KING CRIMSON - RED 1st UK Press "SEAN" "PECKO" Island EX

	£		57
	$		75

KING CRIMSON  -  RED

ISLAND

ILPS 9308

A-3U  B-6U

1st UK Press 

 1974 Ultra Heavy vinyl

Etchings:  "SEAN" and "PECKO"

 I have been a huge fan of King Crimson since my schooldays and Red for me is one of their finest albums. Now scaled down to just three members but guests include five previous members. This fantastic album has it all, moments of quietness and moments of thrilling frenzied power with devastating volume. The final song for me has to be one of the best rock tracks ever - ‘Starless’ starts quietly with shimmering mellotron and guitar and slowly builds up into one of the most powerful climaxes ever put to record. Fripp’s splintering guitars will test out your speakers’ treble units, then comes a sublime short sax break followed by sheer rock power with the band going at full throttle. The bass rattles the foundations and Bruford’s percussion is devastating and when the mellotrons kick in again at the very end this gives me that incredible tingle factor that only the great recordings ever can. Play this album, and especially ‘Starless’ loud and you are in for hi-fi nirvana. 

Fripp decided to dissolve the band after this album and ‘Red’ is a stunning finale. You will not believe such a small band can create so much intensity. This copy is a beauty and one barely even played. Like all King Crimson albums, this has moments of near silence and then breathtaking power and high volume, their albums are always hard to find absolutely perfect on vinyl. This is no different, and this copy must rank as the very best I have yet heard with barely any unwanted sounds at all, even on the passages of near silence. Again the finale will test out any serious hi-fi system to its limits. A barrage of sound and instrumentation that can clearly all be followed with the ultimate detail on a worthy system with each instrument clearly defined and separate. The cover is as equally impressive as the record, also the blue inner the same. The main cover is a fragile one that often chips and creases and is ruthless in showing blemishes, being black anything is highlighted but this has few blemishes at all and goes very close to remining of new. This progressive classic and I mean the term ‘classic’ most sincerely, is getting more difficult to find on record now and this copy will please even the most discerning audiophile purists reading this.

Vinyl: EX+.  Both surfaces retain their original deep, glossy sheen.  There are a couple of the usual sleeve retraction paper scuff traces that can only be seen under a strong light, every record will have this from taking it in and out of the sleeve. There are no marks. There is just one wispy hairline which is totally inaudible on replay, the record sounds sensational. 
 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 emphasise again how difficult it is to find a copy which plays this well). The whole LP sounds absolutely great and plays to a high standard with superb clarity, no groove-wear and no distortion and is very strictly graded a strong EX  for audio  - great copy!! Of course, NO skips, NO jumps, NO ticks.

 Sleeve: EX.  A splendid example of this very hard to find LP. Fully laminated. It has the pinched spine as only the first press originals do. Two light corner creases prevent this from being an absolute perfect copy. Perfect edges and spine  and an extremely crisp opening. The spine is fully legible. It will be a tough task to still improve on this copy. Of course  NO tears, NO writing.

This album also has the original pale blue inner sleeve with inner poly liner. The pink "I" island logo printed near the bottom. It has no splits.

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.