King Crimson - The Great Deceiver: Live 1973-1974 (1992) [4CD Box]

In King Crimson's extensive catalog of archival recordings and box sets, The Great Deceiver (Live 1973-1974) is the undisputed winner, the item truly worth acquiring. The four-CD set Frame by Frame, released 18 months earlier, was light on material previously unavailable and included a few edits and overdubs on classic King Crimson tracks that shocked the fans. Epitaph, another four-CD collection culled from the group's first live shows in 1969, boasted understandably flawed sound and more repetitive content. But The Great Deceiver has it all. Over four discs, the set chronicles the on-stage activity between October 1973 and June 1974 of the most powerful King Crimson lineup. Robert Fripp, John Wetton, David Cross, and Bill Bruford were mostly performing material from their previous two LPs (Larks Tongues in Aspic and Starless and Bible Black). Yes, the track list remains pretty much the same from one show to another, but the group approaches each night from a different angle, changing the arrangements on the fly to suit the prevailing mood - check out the chameleon-esque "Easy Money," presented in four guises, for tangible proof. Most importantly, the group performed unpredictable improvisations that embodied the struggle between order and chaos that Fripp thrived to express in penned songs like "Starless" and "Fracture." The live tapes have been beautifully mastered so that the music hits hard without losing the subtle nuances of Cross' violin. At the time of its release, The Great Deceiver filled a gap in the group's discography (the live album USA had not been officially reissued yet), but even after tons of additional concerts from that period were released by Fripp's label, Discipline, this box set still stands as the definitive argument to consecrate the 1973-1974 Crimson as its most exciting incarnation.


Tracks:



CD 1: Things Are Not As They Seem…

01. Walk On … No Pussyfooting
02. Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part Two
03. Lament
04. Exiles
05. Improv - A Voyage To The Centre Of The Cosmos
06. Easy Money
07. Improv - Providence
08. Fracture
09. Starless



CD 2: Sleight Of Hand (Or Now You Don't See It Again) And…

01. 21st Century Schizoid Main
02. Walk Off from Providence… No Pussyfooting
03. Sharks' Lungs In Lemsip
04. Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part One
05. Book Of Saturday
06. Easy Money
07. We'll Let You Know
08. The Night Watch
09. Improv - Tight Scrummy
10. Peace - A Theme
11. Cat Food
12. Easy Money…
13. …It Is For You, But Not For Us



CD 3: … Acts Of Deception (The Magic Circus, Or Weasels Stole Our Fruit)

01. Walk On… No Pussyfooting
02. The Great Deceiver
03. Improv - Bartley Butsford
04. Exiles
05. Impov - Daniel Dust
06. The Night Watch
07. Doctor Diamond
08. Starless
09. Improv - Wilton Carpet
10. The Talking Drum
11. Larks' Tongues In Aspic: Part Two (Abbreviated)
12. Applause & Announcement
13. Improv - Is There Life Out There?



CD 4: … But Neither Are They Otherwise

01. Improv - The Golden Walnut
02. The Night Watch
03. Fracture
04. Improv - Clueless And Slightly Slack
05. Walk On… No Pussyfooting
06. Improv - Some Pussyfooting
07. Larks' Tongues In Aspic: Part One
08. Improv - The Law of Maximum Distress: Part One
09. Improv - The Law of Maximum Distress: Part Two
10. Easy Money
11. Improv - Some More Pussyfooting
12. The Talking Drum