson in the early 1970s; and for writing lyrics for the 1985 hit "(I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena" by Sandra.
Cirkus: The Young Persons' Guide to King Crimson Live is a live album compilation from King Crimson. It was released in 1999 through Virgin Records.
"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.
The 21st Century Guide to King Crimson – Volume One – 1969–1974 is the first of two 4-CD sets of compilation albums, showcasing the entire production of the British progressive rock band King Crimson. This set of discs contains both studio and live performances ranging from the beginnings of the band in 1969 to their first dissolution in 1974.
Vrooom Vrooom is a live two CD set by the band King Crimson, recorded in 1995 & 1996, and released in 2001. It features the six member “double trio” lineup of the band, with guitarists Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew, bassists Tony Levin and Trey Gunn, and drummers Bill Bruford and Pat Mastelotto.
The Elements of King Crimson is a box set series by King Crimson. Originally created to promote the band's 2014 tour of the same name, it is sold exclusively through the band's merchandise booth on the tour and from the Discipline Global Mobile online stores.
Larks' Tongues in Aspic is the second of the major box set releases from English progressive rock group King Crimson, released in 2012 by Discipline Global Mobile & Panegyric Records. The set is devoted to all existing recordings associated with the 1973 album Larks' Tongues In Aspic.