KING CRIMSON - ISLANDS UK 1ST PRESS EX vinyl 1971 Island

	£		31
	$		41

KING CRIMSON  - 

ISLANDS

ILPS 9175

1st Press UK

 1971 Ultra Heavy vinyl

 First UK press etched matrices:  A-1U   B-1U the earliest possible issue and according to the mother stampers this copy is one of the very first issued in the first few days.

Mother stampers: "RP" and "AO"

            On offer here is a VERY rare LP (especially in this condition!!!!) by King Crimson called 'Islands' and is a VERY rare 1971 UK 1st Pressing on the 1st Press Island label!!!!  THIS LP IS INCREDIBLY HARD TO FIND AND SERIOUSLY RARE!!!!  IN FACT THIS IS ONE OF KING CRIMSONS RAREST LPs EVER!!!!  IT SOLD TERRIBLY ON RELEASE AND TODAY IS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO LOCATE!!!!  NOT ONLY THAT BUT THIS LP IS A 100% GENIUNE 1ST PRESSING - WITH A FLIPBACK OUTER COVER (LATER ONES DONT), AND ULTRA RARE GATEFOLD INNER/INSERT!!!!  ONLY THE 'EARLIEST' 1ST PRESSINGS CAME LIKE THIS - BEFORE THE PACKAGING WAS CHANGED. IN PARTICULAR THE VINYL RECORD IS IN AMAZING CONDITION (2 OR 3 PLAYS AT THE VERY MOST!) AND THE GATEFOLD INNER/INSERT HAVE BECOME DETACHED LIKE IN 99% OF CASES!!!  IT WAS SO FRAGILE THAT MOST WERE EVEN SPLIT ON DELIVERY TO THE RECORD SHOP - AND ON MANY 1ST PRESSINGS OF THIS LP THE INSERT IS OFTEN COMPLETELY SPLIT FROM THE INNER SLEEVE LIKE THIS COPY AS WELL - OFTEN LEADING PEOPLE TO BELIEVE THIS LP ACTUALLY HAD A SEPARATE INSERT!!!!  AND WITHOUT ANY DOUBT THIS IS THE HARDEST KING CRIMSON LP TO FIND IN TOP CONDITION - AND THIS ONE IS STILL GREAT WITH A SUPREME VINYL!!!!  THIS IS THE ORIGINAL 1971 UK 1ST PRESSING ON THE 1ST PRESS ISLAND LABEL, 1ST PRESS A-1U/B-1U MATRIX ENDINGS, 1ST PRESS GATEFOLD INSERT/INNER SLEEVE, AND 1ST PRESS FLIPBACK OUTER COVER!!!! The record is pressed on THICK quality vinyl. The Cat. No is ILPS 9175 on the ORIGINAL 1st Press Island label (see picture) and is a UK Stereo 1st pressing!!!! 

The absolute rarity of this limited  album is not to be underestimated. It hardly ever surfaces nowadays. This is an absolutely heavy gorgeous slab of early quality ISLAND  vinyl  It has a deep glossy sheen!! Hauntingly beautiful songcraft!!!  Incredibly hard to find as a first press as this was one of King Crimson's lesser sellers.

Original UK First Day issue.

The last King Crimson studio album before the group's trilogy of Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Starless and Bible Black and Red, it is also the last to feature the lyrics of Peter Sinfield and the last to feature the band's 'traditional' progressive and symphonic sound.

The album received mixed reviews. A number of guest players like Keith Tippett on piano were featured. There are four tracks with lyrics on this album, and three of them concern women. One of them, "Ladies of the Road", has been criticised for perceived misogyny. 

The original United Kingdom and European cover depicts the Trifid Nebula in Sagittarius and displays neither the name of the band nor the title. The original United States and Canadian album cover (as released by Atlantic Records) was a Peter Sinfield painting of off-white with coloured "islands". This was used as an internal gatefold sleeve in the UK. When the King Crimson catalogue was re-issued by EG, they standardised on the "Trifid Nebula" cover world-wide.

