King Crimson's The Elements 2020 Tour Box 2CD will be released on September 4. Pre-order here. All orders of $50 or more at the Schizoid Shop automatically receive a free 'Islands' mask.

This 2CD history of King Crimson features many extracts and tracks appearing on CD for the first time, including many of the current lineup. Packaged in a digi-pack style book case with 24-page booklet, this set contains introductory notes by Robert Fripp & sleeve notes by Sid Smith.

While this seventh release in the Tour Box series is in spirit with the earlier releases, this is also a very different tour box to its companions, and one which, as it has to stand along and represent a tour that should have been (and will occur in 2021), it also stands slightly apart.

What themes and stories should a tour box created for a postponed tour tell?

As with previous tour boxes, the 2020 Elements box covers the full spectrum of Crimsoning, this one with music and line-ups from 1969-2019. Disc One represents a mostly live/mostly new-to-CD selection of material including 4 tracks taken from the 2019 tour. Disc Two, in keeping with the theme of Sid's notes, discussed below, presents pieces played occasionally by the current line-up - Exiles and Sheltering Sky, pieces from the studio - both King Crimson and Robert Fripp that were never completed, or were developed in different ways, material that never made it to a studio recording - The Errors, Dr. Diamond, Trees (extract), Guts on my Side, etc, all combine to present a convincing musical counter-history to the band.

The main sleeve notes by KC historian Sid Smith present a series of highly plausible "what if?" scenarios. Starting from 1969. his 2000 word essay traces a counterfactual history of the band had various tours not been canceled or postponed, had various members not quit or joined, following the routes and pathways a band called King Crimson could have followed had things turned out slightly different along the way.

Tracklisting:

Disc 1
"Wind Extract"
"I Talk to the Wind" (Alt 2019 Mix)
"Moonchild" (Including Cadenzas, Live 23rd Sept 2019) *
"In the Wake of Poseidon" (Greg Lake Isolated Vocal) *
"Peace A Theme" (Live 26th Oct 1973) *
"Cat Food" (Live 26th Oct 1973) *
"Last Skirmish" (Live 10th June 2019) *
"Prince Rupert's Lament" (Alt Take)
"The Letters" (Bill Rieflin isolated, edit section 1) *
"The Letters" (RF Guitars early take, section) *
"The Letters" (Bill Rieflin isolated, edit section 2) *
"Ladies of the Road" (Fripp/Singleton mix)
"Easy Money" (Live 5th Sept 2019) *
"Fracture" (Live 2016, Taken from Live in Vienna)
"One More Red Nightmare" (Live 4th July 2019) *
"Starless" (Mark Charig featured Studio 1974)

* Tracks previously unreleased on CD

Disc 2
"The Sheltering Sky" (Live 18 July 2019) *
"San Francisco" (From Champaign Urbana Rehearsals 1983)
"Frame By Frame" (Jakszyk/Harrison Pre-2019 Tour Demo) *
"Running DAT 17" (edit) (Rehearsals from THRAK)
"Exiles" (Live June 2017) *
"North Star" (Exposure Rehearsals)
"Breathless" (Live 2018)
"The Errors" (Live 13 Nov 2017)
"Ian, Boz & Robert" (Studio Jam 1971)
"Disengage" (Exposure Rehearsals) *
"Guts On My Side" (Live 19 March 1974)
"Dr. Diamond" (Live 16 June 1973) *
"21st Century Schizoid Man" (Live Detroit 1972)
"Trees" (Extract Live 1969)
"The Sheltering Scape" (Assembled by Alex R Mundy)

* Tracks previously unreleased on CD

To accompany the 2020 Elements Tour Box, the We Paint Electric Rhythm Colour tour shirt contains the dates for the 2020 shows, to be performed in 2021, with postponed written over them. Proceeds from the sales of this shirt benefit the wonderful King Crimson road crew who have been unable to work during the pandemic.This full color shirt is silk-screened on a black Hanes Beefy Tee.

Order here.