DGM finally announces 50th anniversary surround deluxe set of IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING

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“…Let’s make a hit waxing…” – Robert Fripp, studio chatter on recording sessions, June, 1969

As a preamble to a recording take, it’s not exactly clear whether it was meant to be an attempt to focus minds or a witty intro to a take countdown. It was of the moment, with no intention of ever being heard again. Nobody knew it would turn out to be prescient as Crimson, barely five months since formation, laid down tracks for sessions for a proposed debut album – sessions about to be abandoned in favour of a move to another studio and total self-production weeks later. Fifty years on, the album is one of the most beloved & revered in the rock music canon. The 50th anniversary edition features completely new mixes of the album in stereo & 5.1 by Steven Wilson, with the album presented in 24/96 resolution in multi-channel for the first time. The multi-channel master also includes the extended duo version of ‘I Talk to the Wind’ in 5.1. This track, much longer than the version mixed in 2009, also features in stereo along with newly mixed versions of other session tracks in stereo and a full set of instrumental mixes. In 2009, Court was one of the earliest of Steven’s 5.1 mixes of albums on which he or his band were not the main artist – along with Lizard & Red & while the King Crimson 5.1 series was, to a large extent, key to the revival of 5.1 for audio – an audio form the major record companies had all but abandoned as a result of the dual format confusion of sacd/dvd-a almost a decade earlier, Court was the one album of the many 5.1 mixes he has successfully undertaken which he wanted to revisit. The 50th anniversary and the first release on Blu-Ray provided just such an opportunity. Nor are these the only new features on the set.

The original studio instrumental take of ‘21st Century Schizoid Man’ has been completely re-imagined & mixed by David Singleton, with the addition of Greg Lake vocals from the later studio sessions at Wessex & contemporary sax & guitar overdubs by Mel Collins & Jakko Jakszyk – providing a link between the original band, the early 1970s line-up and the current band. David Singleton also contributes a mix of ‘Epitaph’ which highlights & isolates Greg’s vocals from the original studio sessions, showing just how spine chilling and powerful that vocal delivery was – an incredibly mature sound for a young man to achieve in his first major studio recording. Among the many tapes newly transferred or being transferred for this (& the forthcoming, much larger, boxed set of Complete 1969 Recordings), was the original tape of the Island released ‘The Court of the Crimson King’ single which had been previously dubbed from a 7” single as a curio. These and many other tracks give a comprehensive overview of one of the classic albums.

The Alternate album appears, quite deliberately, in slightly different track-listings on the Blu-Ray & CD (& on the accompanying double vinyl set). The aim on the Blu-Ray was to provide a fully sequenced listen that closely resembled the original album running order. This was extended on the CD, gathering many of the new mixes on one disc & revised again to make for a satisfying listen on vinyl.

In common with all other King Crimson studio albums in the format, the 5.1 mixes are being made available in this affordable set rather than being held over exclusively for larger expensive boxed sets, a practice that limits the availability of the music in multichannel audio to the detriment of artists and fans alike.
 
Full Blu-Ray track listing:

Blu-Ray NTSC, Zone ABC, playable on all BD players & drives

DTS-HD MA 5.1 & LPCM 5.1/DTS-HD MA Stereo & LPCM 24/96

2019 5.1 mixes

1 21st Century Schizoid Man
2 I Talk to the Wind
3 Epitaph
4 Moonchild
5 The Court of the Crimson King

Additional track

6 I Talk to the Wind (duo version)

Mixed by Steven Wilson

Original Master Edition

1 21st Century Schizoid Man
2 I Talk to the Wind
3 Epitaph
4 Moonchild
5 The Court of the Crimson King

Produced by King Crimson

Alternate Album

1 21st Century Schizoid Man
2 I Talk to the Wind
3 I Talk to the Wind
4 Epitaph
5 Epitaph
6 Moonchild
7 The Court of the Crimson King

1 Morgan studios June 1969 take with Greg Lake vocal overdubs from Wessex August 1969 & Mel Collins & Jakko Jakszyk August 2019 overdubs
2 Alternate 2019 mix
3 Duo version, full length master, 2019 mix
4 Vocals isolated/highlighted, 2019 mix
5 Alt take - 2019 mix
6 Take 1, 2019 mix
7 Morgan studios, June 1969 take, 2019 mix

