Great Deceiver 1 (Uk) [CD], King Crimson, CD

At first glance it may have seemed like overkill, 4CDs of live unreleased material from only one of several of the King Crimson line-ups covering a 9 month period of performing, to be issued within a mere 18 months of a previous 4CD (the 3 studio, 1live 'Frame by Frame') Crimson retrospective boxed set. All the more so when considered against the fact that one of Crimson's key markets, the USA, where much of the material had originally been recorded, was reported to be 'hostile' towards live recordings as a general rule. Nor was there any vast enthusiasm shown for the project elsewhere - with the customary exception of Japan - until the set was issued, warmly received critically, promptly purchased by fans & sold out of retail outlets who proved rather more accepting of the set than record company logic dictated they should have been.