king crimson albums 1969-1974

eg records negotiates a king crimson deal with atlantic records
the album sells well for a debut, the band's first live gig was hyde park
opening for the rolling stones, in front of over 150,000 people

eg records negotiates a 4 album deal with atlantic: 3 studio/1 live
giles, macdonald, and lake exit king crimson, (but not eg records)
fripp and sinfield remain

eg records negotiates another 4 album deal with atlantic: 3 studio/1 live
big selling point: bruford comes in from yes; he's interested in playing serious drums
its a whole new band, with a violin, a percussionist, and a new lyricist: palmer-james

fripp makes plans for the re-entry of macdonald
this was a very smart move, record company-wise
macdonald was an integral part of the original album that sold well
his re-entry ranks with bruford joining, fripp is raising the ante

eg records negotiates for another deal with atlantic
atlantic declines, as you can see by the cover of "usa"
they want platinum sales, its like a tombstone, on the back it says "r.i.p."

the album "red" has a certain tension like no other king crimson album
i always took it to mean they were "in the red", as a band, reaching the critical point
fripp knew it was the 3rd studio album, it was do or die

this is the kind of tension that compels an artist like fripp
to create a work like the song, "red"
the guitar is the epitome of king crimson at its finest
the drumming completely expresses that fact

i think fripp gave it his best shot, and achieved amazing results, musically speaking
i don't think you could ask for anything better than "red"
the way he plays the mellotron and the guitar at the same time in the middle
is really cool, the melody in the bass/cello unison is once again,
the epitome of classic king crimson evil

i hear a thread that runs thru the last 3 studio albums:
"lark's tongue in aspic pt.2", "fracture", and "red"
"breathless" from fripp's solo album continues in the same vein
once again, when the pressure is on, fripp responds with music
that delivers that element in spades

even though, by now, i expect fripp to blow my mind,
he still catches me by surprise consistently
his playing on the projekcts (all of them) completely
re-writes the concept of fripp in my head

how could it possibly get any better, and especially this MUCH better?
hearing him respond in a live situation like he does on the projekcts
is my favorite "king crimson" of all time
the sound he is putting out might be the best thing i've ever heard in my life
it has completely turned me off to the "democracy" king crimson
and made me a staunch fanatic who prefers the "alternating dictators
with the remaining band accommodating" approach

two things i don't like and have heard quite enough of are:
1. two guitars playing odd meters in sync, but never in phase
2. a drummer who is always in search of way to go against any and all grain

i much prefer accommodation over collaboration in this band
i'm sure king crimson and most of their fans will disagree with what i'm saying
that's ok with me, i'm a listener, i have every right to like what i like best
i'm going mostly by what my ears want to hear more of,
and would rather not hear anymore of at all

if i had to pick one king crimson tune i like the best overall,
i would chose "fracture", i recently studied a detailed guitar and bass
TAB for this tune, and  the complexity is like nothing else i've ever seen
in a so-called "rock" band, it must be seen to be believed