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1* ApprovalOfGod: [[https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1578167148865976&set=a.584632631552771.154663.100000181177250&type=3&theater On his Facebook, Robert Fripp acknowledged the infamous "it just works" meme]] from ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind''.
2* ArtistDisillusionment: A major factor behind Fripp's initial retirement, having grown weary of the entire ProgressiveRock scene. Fripp would describe the genre as having gone "tragically gone off course" and that it had become too conventional to be called "progressive," a belief that drove him away from music for three years. It wasn't until his session work on Music/DavidBowie's ''[[Music/HeroesDavidBowieAlbum "Heroes"]]'' that Fripp regained the energy and inspiration needed to continue working in music.
3* BreakupBreakout: Greg Lake ''thought'' that Fripp resented the success Lake had in Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer, while Fripp remained in King Crimson, which never experienced the same level of success. Fripp denies this, claiming that what actually happened was that Lake proposed reforming the original lineup of King Crimson and was annoyed when Fripp didn't immediately say yes.
4* ChannelHop:
5** Up until 2002, King Crimson were under the ownership of EG Records, a rights management firm owned by the band's managers that licensed its roster out to various labels over the years. EG originally gave the band's material to Creator/IslandRecords in the UK and Creator/AtlanticRecords in the US until their first dissolution in 1974.
6** Between King Crimson's first breakup and first reformation, EG transitioned into self-releasing their artists' material with Creator/PolydorRecords handling distribution. Consequently, King Crimson's 80s output was released directly through EG in the UK and licensed to Creator/WarnerBrosRecords in the US, while their 1969-74 catalog was reissued stateside by EG under Jem Records. After Jem went bankrupt in 1988 and the Warner deal expired in 1989, EG switched to a self-distributed model for the full catalog on both sides of the Atlantic.
7** At the start of the 90s, EG switched over to Creator/VirginRecords, taking King Crimson with them when they reunited. The band formed the Discipline Global Mobile label under this pair, switching distributors to HeavyMetal label Sanctuary Records in 2002. DGM would eventually open their own distribution arms, Panegyric and Inner Knot, after Sanctuary folded in 2007, with this configuration being the current standard.
8* CreativeDifferences: What ultimately led to Gordon Haskell's departure from the lineup. Haskell was largely influenced by {{folk|Music}}, {{blues}}, and early R&B acts like Music/NatKingCole and Music/RayCharles, clashing with Fripp's preference for and adherence to the classically-inspired prog that King Crimson were still leaning into by that point.
9* CreatorBacklash:
10** Averted somewhat. The group will still play older tracks ("Red", "Larks' Tongues in Aspic Pt. 2", and some of the 1980s repertoire are still used in the recent lineups), but Robert (and probably the group) are sick and tired of the fans who only want to hear the old stuff, [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks and completely ignore the group's new repertoire]]. Promoters who bank on the group's prog rock history to sell seats don't help either.
11** Moved into full aversion with King Crimson Mk. 8. Fripp and company seem more comfortable revisiting more of the group's back catalogue, operating under the concept of "Fresh When It Was Written". The use of three drummers as the frontline of the band helps keep things from being ''too'' much of a retread...
12** Robert Fripp has expressed disdain for ''Lizard'', calling it "unlistenable." Though he's changed his attitude recently, having performed songs from the album on the 2017 tour. Fripp was impressed by the remastering work done by Music/StevenWilson for the 2009 re-release of ''Lizard'', stating that "For the first time I have heard the Music in the music", and has grown to appreciate its place in King Crimson's catalog.
13** Fripp has said he is unhappy with how ''The [=ConstruKction=] of Light'' turned out, due to the conditions it was recorded, including the material not being performed live before its release (which previously allowed the band to perfect songs before recording them), Pat Mastelotto not being able to use his ideal drum kit setup, and Fripp placing priority on songwriting instead of production.
14*** This was rectified for 2019's ''Heaven And Earth'' boxset. As the original tracks had went missing, Pat Mastelotto re-recorded all of the drum parts on his current kit, and the album was given a new mix by one of Crimson's live engineers. The remix, entitled ''The [=ReconstruKction=] Of Light'' was included in the boxset and will receive a stand-alone release (paired along with the original recording) in Fall, 2019.