This is a unique King Crimson release. Islands is not the exotic-aggressive prog created by the '72 to '74 version of the band, nor is it the grandiose Mellotron driven prog of the earlier material. And Islands is about as different from 80s and 90s Crimson as it could be. Instead, most of the songs participate in a single mellow mood, with a lot of focus on the stringed instruments, sax, and rhythm. The electric guitar does not seem as prominent, except on the Fripp masterpiece "Sailor's Tale".

Most of the songs have that melancholy "sailor music" feel to them. I can't explain what sailor music exactly is, you just need to hear these songs to see what I mean. The sounds conjure up images of waves and birds and gray skies. The "Sailor's Tale" is one of Crimson's classic instrumentals; listen to the atmospheric guitar fluttering and wailing, and the moody rhythms. "The Letters" is a very dark song with some emotionally subtle vocals and ominous string bass. "Formentera Lady" is also very interesting, with a bouncing repetitive beat and pretty melodies.

This is very different from the standard King Crimson, but I think most prog fans will like this anyway.

This auction is for the incredibly hard to find Island label issued in 1971. This is a bit special really as the condition of this vinyl is far above average

!!!!A VERY HARD FIND!!! Most have been bought up by collectors!! This is hardly offered these days!!

 Sensational sound quality, I have played this through in its entirety and it was a great joy!!! NO skips or jumps. NO clicks either, this is really a stunning very heavy glossy jet black vinyl. The audio is impeccable. Inspected under an intense light source and angled. It has a couple of wispy hairlines not affecting replay but has surely not been played much at all. 

 Sleeve: VG+.  It has the flipbacks identifying it as a first sleeve proper. The sleeve is matt with light ring and edge wear. There are NO splits or creases.

Vinyl: EX.  Both surfaces retain their original deep, glossy sheen. A SUPERB VINYL COPY WHICH WILL PROVE HARD TO BETTER!!! There are a couple of the usual sleeve retraction paper traces. There is just one wispy hairline on side 2 which does not affect the supreme audio of this LP!!  The record sounds sensational, the vinyl being the extremely thick variety the equivalent of a Rolls Royce in cars.
 Outstanding audio delivery in all respects with a crystal clear, deep, rich, warm and detailed sound and on playback at a loud volume (which is how I always listen to my LPs prior to listing and it's always an immense pleasure to return to this one) there is barely any surface noise. This is a beautifully clean pressing (and I must emphasize again how difficult it is to find a copy which plays this well).  Of course, NO skips, NO jumps, NO ticks.

Inner sleeve: The original item and still complete but the lyric sheet has become detached. Some protective tape around the edges of the printed inner.

Important : International postage will be registered and insured if over GBP 20.00.  These fees in England have gone up significantly last May. Please wait for my invoice before paying. Postage will be according to Royal Mail rates. Postage is NOT a money spinning exercise for me.

***This is a unique prime investment opportunity!!! Finding this classic album in any condition at all is nearly impossible!!! This is  a great and seriously collectable super album!!  You will buy into a piece of  superb prog history.*** 

This is a unique investment opportunity!!! The next prog album to go completely through the roof. Finding this album in any condition at all is nearly impossible so late in the day. Get this while you still can. This value of the album is only going to go one way ... up and up ... until it will be totally unavailable at all for a reasonable price.

Important : International postage will be registered and insured if over GBP 20.00.  Please wait for my invoice before paying. Postage will be according to Royal Mail rates. Postage is NOT a money spinning exercise for me.

Though there are rarely ever any problems with my items, I always try my very best to describe everything exactly!  PLEASE REMEMBER to contact me FIRST,  if you have any problems at all, before you leave feedback and star ratings, so I get a chance to turn any negative experience into a positive one!  I can always happily sort anything out for you, if you let me know you have a problem!  This way no one has to leave Negative/Neutral feedback - and we both walk away happy! Similarly with the amount of stars, anything less than a full 5 * rating is effectively detrimental to a seller's rating as lower ratings will incur higher Final Value Fees  and lower priority in the bidlists eventually making it unattractive to list items on Ebay at all. I know of at least one major previous Ebay seller who has decided not to list via Ebay again. Please do NOT bid if you cannot give me at least 1 chance to sort everything out to your FULL satisfaction in the unlikely event of a problem.  Thanks again!!

This an excellent investment opportunity!!! Any questions please ask me and I will try to answer soon.