The DGM HQ team got very excited when they heard this version of LTIA Pt1, with certain voices going so far as to suggest it to be the “best ever” rendition of this beast.[endtease] They have a point. As those spiky guitar arpeggios begin, the rhythm section sprint off ahead, leaving Fripp fighting to stay on the back of the tiger on a turbo-charged gallop. As Wetton turns in an astonishing bass solo, Fripp heralds his guitar break with a pre-echo of Industry’s doom and gloom theme. No really!
Doctor Diamond had been introduced earlier in the year as the new quartet KC took to the road in the UK and Europe. This early version of Dr. Diamond is notable as it contains a different arrangement with a section that appears to draw upon the jazzier style of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and for those with longer memories, East of Eden. The song would go through further stages of refinement on stage but with Wetton having to cram more words on the verses than your average Funk & Wagnall’s, it’s perhaps no surprise that the song (whose principle riffs had been around since the earliest times of the Larks’ quintet line-up) never made it onto an official studio or live release at the time. The Spanish modes contained within the first improv make for exotic listening and the second improv – a gloriously spooky ‘tron-fest – would surely have made a great horror movie soundtrack. Despite the presence of a notable lighting-rig hum in the early stages of this bootleg recording the band are on terrific form.