15* DenialOfDigitalDistribution: The group are widely considered ''the'' most famous case of this across media: de-facto leader Robert Fripp spent the better part of two decades openly reviling digital distribution for the low royalties artists received from it, and did everything he could to ensure that the band's music could only be listened to on a physical format. Alongside Music/{{Prince}}, Fripp's affinity for going after even fan uploads became the stuff of legend among fans, and the idea of King Crimson appearing on digital platforms was treated as wishful thinking at ''best''... which made it all the more surprising when the entire King Crimson catalog was added to Spotify when he finally reclaimed the rights to the band's backlog in 2019, with other platforms following suit over the course of the next few months.
16* ExecutiveMeddling:
17** The two executives who owned the label (E.G. Records) King Crimson was on, Sam Alder and Mark Fenwick, deliberately delayed paying out artists' royalties and used the money to invest in a multitude of insurance schemes and real estate deals, most notably with Lloyd's of London. They also took advantage of Fripp's semi-retirement in the mid-1970's to convince him to sign over the ''publishing rights'' of KC's catalog over to E.G. as well (meaning Fripp no longer had any control on how King Crimson music was released or used).
18** Due to a real estate bubble bursting in the late '80s, coupled with a tidal wave of insurance claims made against Lloyd's (claims many thought Lloyd's knew about but deliberately delayed paying, to make it look more attractive to investors) Alder & Fenwick were bankrupted, and couldn't pay its artists what they were owed. So, they sold E.G. to Creator/VirginRecords, without telling Fripp, and then offered all the label's artists a lump-sum settlement (read: bribe), which included a clause to release E.G. for wrong-doing, to avoid them later getting taken to court for mismanagement. Fripp refused to take the pay-off, and took Alder & Fenwick to court.
19** After a really long (and expensive) lawsuit, Fripp managed to get his publishing rights back, and eventually control of the entire Crimson catalog, so now any future releases and re-releases will all be through his own label, Discipline Global Mobile (or will be licensed by Fripp to other labels for distribution). The entire fiasco made Fripp very protective of his publishing rights (along with his disdain for peer-to-peer sharing, including a well-publicized row with Grooveshark) and was in part why he left public performance in 2009, not resurfacing until the whole matter was settled.
20* HeAlsoDid:
21** Robert Fripp has had a long association with Music/BrianEno, lending his guitar to numerous tracks as well as other Eno productions of Music/DavidBowie and Music/TalkingHeads. Adrian Belew also had an already impressive résumé, having played on the latter's ''Music/RemainInLight'' album and its supporting tour as well as with Bowie and Music/FrankZappa.
22** Many of the members in the pre Discipline lineups were part of or moved on to other bands including Music/{{Foreigner|Band}}, Music/BadCompany, Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer, {{Music/Asia}}, {{Music/Yes}}, and Music/UriahHeep, as well as working as session musicians on many recordings.
23** Bill Rieflin of the current line up was previously a member of {{Music/Ministry}} while also playing small parts for Music/NineInchNails. He also served as Music/{{REM}}'s de-facto replacement for retired drummer Bill Berry from 2003 until the band's dissolution in 2011 (Rieflin was never an official member, but filled the same role as Berry did nonetheless, acting as a SixthRanger to the group).
24** Jon Anderson who contributed the vocals to the track "Prince Rupert Awakens" on ''Lizard'' is best known for being the vocalist of {{Music/Yes}}.
25** Peter Sinfield produced Music/RoxyMusic's debut album. John Wetton was also Roxy's touring bassist.
26** Jamie Muir indirectly caused the creation of Yes' album ''Tales From Topographic Oceans''; at Bill Bruford's wedding, he gifted Jon a copy of the book ''Autobiography of a Yogi'', from which a footnote inspired the album's central themes.
27** Fripp and Tony Levin also have had a long association with Music/PeterGabriel going back to his solo debut. Most notably, Fripp produced [[Music/{{Scratch}} Gabriel's second album]], and Gabriel returned the favor by performing a rendition of [[Music/{{Car}} "Here Comes the Flood"]] on Fripp's solo debut ''Exposure''.
28** In addition to his well-known association with Peter Gabriel, Tony Levin is an in-demand session musician. He played bass on Music/JohnLennon’s ''Double Fantasy,'' bass and Chapman Stick on Music/PinkFloyd's ''Music/AMomentaryLapseOfReason,'' and was the bassist for Music/{{Yes}} spin-off Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe among many other credits.
