Music Is Our Friend: Live in Washington and Albany is a live album released by King Crimson on 20 November 2021. It is an official bootleg featuring King Crimson's final performances in North America in September of that year (and presumably the final tour by the band).[1][2] It also features four songs from the pre-tour "Friends And Family" show in Albany.[3][4]
| Music Is Our Friend: Live in Washington and Albany | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Live album by | ||||
| Released | 20 November 2021 | |||
| Recorded | August 22 & September 11, 2021 | |||
| Venue | The Anthem, Washington D.C. (Disc 1 & tracks 1–5 of Disc 2) and The Egg, Albany (Disc 2, tracks 6–9) | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock | |||
| Length | 136:15 | |||
| Label | Discipline Global Mobile | |||
| Producer | David Singleton | |||
| King Crimson chronology | ||||
| ||||
Tour
editThe Music Is Our Friend tour was scheduled for 2020, but was postponed a full year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour began in July 2021 in Florida. There was a two-week break, and multiple shows had to be moved due to extreme weather, but no shows were cancelled.[5] According to Robert Fripp, this is most likely the final tour by the band as there has been no activity from the band since.
Content
editThe album was released as a double CD with each CD around 60 minutes long. The first 15 tracks were from the final performances of the "Music Is Our Friend" Tour. The last four were taken from the pre-tour in Albany. The songs they play come from throughout the entire band's lifetime.[6]
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| All About Jazz |   [4] |
Writing for All About Jazz, John Kelman enjoyed the album, stating that the band had evolved and taken old music and made it new again. He considered the release to be a large step forward for the band, highlighting all of the band members' skills as musicians.[4]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Introductory Soundscape" | Robert Fripp | 6:53 |
| 2. | "The Hell Hounds Of Krim" | Gavin Harrison, Pat Mastelotto, William Rieflin | 3:35 |
| 3. | "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part I" | Fripp, John Wetton, Jamie Muir, David Cross, Bill Bruford | 8:04 |
| 4. | "Pictures of a City" | Fripp, Peter Sinfield | 8:35 |
| 5. | "The Court of the Crimson King" | Ian McDonald, Sinfield | 9:46 |
| 6. | "Red" | Fripp | 6:07 |
| 7. | "Tony Cadenza Deals It Slitheryacious-To-The-Max" | Tony Levin | 1:11 |
| 8. | "Neurotica" | Levin, Fripp, Bruford, Adrian Belew | 4:46 |
| 9. | "One More Red Nightmare" | Fripp, Wetton | 6:09 |
| 10. | "Indiscipline" | Levin, Fripp, Bruford, Belew | 9:21 |
| Total length: | 64:27 | ||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Epitaph" | Fripp, Sinfield, Michael Giles, McDonald, Greg Lake | 9:08 |
| 12. | "Radical Action II" | Fripp | 2:29 |
| 13. | "Level Five" | Trey Gunn, Fripp, Mastelotto, Belew | 7:06 |
| 14. | "Starless" (12:15)" | Fripp, Richard Palmer-James, Wetton, Cross, Bruford | 15:22 |
| 15. | "21st Century Schizoid Man" (12:44)" | Fripp, Sinfield, Giles, McDonald, Lake | 14:48 |
| 16. | "Tony Cadenza Serves It Piping Hot" | Levin | 1:19 |
| 17. | "Discipline" | Levin, Fripp, Bruford, Belew | 5:08 |
| 18. | "Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part II" | Fripp | 6:53 |
| 19. | "Islands" | Fripp, Sinfield | 9:09 |
| Total length: | 71:48 | ||
Personnel
editGuitar, keyboards: Robert Fripp
Basses Chapman Stick: Tony Levin
Drums: Gavin Harrison, Pat Mastelotto
Drums, keyboards: Jeremy Stacey
Guitar, vocals: Jakko Jakszyk
Saxophone, flute: Mel Collins
References
edit- ^ Mead, David (2022-08-25). "Robert Fripp in-depth: his quest to combine Hendrix and Bartók, what made King Crimson "problematic" and why he has "no interest in gear at all"". Guitar World. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
- ^ Browne, David (2022-07-14). "King Crimson's Robert Fripp Sets Fall Release for Band Doc. But Another Tour? 'Only to Prevent World War III'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2022-08-29.
- ^ Live, D. G. M. (2021-11-12). "All About Music Is Our Friend". DGM Live. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
- ^ a b c Jazz, All About (2021-11-12). "King Crimson: Music is Our Friend: Live In Washington and Albany, 2021 album review @ All About Jazz". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
- ^ "Music Is Our Friend - Live In Washington and Albany, 2021". burningshed.com. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
- ^ a b King Crimson - Music Is Our Friend (Live In Washington And Albany, 2021), retrieved 2022-10-03