01	21st Century Schizoid Man						11:39
	02	Peoria						07:22
	03	The Sailor's Tale						04:49
	04	Earthbound						06:14
	05	Groon						15:33

Earthbound
live album
1972

[1] Wilmington, Delaware 11.02.1972
[2] Peoria 10.03.1972
[3] Jacksonville, FA 26.02.1972
[4] Orlando, FA 27.02.1972

Robert Fripp (guitar)
Mel Collins (alto, tenor, baritone sax, mellotron)
Boz (Burrell) (bass, vocals)
Ian Wallace (drums)

LP: 1972 UK Help (Island) HELP 6
LP: 1972 WG Polydor 2344 074
LP: 1972 WG Island 86 254 ET
LP: 1972 JP Editions EG 25MM0265
LP: 1977 UK Polydor 2343 092 (reissue)
LP: 1977 UK Polydor 3192 385 (reissue)
LP: 1977 FR Polydor 2310 519 (reissue)
Side A:
11'45 21st Century Schizoid Man [1]
7'30 Peoria [2]
4'45 The Sailor's Tale [3]
Side B:
7'08 Earthbound [4]
15'30 Groon [1]


Earthbound
30th Anniversary Edition

24-bit remastering by Robert Fripp.

CD: 2002.08.05 UK Virgin (DGM) CDVKCX11 (reissue, ltd. ed. g/f p/b p/s)
[as above]


Earthbound

LP: 1972? IT PolyGram (Philips) 2486 198 (diff. p/s)
CT: 1972? IT PolyGram (Philips) 3186 036 (diff. p/s)
[as above]


Earthbound
Date of Release 1972 (release)

AMG EXPERT REVIEW: The most obscure of the original King Crimson's LPs and the last to get reissued on CD, Earthbound is an anomaly in the group's output. Recorded along the final tour of the Robert Fripp-Boz Burrell-Ian Wallace-Mel Collins line-up in the late winter of 1972, the album was always notorious for its abysmal sound and for showcasing a band that was in the throes of disintegration, Burrell, Collins, and Wallace pushing toward blues and funk while Fripp was still fixated on classical music. The August 2002 CD release, remastered in state-of-the-art digital audio, does offer some considerable improvement in fidelity over the LP. "21st Century Schizoid Man" is the best cut here, a blistering account that rolls like an armored tank over the original studio version; Boz Burrell's voice, processed through a VCS3 synthesizer, takes a little getting used to (though it does allow the singer to replicate on stage the studio-generated distortion that highlighted Greg Lake's vocal), but when Fripp's guitar comes in and then Mel Collins launches into his featured spot on sax, the studio version just wilts - it might be a little too overloaded to qualify as the definitive version of the song, but it's a must-hear track for anyone who loved the classic original band. "Peoria" is a jam that captures a side of this band that was never represented on record, a jazzy two-chord improvisation that heavily features Burrell's scatting over Fripp's heavy volume-pedal work and some Collins sax blowing. "The Sailor's Tale" is the album's sole nod to Crimson's progressive side, showcasing Collins' Mellotron work and Fripp's guitar. "Earthbound" moves through some funky rhythms and more scatting by Burrell, before it turns into a showcase for Fripp's pyrotechnics. And then there's "Groon", a 15-minute expansion of the Crimson B-side highlighting each band mrmber, but especially Wallace and Fripp, and works well even with a four-minute digression on the VCS3, which phases the sound of the group into some unusual and intermittently interesting patterns; it ends on a stunningly apocalyptic note from Fripp's guitar. The CD makes this sound about as palatable as it ever will be, considering that everything here was recorded on a remote cassette hook-up without noise reduction - Earthbound is still going to jar listeners who are accustomed to the group's meticulous studio productions or the elegant, classically-oriented sound that they cultivated in that milieu; allowing for its limitations, however, it does represent the final incarnation of the longest lasting line-up of the early group, and a side of their work that was otherwise lost to posterity. - Bruce Eder

1. 21st Century Schizoid Man (Fripp/Giles/Lake/McDonald/Sinfield)
2. Peoria
3. The Sailor's Tale (Fripp)
4. Earthbound
5. Groon (Fripp)

Boz Burrell - Bass, Vocals
Mel Collins - Saxophone
Robert Fripp - Producer
Peter Sinfield - Lyricist
Ian Wallace - Drums, Vocals

1977 LP Polydor 2343092

2002 CD Japanese Import 1615



Personnel:
Robert Fripp - Electric Guitar
Mel Collins - Saxophones, Mellotron
Boz - Bass, vocals
Ian Wallace - Drums

Recorded in a tour over America in 1972, this is the first King Crimson live record I know of. It only has two tracks from previous albums, the ever-present "21st Century Schizoid Man", that IMO, is better played here than in USA, but not as good as in In the Court of Crimson King, and "The Sailors Tale", from Islands, the great album prior to this one, which I even think that is the only recorded version of this song.

The other three tracks are, as much as I understand, jam sessions or songs composed during the tour, because they are not from any album but this one. "Peoria" as the same name of the town where it was recorded and is a jazzy jam that starts with Mel Collins doing a great sax solo, and then goes on with the rest of the band rambling like hell. Mel plays like hell in this album, one has to say!!!

"Earthbound" starts also with Mel playing like a madman, and also as a somewhat scat singing by Boz, and has a great solo from Fripp. "Groon" is a 15 min. track with all the sounds you hope to hear on a KC track with a powerful drum solo by Wallace. Just great!
This one is much closer to the sound that KC would do in the Fripp, Bruford & Wetton era than to the orchestral sound of the early albums.

As for the musicians, the one that stands here is Mel Collins, but Fripp also plays his fair share of noise and magic solos, Boz plays more bass than sings, but does the two things greatly and Ian Wallace just kicks ass with his tight drumming (in fact, people tend to forget that prior to Bruford, KC had always great drumming)

So, this one is pure KC live magic, with all the sheer musicianship you can hope for and more.

Great album - 10/10
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