29** Pat Mastelotto was the drummer for the pop rock group Mr. Mister, famous for their pair of 1985 #1 hits "Broken Wings" and "Kyrie". He also played drums on Music/{{XTC}}'s ''Oranges and Lemons'' album.
30* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: ''Earthbound'' was this way for a long time, being the last major KC album to be reissued on CD, and not until 2002. In fact, it was almost not released at all, being shunted to a mid-price label by the band's management for having poor sound quality. A major reason why the album took so long to get on CD was because the sound couldn't be improved; it originated from cassette tape exposed to rain in the back of a truck. Because of this, it was often considered the first official bootleg album. Ironically, by the time the reissue happened, the King Crimson Collectors' Club had released other official bootlegs that sounded better than what was originally given.
31* NoHitWonder: Like many prog bands, King Crimson were primarily focused on albums and rarely released singles at all. As a result their only chart entries are fairly minor ones: An edited version of "The Court of the Crimson King" reached #80 on the Hot 100 in early 1970, and both "Heartbeat" and "Sleepless" scraped the bottom of the Mainstream Rock chart in the 1980s. In the UK, "Matte Kudasai" was their highest charting single (of three), but only made it to #76.
32* OldShame:
33** As stated in CreatorBacklash, Robert Fripp was not fond of ''Lizard'' outright, calling it unlistenable. Though the album itself is actually well liked among fans, and his own attitude towards ''Lizard'' softened with the band's latest lineup and the album's 2009 remaster.
34** Gordon Haskell, the vocalist who stepped in to replace Greg Lake after he [[Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer departed the band]] midway through recording ''In the Wake of Poseidon'', was not very fond of his time there thanks to the CreativeDifferences that motivated his departure, later calling Robert Fripp a fascist as a result of how controlling he felt the latter was.
35** Mr. Fripp does not look upon ''Islands'' negatively, but he feels that particular lineup was "too much of a jam band", so the music (or at least live performances) didn't have as much substance.
36* ThePeteBest: Judy Dyble, who had had already been this to Music/FairportConvention as the first female vocalist in the seminal folk-rock band, was in an early lineup of King Crimson (technically called Giles, Giles & Fripp at the time). She recorded some tracks with them that were eventually released as ''Brondesbury Tapes'' (CD) or ''Metamorphosis'' (LP).
37* PromotedFanboy: Adrian Belew was a longtime fan of King Crimson by the time Robert Fripp asked him to join what ultimately morphed into King Crimson's first revival. He ultimately ended up becoming the band's longest-tenured vocalist.
38** Jakko Jakszyk has a similar story, having been a fan of the band since he was eleven. From 2002 to 2004 he fronted the 21st Century Schizoid Band, consisting of himself, Ian [=McDonald=], Mel Collins, Michael Giles[[note]]later replaced by Ian Wallace[[/note]], and Peter Giles, and eventually joined KC proper in 2013. Jakszyk was also Michael's son-in-law at the time, though it had nothing to do with his getting the gig and he wouldn't find out until later.
39* ReclusiveArtist: Robert Fripp (who combines GentlemanSnarker with SmartPeopleWearGlasses-- read his blog).
40** Although now that DGM Live (King Crimson's/Fripp's record company) has an official Website/YouTube channel, the shell is a little more transparent.
41** Very much downplayed during and since the COVID-19 lockdown, in which Fripp and his wife Toyah Willcox released weekly Website/YouTube videos as a way of keeping in touch with fans, in which they clown about, answer questions, perform bizarre cover versions of well-known rock songs, and generally behave like two endearing loons. Fripp even has his own channel now, in which he keeps people informed about what he's been up to lately.
42* ThrowItIn:
43** Gordon Haskell's laughter at the end of "Indoor Games".
44** The second verse of "Thela Hun Ginjeet" came from a covert recording of a frazzled Adrian Belew recounting a mugging that he'd just managed to escape; Robert Fripp considered it much better than the pre-written lyrics Belew had wrote for the song (though a cassette recording of the latter is still used for the first verse).
45** In the final sections of "Fracture", just as the music is building up to an even higher peak of intensity and power, Bill Bruford lets out a whoop.
46* TooManyCooksSpoilTheSoup: Pat Mastelotto has said there was some tension between him and Bill Bruford during the 90s double-trio days. Bruford didn’t see the need for a second drummer (but Fripp insisted) and didn’t leave Mastelotto much room on the older songs in performance. By contrast, the Gavin Harrison arrangements of the 2010s incarnation gave all three drummers ample space to contribute.
