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King Crimson / “The Road to Red” 24-disc CD/DVD/Blu-ray box set

By Paul Sinclair

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Is there such as thing as ‘too much’ content in a box set? Not, it seems, if you are prog-rock specialist Panegyric Recordings, who are preparing, The Road To Red, a 24-disc box set, that attempts to comprehensively capture the essence of King Crimson‘s US tour of 1974 and the process leading to the band’s Red album released the same year.

The set is released on 14 October and to break down the content, you get 21 CDs, a DVD and two Blu-ray discs. In total, 16 concerts are featured across the various discs and you can enjoy new mixes of the Red studio album. More detail below:

• 20 CDs of live material drawn from: 

• 10 concerts recorded on stereo soundboard cassettes directly from the band’s mixing desk – all previously unreleased on CD, audio newly restored at DGM Soundworld in 2013.

• Five concerts professionally recorded on multi-track tape. Parts of these shows have been previously included in the USA & The Great Deceiver releases, but they are all included here with many of the performances in full on CD for the first time.

• One CD drawn from an audio restored high quality bootleg of the band’s final 1974 New York concert previously available only via mail order and now re-mastered.

• CD 21 features a new stereo mix of Red by Steven Wilson & Robert Fripp

• DVD (compatible with all DVD players) High Resolution Stereo mixes of the Asbury Park/USA concert in its various released/unreleased configurations (24bit/48khz).

• Blu-Ray Disc 1 features full lossless audio 24/192 transfers of four complete professionally recorded concerts newly transferred at the highest possible resolution from the original analogue Dolby SR half inch mix-downs in LPCM stereo.

• Blu-Ray Disc 2 features a 24/192 transfer of the Asbury Park/USA concert.

• Blu-Ray Disc 2 features a new stereo mix of Red in 24/96 LPCM stereo by Robert Fripp & Steven Wilson.

• Blu-Ray Disc 2 also features the original stereo mix of Red along with the 5.1 mix of the album in 24/96 LPCM + bonus audio material.

The discs are all packaged in eight individual 3-disc digipacks, which is a great idea, because you can easily store them outside of the box.

The album sized box comes with an album sized booklet which features rare and unseen photos, new sleeve notes by Robert Fripp and Sid Smith, technical notes on the recordings by David Singleton, expanded band member diary entries and eye-witness accounts from fans who attended the gigs and various items of memorabilia, including postcards, album prints, replica set lists and more.

This set is limited to initial orders and will not be repressed.

If you order direct from the official artist store (Burning Shed/Panegyric) you get a free T-shirt.

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13 Comments

13 thoughts on “King Crimson / “The Road to Red” 24-disc CD/DVD/Blu-ray box set”

  2. Pingback: King Crimson / The Road To Red 24-disc box: full track listing | superdeluxeedition

  3. This will be my first purchase directly from Burning Shed. Though I could have gotten it in the US via Amazon, the reputation that Burning Shed has when it comes to careful packaging and handling, I’m MORE than happy paying a little extra to know my product will arrive unspoiled

    1. Thanks for that comment Burning Shed employee, you are fooling nobody. Amazon have an excellent returns policy if ever there is an issue and if they are cheaper I will use them.

  4. I’ve been perusing a lot of KC and other music forums recently regarding this set and other box set releases from various artists and I have to say that when it comes to box sets at £100+ the consumer is looking where to get it at the absolute cheapest.

    Paying a premium and lining the pockets of millionaires and labels who in many cases are bloating these boxes to extract the maximum amount of cash are not on many buyers list of priorities. As stated earlier, splitting these boxes down so ALL the content is available at various price points across the formats is the fairest way for the artists and labels to deal with the customers.

  5. For those of us in the USA who want to purchase it, note that Amazon.UK is about $50 less than all the others. It’s about 100GBP (including shipping) which is about $150, much less than the $200+ wanted by Amazon.com, DGM & Burning Shed.

    To me, as “The Great Deceiver” is one of the greatest box sets ever released, getting what amounts to an expanded version of that is a no-brainer, esp at a cheaper cost (see above). I’ve already sold my “Live In Central Park” KCCC disc (which, as mentioned, is remastered for this release) and I’m very tempted to sell off the “Great Deceiver” box as well (as, mentions, this box is basically an expanded version of it). Additionally, USA will be on the Blu-Ray so there’s no need to purchase that separately.

    While we wait for the other albums to be remixed (Beat and ToaPP by SW, Thrak by Jakko), this is a simply a must-have. Then again, I’m a total whore for this stuff, so of _course_ I think it’s a must-have. :)

    1. Hi Mike,

      We’re currently looking into how Amazon.UK can price the box set so low.

      As the official store for Panegyric Records (the label behind the box set), I can assure you that the dealer price should have led to a £150 retail price everywhere.

      I can also assure you that more money will go directly to the artists by buying from the Panegyric store.

      Regards,

      Burning Shed Info

  6. Really, apart from this being really awesome as a release what this really says is, how amazing the 4 piece era box sets will be. Discipline, TOAPP and Heatbeat and then the THRAK Era 6 piece. I hope all bands are taking note of how to look after your legacy and fans.

    Paul do you know if there are any new interviews with Bruford or any other members apart from Fripp and Smith?

    This will surely be the box set of the year next to TFF Hurting box set

  8. No doubt a lot of hardcore King Crimson fans will love this. As the concerts will be in better quality than Larks’ Tongues it is tempting.

    For me though, there will be a lot of repetition across the concerts in the box so a much cheaper alternative would be to purchase the 2009 Red CD/DVD-A with the 5.1 mix, the new 2013 stereo mix of Red if you feel the 2009 mix can be improved upon significantly (that would be contrary to what Wilson and Fripp said in 2009), the new USA discs (again if you feel there will be an improvement) and the Collectable King Crimson Volume 1. Would set you back about £35.

    Again, as with most box sets, I would go and buy the high-res Blu-ray discs if available separately. Give us the option. As is often said, most box sets should be further split into maybe a vinyl and book release (or no book), a CD release and a high-res disc release. Let the fans choose, most are priced out or simply won’t buy on the principle they know they are being shafted.

    1. Hi Ralph,

      Panegric Records has simultaneously released a low priced double cd version of Red featuring the new stereo mix (plus some extras), and a new cd/dvd version of USA, which offers a bite-sized version of what’s on offer on The Road To Red).

      We’ll forward your suggestions to the label.

      Regards,

      Info

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