Mixed by Steven Wilson except 1, 4 mixed by David Singleton

Additional material

1 Wind Session
2 21st Century Schizoid Man
3 I Talk to the Wind
4 Epitaph
5 Moonchild
6 The Court of the Crimson King
7 21st Century Schizoid Man
8 The Court of the Crimson King (part 1)
9 The Court of the Crimson King (part 2)

1 2019 stereo mix
2 Trio version, 2019 mix
3 Studio run through, 2019 mix
4 Backing track, 2019 mix
5 Album edit, 2009 mix
6 Take 3, 2009 mix
7 Morgan studios take, June 1969
8, 9 Single a/b side, 1969

Mixed by Steven Wilson 1 – 6, Mixed by King Crimson 7 – 9

2019 Instrumental mixes

1 21st Century Schizoid Man
2 I Talk to the Wind
3 Epitaph
4 Moonchild
5 The Court of the Crimson King

Mixed by Steven Wilson

Video: 21csm extract Hyde Park 1969
 
In common with all other King Crimson studio albums in the format, the 5.1 mixes are being made available in this affordable set rather than being held over exclusively for larger expensive boxed sets, a practice that limits the availability of the music in multichannel audio to the detriment of artists and fans alike.
30 pounds? I guess that's not too bad?!
 
Obviously we're gonna get another big, expensive box set of this. I kept up with the "smaller boxes" that were DVD and still bought the big box sets with duplicate materials, so I guess I'm in for another one.

Interestingly, this time they have a blu ray in the "affordable" set and not a DVD!
 
IMO, the 1st SW 5.1 of this doesn't sound that great.

I always thought it sounded fine - for one thing, there's quite a bit less tape hiss than the original stereo mix (I guess there were a lot of bounce-downs?). "I Talk To The Wind" is a surround demo track for me.

I assume this new mix is sourced from the same multis as the old one, so I'm not exactly sure how the fidelity could be improved...
 
IMO, the 1st SW 5.1 of this doesn't sound that great.

On my system, it did .... certainly superior to the crappy vinyl editions I grew up with and when you consider the price of the remaster [BD~A/3RBCDs] it's still cheaper than those Japanese SACDs in special 7" packaging and $10 more than the list of AP/MoFi Stereo SACDs!!!!!!!! I'm sure ImportCD will come in at a cheaper price ...... No rush ..... still have over a month before release to pre~order!

I guess I'm IN!
 
No argument the 1st SW 5.1 sounds better than various stereo sources, but compared to his Red or Discipline? I was unimpressed with the SQ, by comparison.

Which is ALL the more reason Mike to consider purchasing the new SW 5.1 remix. I'm sure Steve Wilson wouldn't have considered remixing the album if he didn't think he could improve on his previous effort, As I said, ImportCD will probably come through with a less expensive option.
 
No argument the 1st SW 5.1 sounds better than various stereo sources, but compared to his Red or Discipline? I was unimpressed with the SQ, by comparison.

Would that be a fair comparison? Red was recorded nearly five years later, and Discipline over ten years later. Recording technology improved at a pretty rapid pace over the course of the 1970s.
 
Would that be a fair comparison? Red was recorded nearly five years later, and Discipline over ten years later. Recording technology improved at a pretty rapid pace over the course of the 1970s.
I'm not sure how "fair" plays in to it. The discussion is whether it's likely SW could improve his 1st attempt.
 
I'm not sure how "fair" plays in to it. The discussion is whether it's likely SW could improve his 1st attempt.

IMO, Mike, your BEST option would be to wait until the reviews of SW's new 5.1 remix ascertain whether it is an actual improvement over the original. I'm sure they'll press enough sets so it won't go OOP anytime too soon! A lot of us have been burned by prematurely pulling the trigger on purchases only to be disappointed by subpar remixes.........remember the Dickie Chycki RUSH fiasco? Glad I didn't pull the trigger on that one.
 
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I'm not sure how "fair" plays in to it. The discussion is whether it's likely SW could improve his 1st attempt.

I understand that. I think what I'm trying to articulate is that even with all the remixing/remastering talent in the world, it's probably not possible for Court to sound as good as those later KC albums because of the limitations of the source material.

I really dug the first version - I thought SW nailed the placement of the instruments in the surround field, and while it's no audiophile masterpiece, I suspect that comes down to the way it was recorded rather than a failure to bring out the best possible sound on the tapes during the remix process. Perhaps the new mix will prove me wrong...
 
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