USA (2015 Edition): Vinyl LP

From one of the last few concerts of King Crimson’s final US tour of the ‘70s, “USA” was issued as an epitaph for the band in Spring 1975 as a single album, at a time when doubles or even triple live albums were considered more the norm for live releases. Deleted towards the end of the vinyl era in the mid-1980s, it remained unreleased in the CD era until the expanded edition was finally issued in October 2002. In common with much of Crimson’s output, it was not well received by critics when originally released, though its critical reputation grew immeasurably in the intervening years to the point where a review of the “21st Century Guide to King Crimson” boxed set in 2004 identified the album as the point “…where Fripp maps out the guitar blueprint for the entire post-punk movement.”

If that claim sounds somewhat exaggerated, a casual listen to the opening minutes of the album – where the ethereal ‘Walk On..’ tape of Fripp & Eno’s ‘No Pussyfooting’ gives way to the sonic assault of ‘Larks’ II’ – provides ample evidence to back up the claim. It’s also worth noting the audience response to the band – especially at the end of ‘Starless’, a piece that had yet to be recorded in the studio at that point.

The 1972/1974 King Crimson line-ups is now revered by critics and fans alike as one of the key bands of the era – a reputation enhanced by DGM’s archival live releases from that period, starting with “The Great Deceiver” released in 1992, through to the multi-disc boxed sets of more recent years.