HiRez Poll KING CRIMSON - EARTHBOUND [Blu-Ray Audio]

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Rate the BDA of King Crimson - EARTHBOUND

  • 5

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 4

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 3

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1: Poor Content, Surround Mix, and Fidelity

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    15

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Please post your thoughts and comments on this Blu-Ray Audio release from King Crimson, available in the 2017 box set entitled "Sailors' Tales".
The Blu-Ray Audio disc includes a new Quadraphonic mix of King Crimson's 1972 performance at Summit Studios in Denver, CO.
The same Quadraphonic mix is also available in a separate CD/DVD-V configuration.

(n) :) (y)

earthbound.jpg
 
Disclaimers - I have the CD/DVD-V set, not the Blu-ray from the Sailor's Tale box set. The album was totally new to me, and I don't have the related releases Ladies of the Road or Summit Studios.

Upsides: The Summit Studios tracks sound great both in Stereo and in quad. The Summit Tracks sound near perfect and the performances are strong. On my setup, the banter between Summit tracks is very quiet compared to the songs. The Schizoid men tracks are an interesting and engaging series. These bits are in heavy rotation in the car (stereo) and at home (quad).

Downsides: Just as it was advertised, the CD is near bootleg quality. It's a painful listen compared to the Summit Studios tracks. I do not plan to put the cd in heavy rotation. The "new sequence stereo" of the Earthbound album on the DVD is fine, albeit with the same sonic limitations of the cd. There is an extended version of "Sailor's Tale" from Jacksonville that should have been left unextended. The drum solo sounds terrible and is terrible. It's like listening to "The Grand Vizier's Garden Party" from Pink Floyds's Electric Moo played at full blast while inside a tin shed.

That being said, I think this is a must buy. At this price, the Summit Studios alone would have been sufficient. This is a really cool document of that time and I'm not sure what else there is at this quality. Looking for other really high quality shows from this lineup sent me back to the Zoom Club shows of April 1971, many months before Islands was recorded and released.

I'm very happy with this purchase compared to some giant box sets with only three discs that recently came out.

Sound quality 5 for CD/Earthbound tracks, 9 for Summit Studios
Value: 10
Packaging: 10 (compact package with a lot goodies rates high for me)
Historic value: 10
Overall vote: 9
 
I am giving this a solid ten based ONLY on the quad mix of Summit Studios. Easy ten across the board (mix, sq, content).
 
DVD version here -- I have the ST box, but will wait to unwrap it for Xmas :banana:

I can compare this with the 70s bootleg quality vinyl from back in the day -- deliberately made as a bootleg quality by Fripp, in one his anti-music industry moods -- I stilled enjoyed it then, if only to have the bits of ISLANDS live on it.

However, instead of listening to that (not yet), I honed in on the Summit Studios quad. Reason being, I have another bootleg (this time a CD) called FROSTBITE, that also has the Summit Studio session.

Well. Let's just say the CD, while listenable with enough beer, is heavily distorted at times, especially in the bass. There is an immediacy at times that makes it livelier, but oh man, the distortion :(

The DVD quad, though, is pristine, and very quiet when it should be. The Fripp guitar on "Cadence and Cascade" is lovely, although you see why he said he had sympathy with those who thought his early guitar playing was weak; he has vastly improved over the years, yet here you can hear him straining a bit. Maybe my memory slipped between the comparisons, but I do believe the FROSTBITE version has some Fripp banter not found on the DVD! In addition, the FROSTBITE bootleg opens with two tracks from the MIDNIGHT SPECIAL TV show in 1973. Not found on this DVD, though, maybe it is in the ST box, but it is notable as their first US TV appearance (they play "Lark's Tongue" and "Easy Money" -- if any TV watcher stayed beyond the first, they were rewarded with the second song!).

Can't wait to hear how EARTHBOUND was cleaned up, not to mention filled with extra material. But I agree with others here, the Summit quad is well worth the whole package!

I gave it a 9 for that, but really should have capped it overall at an 8. Need to listen some more. . . .
 
