Champaign-Urbana Sessions

AUDIO SOURCE: Reel To Reel Tape

DGM AUDIO QUALITY

AVERAGE CUSTOMER RATING

Originally released in 2002 as KCCC21 The Champaign-Urbana sessions from January 1983 documents the struggle to come up with a third King Crimson album by the line-up that had brought us Discipline (1981) and Beat (1982).

Although this club release is filled with ideas and motifs which would eventually find a home on Three Of A Perfect Pair, many of them would would not. Several times we hear tracks tailing off into nothing as enthusiasm or inspiration abandons the Crims accordingly. It’s interesting to hear the Bowie-heavy vibe of Not One Of Those and speculate how this might have developed had it been taken further.

Synth-heavy textures and deep grooves seem very much to be the order of the day as we hear Crimson in sifting-mode, seeing what works, what doesn’t and marking things down to be revisited at a later point.

Fragmented would undergo several bouts of research and development before eventually morphing into as Industry, and the track entitled Robert and Bill ended up as the introductory section of LTIA Pt 3.

Crimson would continue the search for their third album after this session. First they’d try a shot at in Arny’s Shack in Dorset in May 1983. Then the action changed location to Marcus Studio, in London where Beat had been recorded in the previous June, and for the final time that year at Bearsville Studios in New York state in November.
Champaign-Urbana Sessions

AUDIO SOURCE: Reel To Reel Tape

DGM AUDIO QUALITY

AVERAGE CUSTOMER RATING

TRACK
TIME
01
San Francisco
02:06
02
Tony Bass Riff
03:28
03
Sequenced
03:55
04
Steinberger Melody
04:59
05
Fragmented
04:02
06
Not One Of Those
01:45
07
ZZZZs
02:10
08
Reel 3 Jam
02:34
09
Robert And Bill
02:08
10
Say NO
02:46
11
Roberts Ballad
03:44
12
Heat In The Jungle
07:07
13
Grace Jones
05:46
14
Adrian Looped
01:19
Written by Mike Frost
CD reissue?
Is there any chance that next year’s KCCC reissues for the public market could include this prestigious volume? I’d kill for a copy! Heard "Robert’s Ballad" online and fell in love with the piece. Easily in my top five 80s Crimson tunes. Love it to bits and can’t wait to hear a whole album’s worth of material from sessions that produced an outtake of such beauty. So for this track alone, I give this FIVE stars out of five. I’d give it ten but I can’t. And please release it!
Written by Todd Harrison
Great music and a small correction
Really like this CD. A small thing, but it’s spelled Champaign-Urbana.
Written by Joseph Pettini
Happy to finally have this!
I missed out on the CD release, so this FLAC version is most welcomed. Crimson’s ideas and sketches, particularly from this era, are so rich and musical that they make great listening even in unfinished form. Highly recommended.
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