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KRAKOW SONIC SOCIETY
MEETING #104:
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Usually this music is referred to using the "progressive" term, understood as "progressive rock". One might as well describe it using terms such as: "eclectic", "artistic", "fusion", etc. Robert Fripp, who for all the years of group's existence was the driving force behind it and the only person who participated in the recording of all albums, was changing style, musicians, studios, producers, depending on the current direction of his explorations. So there are no two identical King Crimson albums, although one might claim that there are certain „series” based on a theme (eg. the "color" one). This band had a great impact on the whole rock music, not just the progressive branch. They sourced from a variety of styles, assimilated to rock solutions known from jazz, classical and modern music. Its members were fantastic musicians, such as: Greg Lake, Gordon Haskel, Mel Collins, John Wetton, Bill Bruford, Tony Levin, who had also successful solo careers as well as ones in other well-known bands. One of the Robert Fripp's apprentices was Steven Wilson - musician, instrumentalist, record producer and master of the console. Known for a variety of projects including solo ones with experimental electronic music, avant-garde jazz and ambient, and for being member of famous bands such as: Porcupine Tree, Blackfield and No-Man. His technical skills and musical sensitivity have been appreciated not only by fans of his music, but also by his master - Robert Fripp, who on the band's 40th anniversary entrusted him with a very responsible task of remixing and remastering of the almost entire King Crimson catalog. The success of this project resulted in further orders - including ones from Jethro Tull and Yes, that entrusted Wilson with their master tapes. The leader of Porcupine Tree is known for his almost obsessive care for even smallest details related to sound quality. It is not surprising than that his band's albums are issued in Japan as HiQualityCD and his solo albums in even more refined format of K2HD HQCD. Also his version of King Crimson albums was released as HiQualityCD (HQCD). The boxes released on the 40th anniversary of the band, apart from stereo CDs also included stereo versions in high definition, as well as multi-channel versions - Wilson is a fan of spatial/multi-channel music. No wonder that the Yes and Jethro Tull albums are also available in both, stereo and 5.1 versions. Releases At the end of April 2016 the first, and the beginning of May the second box were released in Japan, with the first eight albums of King Crimson. Nothing unusual about it, because boxes with their music have been released quite often. But this time there was more to it, because the discs were released as Platinum SHM-CD with 7'' covers. The Japanese recreated original covers with absolute perfection - every disc comes to us with two cover versions - Japanese and other one, often very different from the former (they used, for example, covers from first European releases). These discs, as already mentioned, were released in Platinum SHM-CD format (in my opinion it is the best CD format up to now), but as a bonus buyers also received a DVD-A/V disc with a lot of material - hi-res stereo version (24/96) and multi-channel hi-res version based on the previous remaster, alternative mixes of the tracks and previously unreleased ones. Some discs contain also video footage of band's performances. Exactly the same set of tracks was released in 2009 on the band's 40th anniversary. In Japan they were released as HiQualityCD. This version contained a completely different material than any previous King Crimson reissue. For the first time they resorted to the multi-track master tapes, and Steven Wilson, supervised by Robert Fripp, remixed this whole material, and prepared a new master (more HERE). The only exception is the album Red, which was not remixed for the stereo version, but only received a new mastering, using the same tapes as the version released for the band's thirtieth anniversary. If we take a look at the Discogs list of King Crimson's releases, we will face a huge number of them. Each album was issued dozens of times, and the most popular of them, In the Court of the Crimson King, has nearly 200 editions listed there. Discogs is obviously not an oracle and some positions on the list repeat themselves, but on the other hand not all reissues are mentioned there. So one can assume that actually there are between 160 and 190 different editions of the album, which were released on various types of media. The first release Analogue Remaster we had to wait for the first remaster until 1989. It was released as the version of KC compact discs described as "The Definitive Edition", marked AAD, which translates to using an analogue remaster. It was prepared by Robert Fripp and Tony Arnold. 1st digital remaster | Already a year later, however, the next version of the whole catalog was released, this time remastered in digital domain, in 24 bits, by Simon Heyword, Robert Fripp and, in the case of the debut album (In the court ...) also David Singleton. The whole catalog was released on HDCD and was called "30th Anniversary Edition". HDCD – High Definition Compatible Disc – it's a format that allows to encode a 20-bit signal on a CD. One needs a CD Player featuring a proper decoder to enjoy sound in full resolution, but such discs can be played in any CD Player in 16-bit. As usual, if we talk about the King Crimson catalog, there is one exception: their debut album, released on November 15th, 2004 (also as HDCD) that was prepared using a completely new remaster. In 2003 in the archives of the Virgin label a stereo master-tape was discovered, even with the paste-ins, ie. the earliest possible version. This version of In The Court ..., released in 2004 was named "Original Master Edition". It is different than the 1999 remaster. 