47* TroubledProduction: By all accounts, the recording of ''Music/{{Beat}}''. They went into the studio very quickly after touring the previous album, they didn't have any material prepared, Belew was under pressure to turn their improvisations into actual songs and come up with melodies and lyrics, Fripp was apparently more jittery than usual, and it all climaxed with Belew ordering Fripp to leave the studio during the making of "Requiem" (which Fripp did). They smoothed it over and recorded [[Music/ThreeOfAPerfectPair another album]] in 1984 with the same lineup, but nobody remembered the recording of ''Beat'' with fondness; the band would go on hiatus for ten years as a result.
48* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
49** Music/EltonJohn was booked to audition for the band during the sessions for ''In the Wake of Poseidon'', following Greg Lake's mid-production departure[[note]]the session was cancelled after Fripp heard his debut album and concluded that he wasn't the right fit for the band[[/note]]. Others who auditioned include future Music/RoxyMusic singer Bryan Ferry and Music/{{Yes}} vocalist Jon Anderson. The latter gives us a small taste of what could have happened had he been accepted into the band on the movement "Prince Rupert Awakes" from the song "Lizard", as the section was out of Gordon Haskell's vocal range. King Crimson lyricist Peter Sinfield later produced [[Music/RoxyMusicAlbum Roxy Music's debut album]] and John Wetton served as a touring bassist for Roxy in 1974.
50** In an inverse to the above, vocalist and lyricist Adrian Belew originally aimed to become a member of Music/TalkingHeads, having played on ''Music/RemainInLight'' and its supporting tour; frontman Music/DavidByrne declined, however, which is what allowed Belew room to become the frontman of King Crimson upon its revival in the 1980s.
51** Rick Kemp, of Music/SteeleyeSpan fame, was selected as the bass player for the oncoming 1971 tour (shortly before ''Islands'' was released), but eventually turned down the offer at the last minute.
52** Fripp considered inviting Daryl Hall of [[Music/DarylHallAndJohnOates Hall & Oates]] to be the lead singer for the Discipline band that later morphed into the Mark IV 1980s lineup of King Crimson, having greatly enjoyed producing Hall's debut solo effort ''Sacred Songs'' (with Hall contributing vocals to Fripp's solo album ''Exposure'' in turn). Hall turned the gig down, as Hall & Oates were currently on a hot streak as hitmakers, but Hall's vocals and Tony Levin's bass on ''Exposure'' give a glimpse at what the Hall-fronted King Crimson might have sounded like.
53** Plans were made for Ian [=McDonald=] to rejoin the band for the ''Red'' tour, but Fripp disbanded the group before the tour began.
54** Jazz pianist Keith Tippet declined an offer to join the band full-time. Despite this, he contributed to ''In The Wake of Poseidon'', ''Lizard'', and ''Islands'' heavily as a session musician.
55** In a 1994 interview, former Music/{{Japan}} frontman Music/DavidSylvian stated that Robert Fripp approached him in 1991 with the prospect of having him join the second revival of King Crimson as vocalist; Fripp had previously collaborated with Sylvian as a session musician and co-writer on ''Gone to Earth''. Sylvian denied the offer, leading Fripp to resurrect the '80s lineup instead, but met him halfway in the form of the 1993 collaborative album ''The First Day'', the personnel for which included future King Crimson member Trey Gunn and ''THRAK'' co-producer David Bottrill.
56** After the success of the ''Epitaph'' and ''The Night Watch'' live albums in the late '90s, Fripp proposed forming a spinoff band, named Crimson 69, that would perform the early material. The lineup would have consisted of Fripp, [=McDonald=], Michael Giles, and John Wetton. This plan fell through when [=McDonald=] refused to take part unless it was a full reunion of the original lineup (i.e. with Greg Lake instead of Wetton). In 2002 this idea manifested in the form of the 21st Century Schizoid Band, consisting of [=McDonald=], Mel Collins, Michael Giles[[note]]later replaced by Ian Wallace[[/note]], Peter Giles, and Jakko Jakszyk[[note]]who would eventually join KC proper in 2013[[/note]].
57** A version of [[Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer "Lucky Man"]] was rehearsed by the band's original lineup, but was never released or performed.

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