Though King Crimson has been inactive since 2009, bassist Tony Levin says their music remains a topic of conversation among fans who fondly remember the group — even if describing their experiences sometimes proves difficult.

Ian Gillan, fresh off a triumphal return in Now What?! with Deep Purple, looks back at his lengthy career — beginning with his very first appearance with the band.

Greg Lake takes fans inside one of Emerson Lake and Palmer’s most spectacular 1970s-era concert stunts — when Keith Emerson would rise above the crowd playing a grand piano and turn 360 degrees.

Arriving in a period in which Yes wasn’t doing studio work, and including contributions from no less than five musicians with ties to the band, the comparisons for Circa came early and often. A new reissue from Cleopatra underscores the differences.

The turn of the millennium was a time of artistic resurgence for UK guitar lord Allan Holdsworth; with its stripped down arrangements and group improvisational freedom, Holdsworth got more from less out of Sixteen Men of Tain (2000).

Flash, together again after four decades, take on a song that’s already been defined (as a Nine Inch Nails original) and then redefined (with Johnny Cash’s harrowing third-act re-do) — and yet they still find new revelations.

In the closest we’re likely to get to new stuff any time soon from King Crimson, the alumni-filled Crimson ProjeKCt turns in a nervy, tensile live take on this cut from 1995′s Thrak.

Guitarist Steve Morse joined us as Deep Purple released both deluxe and vinyl editions of their new album Now What?!, a comeback which has already topped the charts in four countries — and gone Top 20 in 13 more.

Guitarist Steve Hackett, with an assist from criminally underrated fellow Genesis alum Ray Wilson, has finally found the emotional centerpoint within one of their old band’s signature tunes, “Carpet Crawlers.”

Carl Palmer has come to terms with the apparent dissolution of Emerson Lake and Palmer, after having performed with them just once — at the High Voltage Festival three years ago — since 1998.