2nd digital remaster | The entire catalog was remastered again in 2009 (some titles in 2010). It is knows as the "40th Anniversary Edition", prepared by Robert Fripp and Steven Wilson. In Japan, they were released as HQCD (HiQualityCD). Both previous remasters sourced material from production stereo master tapes (more about remastering HERE). For the first time Steven Wilson was handed the original multi-channel master tapes - from 8-track master in the case of the debut album, to 16 and 24-track ones for other titles. As he said, during the whole process he tried to make as little changes compared to the original version as possible, but sometimes he managed to fix some errors and shortcomings, adding an instrument, phrase and so on. MEETING Between each of the remasters there are few or even several subsequent releases. One should mention eg. The 30th Anniversary Edition released in Japan on gold discs. Interestingly, these were regular Compact Discs and not the HDCDs. The latest version, Platinum SHM-CD, is only a re-edition of the 40th Anniversary Edition, not a new remaster. Even this brief introduction proves how fascinating the world of King Crimson music releases is. When we received these new boxes there was no other option but to compare them to the previous releases. So that it made actual sense, ie. that we could perform a comparison within a reasonable period of time (it actually took us six hours), we chose to listen to four albums: In the Court of the Crimson King, Lizard, Larks' Tongues in Aspic and Red, and just a few tracks from each of them. We narrowed the comparison even further down by selecting only some releases listed below; the list should hopefully prove that the comparison was quite comprehensive. Arabic numbers indicate subsequent remaster and Roman one subsequent comparison (see below): IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING (an observation by King Crimson) (1969) LIZARD (1970) LARKS' TONGUES IN ASPIC (1973) RED (1974)  IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING (an observation by King Crimson) (1969) Janusz Rysiek B. Wiciu Tomek Marcin Jarek Waszczyszyn ________________II_________________ Jarek Waszczyszyn Marcin Tomek Wiciu Rysiek B. Janusz ________________III_________________ Jarek Waszczyszyn Marcin Tomek 
Wiciu Rysiek B. Janusz |
LIZARD (1970) Jarek Waszczyszyn Marcin Wiciu 
Rysiek B. Janusz ________________II_________________ Jarek Waszczyszyn Marcin Tomek Wiciu Rysiek B. Janusz ________________III_________________ Janusz Rysiek B. Wiciu Tomek Marcin Jarek Waszczyszyn LARKS' TONGUES IN ASPIC (1973) Jarek Waszczyszyn Marcin Tomek Wiciu Rysiek B. Janusz ________________II_________________ Jarek Waszczyszyn Marcin Tomek Wiciu Rysiek B. Janusz RED (1974) Jarek Waszczyszyn Janusz Therefore it's easy for me to say that the qualitative difference between the 30th Anniversary Edition, and HDCD 40th Anniversary Edition, and Platinum SHM-CD is insignificant, but the listening pleasure between them is incomparable - Platinum SHM-CD wins always and everywhere. I bought once all versions of this album, but at some point I stopped because I did not want to pay for the same things over and over again. This time I listened to all the Platinum SHM-CD discs and I was thrilled. I didn't even think about hi-fi, because the listening pleasure with these versions was unbelievable. Tomek Wiciu SUMMARY We narrowed a number of releases, discs and tracks down and it is still one of the longest reports of the Krakow Sonic Society Meetings. This is because there is a lot to talk about. Even if we disagree, we disagree about something important. As you can see, not all participants enjoy this type of music, but there were some for whom it offered one of the most important aesthetic experiences. 
I think that the above statements are offering clear messages, which I will try to summarize in a few sentences, based also on other listening sessions. The Platinum SHM-CD versions were better each time. The second best came the HDCD ones, that were topped only by gold versions - both benefited from mastering prepared for the band's 30th anniversary (30th Anniversary Edition). Remixed versions of the 40th Anniversary Edition HQCD bring a different perspective on music material, but generally do not make significant differences. The worst impression made the older versions of The Definitive Edition AAD. Only starting from HDCD and digital 24 bit remaster better quality start culminating in Platinum SHM-CD. Not all version benefited from it equally - Red benefited least and Larks' ... most. Since they did not prepare new remix for the former it was not possible to gain as much as with other albums. Should you buy Platinum SHM-CD 7'' version? - Janusz says that it is beyond discussion, and so says Wiciu, and I happen to agree with them – each of us already has all three boxes and look forward to next releases. However, if you already have the Japanese HDCD version, or the one released on gold CD you may want to stick to them, or just buy selected titles on Platinum SHM-CD. Quality of HQCD versions is not very consistent - some items are better than others and it is up to you which one will you choose for yourself. If you do not have new remasters, and you want to get to know King Crimson from the best side, then there is no choice: Platinum SHM-CD Version 7" is the best and you should have it. SYSTEM USED DURING LISTENING SESSION
POST SCRIPTUM Jarek Waszczyszyn I, on the other hand, was left feeling unsatisfied. Because our task (as technical engineers), record producers', our Society's is doing our best so that all that equipment in the studio and at home provided the listener with accurately conveyed emotions that rattled in musician's hearts. When I do my job poorly it is met with deserved criticism. And so it has to be! So I never answered any criticism publicly. It's as if a pool vault jumper patiently explained that it was the pole was not the right one, the wind unfavorable and therefore he did not reach the 6.15 height. The fact is that he didn't and that's it . During my electronics faculty I spent a lot of time on different discussions with Tomek Rogula. We never build anything together but these discussions surely helped us become better at what we did. One day let let me have a service manual of a 3M 34-track tape recorder. At the time 3M offered high quality studio tapes. It came to my mind during the discussion with Janusz. This manual was at least 200 pages long! How complex device it was, how difficult to adjust! And it was a manual of the tape recorder itself! What about noise cancellation circuits? Mixing console? Cables? All these devices worked in analog domain, so using our experience gained during Sonic Society meetings we realize how great impact have the small detail on sound quality. And when it comes to a studio it is not about just details, but rather tones and kilometers... |
f one has to use the word "legendary" to describe a musician or band, then when applied to the King Crimson it would be relatively painless from where I stand. Founded in London in January 1969 still the same year, in October they released the album that, let's not start to be modest now, forever changed the world of music. Recorded within just ten days In the Court of the Crimson King (An Observation By King Crimson) created without any help from a producer, who didn't understand what this was all about. As Tony Clark said, the guy who was supposed to produce this album, "an organized anarchy is the basis for the King Crimson work: triggering powerful forces of chaos, and then looking for ways to return to equilibrium" (by Wieslaw Weiss, Rock Encyclopedia, Warsaw 1991). Apparently, it was too big a challenge for him.
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