(Eclectic Prog) The Crimson ProjeKCt (King Crimson) - Live In Japan - 2014, MP3, 320 kbps

If the music of King Crimson isn’t enough to make your head spin then try reading the press release where they try and explain what The Crimson ProjeKCT actually is. To be fair it’s probably not that complicated - it just sounds complicated. I’ll try and give you the abridged version here…
…Robert Fripp has retired from the music industry stymying the use of the King Crimson name and so King Crimson continues with kingpins Adrian Belew and Tony Levin as various ProjeKCTs with this particular one being The Crimson ProjeKCT.
The Crimson ProjeKCT furthermore is a collision of two offshoot bands which results in there being two drummers and two bass players in the band. Technically they have one bass player and one Stick player…but you get my drift.
The album opens up with ‘B’Boom’ featuring a lengthy drum solo which is never a good idea even 10 songs in to the set. But with two drummers it’s even worse - it sounds flammy which I don’t particularly care for.
Whilst most of King Crimson’s music struggles to be commercial - or even listenable I hear some people say - the next track ‘THRAK’ is enough to challenge even the Crimson King’s most ardent admirers. So, with a drum solo and a noise fest kicking off the album it’s fair to say that this album is for the initiated to say the least. They’re certainly not looking to hook any new fans in this particular process.
Third track ‘Frame By Frame’ finally supplies the release with what must be the closest King Crimson have ever come to a cracking pop tune - albeit without losing any of their inherent weirdness. Perhaps there are many fans, like myself, for who the 1981 album ‘Discipline’ was their first introduction to the band. And this is reflected in this live album which features the aforementioned ‘Frame By Frame’, ‘Indiscipline’, ‘Thela Hun Ginjeet’ and the wonderfully psychotic ‘Elephant Talk’ - the perfect introduction to the Chapman Stick for the curious.
Another near-commercial song ‘Dinosaur’ is included in the set list here and is from ‘THRAK’. Like ‘Discipline’ ‘THRAK’ contributes most of the material here. The rest of the album is fleshed out with a couple of tracks from Crimson’s ‘70s output and another from ‘Three Of A Perfect Pair’.
The question here then is less how Markus Reuter fills in for Robert Fripp and more is this a good live album? That last question is more difficult to answer for someone like myself who hears little to be recommended in live albums. If anything live albums always lead me back to the studio albums. You can’t fault the musicianship on this album but for me at least live experiences are best left to the visceral experience of being there.