Not really an anthology at all, this is a collection of tracks written early on in the band's career which appeared on live albums here and there, which were then freshly rerecorded in the studio by the band specifically for this release in 2002. Information here.
I've always loved the first two albums by these guys for their genuinely original take on Fripp and KC but they really lost their way later on with the incessant live albums that recycled the same loud riffs using tritones plus whole tone intervals and arpeggiated guitar lines, ad nauseam. More recently, the bizarrely titled Cromartie High School CDs were surprisingly good with more creative ideas (on that particular page the genre descriptor of neo-prog is completely inaccurate, since they are and have always been obviously and lovingly a Larks Tongue-style King Crimson RIO prog group).
But today's work stands comparison with their earliest masterpieces, in ingenuity, in brilliance, in skill level. Composer and guitarist is Kunio Suma. For those who love hard rock, The City Stays:
Again, note the riff made up of mixed tritones and whole tones. I would presume it was the master Robert Fripp himself who first 'invented' this so characteristic sound. Although I remember Heldon (Pinhas), himself a Fripp acolyte, also did the same early on.
For the chamber music side of things, here is The Ocean Stays:
It's quite a wonderful work altogether...
And with this we are finished for now with the lovely vein of Japanese prog and move on to American fusion followed by some very rare classic rock...
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ReplyDeleteAgreements from me regarding your assessment of BKR's material, esp. Cromartie 1 & 2: much more of a broad résumé of their capabilities than, say, Go Un, etc.. Spastically, I didn't know about Anthology; I guess I assumed it was more of the same old live Krimso covers.
ReplyDeleteAltho beneath Julian Cope's notice, for being too 'derivative,' BKR and Mongrel have always been tops in my ltd. view of the country's output. He can keep his belove'd Shinki.
Any chance for a re-up on this one? I am a relative newcomer to your nice blog, but this particular album's link seems to have been up for only a short period of time. BKR is one of my favorite Japanese prog bands, although of course not the best of that lot. I have pretty much the complete BKR discography in my collection, but this one slipped by me and is not otherwise available anywhere else on the internet that I can locate. Thanks for all you do, and hopefully you can somehow assist me with the requested Anthology Volume 1 link.
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Deletecan you link again the album, I would really appreciate you. <3
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ReplyDeleteCan you pls re-up a new one? Thanks Juluabryan. I have been searching for this CD long ago.
ReplyDeletethese links never seem to last very long, here's a new one:
ReplyDeletehttps://www99.zippyshare.com/v/CXiImDqo/file.html
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Deleteit doesnt seem to work sadly :(
DeleteOh I guess, in a lot of countries zippy links cannot be accessed, here it is in sendspace:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/4gq0rk
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ReplyDeletei will email it with wetransfer :)
ReplyDelete