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It's hard to assess this:
- Earthbound is literally the 30th anniversary edition with extra tracks (which are mastered quite aggressively if compared to the original concert tracks on the Sailors' Tales Box Set);
- Summit Studios is great, excellent new mix in stereo and quad. Very good performance, Schizoid man is much better on Earthbound though, one of my favourite performances;
- The Schizoid Men sequence is fun, and was literally taken from the old 2xCD "Ladies of the Road"
I'd give 8.5/9 to Summit Studios for performance and sound quality. I'd give 3 for sound quality to Earthbound but probably 9/10 for the performance.
Let's say that I'd recommend this release to a crimson fan... I've enjoyed it a lot: 8!
 
while I have not heard this release hence no vote I do have the original vinyl and the SQ is terrible
 
while I have not heard this release hence no vote I do have the original vinyl and the SQ is terrible
This isn’t the same. Oh well, Earthbound has the worst sound quality on earth. But this release includes a new stereo and quad mix of the live at Summit Studios. It also includes the set of Schizoid men that were previously released on CD. Mel Collins is generally on fire on schizoid man...
 
We're in damage control mode here for the soundboard cassettes. The Earthbound version of Schizoid Man is and will always be the definitive version I think. The sound on the original vinyl is definitely a solid D-. I'd say the restoration mastering work raises it to a D. It is what it is. You know, there are 3 levels of sound quality below this. There's F. Next is "Is that <name of band>?" Last is "What the hell is that noise?!" This original was merely a D-.

Summit Studios is wonderful of course. I have to say that the presentation with the restoration mastering is well done here and this collection feels like they spend time and labor of love doing the best they could to deliver a very large collection of recordings. It's still very likely a "for fans only" kind of thing with some effort required for listening but I'll take a huge collection of flawed live recordings presented like this over a box of marbles any day!

Oh, and did anyone catch the corrected/completed bluray albums for the 3 studio albums? The surround remix of Mars from Poseidon is included!! (The original DVDA release stated that an upmix was used due to lost multitracks. Turns out it was only missing those COTCK excerpts weirdly overdubbed towards the end! I kind of can't believe they would have used that awful upmix and not put in a little time just restoring those weird overdubs. It was just clips of ITCOTCK pasted over the mix after all.) This is kind of a fantastic surprise here!
 
Oh, and did anyone catch the corrected/completed bluray albums for the 3 studio albums? The surround remix of Mars from Poseidon is included!! (The original DVDA release stated that an upmix was used due to lost multitracks. Turns out it was only missing those COTCK excerpts weirdly overdubbed towards the end! I kind of can't believe they would have used that awful upmix and not put in a little time just restoring those weird overdubs. It was just clips of ITCOTCK pasted over the mix after all.) This is kind of a fantastic surprise here!
The remix of The Devil's Triangle (stereo/5.1) is only included as bonus track, while the upmix - divided in three parts - keeps its place in the original album sequence. It's great to have it though!
I wasn't aware that the only missing multitrack was the final overdub from ITCOTKC. May I ask where did you read that? I couldn't find more info within the box-set booklet. Was it on the DGM website? From what I hear, I have the feeling there are more missing elements than just the final overdub.

By the way, I've just realised that this thread is for Earthbound only. We should probably move this discussion to a thread dedicated to the Sailors' Tales box set!
 
I listened to Earthbound (again) a few years ago on vinyl...the sound was still as I remember from " the old days", but what impressed me more was that the performances were really strong.
Now that I have the DVD, live from Summit Studio in quad and is getting a lot of play around here.
I've given it a 9 ...for the performances and Summit Quad.
 
Earthbound was always s poor sounding official bootleg. But the blu ray with Summit Studios in Quad is really amazing. Love Mel Collins on sax! But I’m now listening to the 11 joined Schizoid men tracks..boy Fripp is all over the place. Bad ass freaky stuff. If your mother in law visits you, put this on and she’ll be out of your house in no time😂😂🎶🎸
 
...But I’m now listening to the 11 joined Schizoid men tracks..boy Fripp is all over the place. Bad ass freaky stuff. If your mother in law visits you, put this on and she’ll be out of your house in no time😂😂🎶🎸

Did you get that sudden gap of silence in the middle of it somewhere? Always wondered if my copy, which has that, is faulty. Otherwise, why do that! It spoilt it a little for me.
 
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