Frame by Frame: The Essential King Crimson

Frame by Frame: The Essential King Crimson is a 4-CD box set by the band King Crimson, released in 1991.

Disc 1: 1969-1971

 * 1) "21st Century Schizoid Man" (Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald, Peter Sinfield) - 7:20
 * 2) "I Talk to the Wind" (McDonald, Sinfield) - 6:05
 * 3) "Epitaph" (Fripp, Giles, Lake, McDonald, Sinfield) - 8:44
 * 4) "Moonchild" (Fripp, Giles, Lake, McDonald, Sinfield) - 2:26
 * Abridged version, omitting the improv section of the song
 * 1) "The Court of the Crimson King" (McDonald, Sinfield) - 9:25
 * 2) "Peace: A Theme" (Fripp) - 1:16
 * 3) "Cat Food" (Fripp, McDonald, Sinfield) - 2:45
 * Single version
 * 1) "Groon" (Fripp) - 3:31
 * Previously unreleased on CD; also featured on the 2-LP compilation A Young Person's Guide to King Crimson (1976)
 * 1) "Cadence and Cascade" (Fripp, Sinfield) - 4:10
 * New mix, replacing Gordon Haskell's original vocals with vocals performed by Adrian Belew, July 1991
 * 1) "The Sailor's Tale" (Fripp) - 7:27
 * Abridged version, removing approximately 3.5 seconds' worth of the cymbal introduction
 * 1) "Ladies of the Road" (Fripp, Sinfield) - 5:31
 * 2) "Bolero" (Fripp, Sinfield) - 6:45
 * 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)" (Bill Bruford, David Cross, Fripp, Jamie Muir, John Wetton) - 10:53
 * Abridged version
 * 1) "Book of Saturday" (Fripp, Richard Palmer-James, Wetton) - 2:53
 * 2) "Easy Money" (Fripp, Palmer-James, Wetton) - 7:55
 * 3) "Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Part II)" (Fripp) - 7:09
 * 4) "The Night Watch" (Fripp, Palmer-James, Wetton) - 4:40
 * 5) "The Great Deceiver" (Fripp, Palmer-James, Wetton) - 4:03
 * 6) "Fracture" (Fripp) - 6:57
 * Abridged version
 * 1) "Starless" (Bruford, Cross, Fripp, Palmer-James, Wetton) - 4:38
 * Abridged version
 * 1) "Red" (Fripp) - 6:17
 * 2) "Fallen Angel" (Fripp, Palmer-James, Wetton) - 5:59
 * 3) "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
 * 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
Total Running Time - 61:20
 * 1) "Get Thy Bearings" (Donovan Leitch) - 9:21
 * Recorded at Plumpton Racetrack (at the Ninth National Jazz and Blues Festival), Streat, UK, 9 August 1969
 * subsequently featured on the live album (4-CD set) Epitaph
 * 1) "Travel Weary Capricorn" (Fripp, Giles, Lake, McDonald, Sinfield) - 4:23
 * Recorded at Plumpton Racetrack (at the Ninth National Jazz and Blues Festival), Streat, UK, 9 August 1969
 * Subsequently featured on the live 4-CD set Epitaph (1997)
 * 1) "Mars" (Gustav Holst) - 8:09
 * Recorded at the Fillmore West, San Francisco, California, United States, 14 December 1969*
 * subsequently featured on the live 4-CD set Epitaph
 * 1) "The Talking Drum" (Bruford, Cross, Fripp, Muir, Wetton) - 8:30
 * Recorded at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 23 November 1973;
 * subsequently featured on the live 2-CD set The Night Watch (1997)
 * 1) "21st Century Schizoid Man" (Fripp, Giles, Lake, McDonald, Sinfield) - 9:15
 * Recorded at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 23 November 1973
 * subsequently featured on the live 2-CD set The Night Watch
 * 1) "Asbury Park" (Bill Bruford, Cross, Fripp, Wetton) - 6:52
 * Recorded at the Casino, Asbury Park, New Jersey, 28 June 1974; previously featured on the live album USA (1975)
 * 1) "Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Part III)" (Belew, Bruford, Fripp, Levin) - 2:35
 * 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)
 * 1) "Sartori in Tangier" (Belew, Bruford, Fripp, Levin) - 4:08
 * recorded at Le Spectrum, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 11 July 1984
 * subsequently featured on the live album (2-CD set) Absent Lovers: Live in Montreal
 * 1) "Indiscipline" (Belew, Bruford, Fripp, Levin) - 5:26
 * 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)

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