Frame by Frame: The Essential King Crimson is a 4-CD retrospective box set by the English progressive rock band King Crimson, released in 1991. A follow-up 4-CD box set, The Great Deceiver, appeared the next year, followed by the 1-CD compilation album Sleepless: The Concise King Crimson in 1993.

Track listing

Disc 1: 1969–1971

  1. "21st Century Schizoid Man" (Robert Fripp, Ian McDonald, Greg Lake, Michael Giles, Peter Sinfield) - 7:20
  2. "I Talk to the Wind" (McDonald, Sinfield) - 6:05
  3. "Epitaph" (Fripp, McDonald, Lake, Giles, Sinfield) - 8:44
  4. "Moonchild" (Fripp, McDonald, Lake, Giles, Sinfield) - 2:26
  5. :Abridged version, omitting the improv section of the song
  6. "The Court of the Crimson King" (McDonald, Sinfield) - 9:25
  7. "Peace: A Theme" (Fripp) - 1:16
  8. "Cat Food" (Fripp, McDonald, Sinfield) - 2:45
  9. :Single version
  10. "Groon" (Fripp) - 3:31
  11. :Previously unreleased on CD; also featured on the 2-LP compilation A Young Person's Guide to King Crimson (1976)
  12. "Cadence and Cascade" (Fripp, Sinfield) - 4:10
  13. :New mix, replacing Gordon Haskell's original vocals with vocals performed by Adrian Belew, July 1991
  14. "The Sailor's Tale" (Fripp) - 7:27
  15. :Abridged version, removing approximately 3.5 seconds' worth of the cymbal introduction
  16. "Ladies of the Road" (Fripp, Sinfield) - 5:31
  17. "Bolero" (Fripp, Sinfield) - 6:45
  18. :New mix, replacing Gordon Haskell's original bass guitar with bass guitar performed by Tony Levin, June 1991

:Tracks 1–5 from In the Court of the Crimson King (1969)

:Tracks 6–7 & 9 from In the Wake of Poseidon (1970)

:Tracks 7–8 released as the single "Cat Food/Groon" in 1970

:Track 12 from Lizard (1970)

:Tracks 10–11 from Islands (1971)

Total Running Time - 67:47

Disc 2: 1972–1974

  1. "Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Part I)" (David Cross, Fripp, John Wetton, Bill Bruford, Jamie Muir) - 10:53
  2. :Abridged version
  3. "Book of Saturday" (Fripp, Wetton, Richard Palmer-James) - 2:53
  4. "Easy Money" (Fripp, Palmer-James, Wetton) - 7:55
  5. "Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Part II)" (Fripp) - 7:09
  6. "The Night Watch" (Fripp, Wetton, Palmer-James) - 4:40
  7. "The Great Deceiver" (Fripp, Wetton, Palmer-James) - 4:03
  8. "Fracture" (Fripp) - 6:57
  9. :Abridged version
  10. "Starless" (Cross, Fripp, Wetton, Bruford, Palmer-James) - 4:38
  11. :Abridged version
  12. "Red" (Fripp) - 6:17
  13. "Fallen Angel" (Fripp, Wetton, Palmer-James) - 5:59
  14. "One More Red Nightmare" (Fripp, Wetton) - 7:09

:Tracks 1–4 from the album Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1973)

:Tracks 5–7 from the album Starless and Bible Black (1974)

:Tracks 8–11 from the album Red (1974)

Total Running Time - 69:08

Disc 3: 1981–1984

All tracks on disc 3 written by Adrian Belew, Bruford, Fripp and Tony Levin, unless otherwise indicated.

  1. "Elephant Talk" - 4:42
  2. "Frame by Frame" - 5:08
  3. "Matte Kudasai" - 3:48
  4. "Thela Hun Ginjeet" - 6:26
  5. "Heartbeat" - 3:54
  6. "Waiting Man" - 4:22
  7. "Neurotica" - 4:48
  8. "Requiem" - 6:36
  9. "Three of a Perfect Pair" - 4:11
  10. "Sleepless" - 5:22
  11. "Discipline" - 5:05
  12. "The Sheltering Sky" - 8:16
  13. "The King Crimson Barber Shop" (Levin) - 1:31
  14. :Also featured on the compilation Heartbeat: The Abbreviated King Crimson (1991), subsequently featured on the reissued version of the album Three of a Perfect Pair (1984)

:Tracks 1–4 & 11–12 from the album Discipline (1981)

:Tracks 5–8 from the album Beat (1982)

:Tracks 9–10 from the album Three of a Perfect Pair (1984)

Total Running Time - 64:08

Disc 4: Live 1969–1984

  1. "Get Thy Bearings" (Donovan Leitch) - 9:21
  2. :Recorded at Plumpton Racetrack (at the Ninth National Jazz and Blues Festival), Streat, UK, 9 August 1969
  3. :subsequently featured on the live album (4-CD set) Epitaph
  4. "Travel Weary Capricorn" (Fripp, McDonald, Lake, Giles, Sinfield) - 4:23
  5. :Recorded at Plumpton Racetrack (at the Ninth National Jazz and Blues Festival), Streat, UK, 9 August 1969
  6. :Subsequently featured on the live 4-CD set Epitaph (1997)
  7. "Mars" (Gustav Holst) - 8:09
  8. :Recorded at the Fillmore West, San Francisco, California, United States, 14 December 1969*
  9. :subsequently featured on the live 4-CD set Epitaph
  10. "The Talking Drum" (Cross, Fripp, Wetton, Muir, Bruford) - 8:30
  11. :Recorded at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 23 November 1973;
  12. :subsequently featured on the live 2-CD set The Night Watch (1997)
  13. "21st Century Schizoid Man" (Fripp, McDonald, Lake, Giles, Sinfield) - 9:15
  14. :Recorded at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 23 November 1973
  15. :subsequently featured on the live 2-CD set The Night Watch
  16. "Asbury Park" (Cross, Fripp, Wetton, Bruford) - 6:52
  17. :Recorded at the Casino, Asbury Park, New Jersey, 28 June 1974; previously featured on the live album USA (1975)
  18. "Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Part III)" (Belew, Bruford, Fripp, Levin) - 2:35
  19. :recorded at Le Spectrum, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 11 July 1984; excerpt version from the afternoon show. A complete performance from the evening show was subsequently featured on the live 2-CD set Absent Lovers: Live in Montreal (1998)
  20. "Sartori in Tangier" (Belew, Bruford, Fripp, Levin) - 4:08
  21. :recorded at Le Spectrum, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 11 July 1984
  22. :subsequently featured on the live album (2-CD set) Absent Lovers: Live in Montreal
  23. "Indiscipline" (Belew, Bruford, Fripp, Levin) - 5:26
  24. :Recorded at the Arena, Fréjus, France, 27 August 1982; subsequently featured on the live album (King Crimson Collectors' Club release) Live at Cap D'Agde (April 1999)

Total Running Time - 61:20

(*) The Frame by Frame booklet incorrectly lists the date as 10 December 1969.

References