KING CRIMSON — Starless And Bible Black (1981) Four Version (1987, Virgin Japan, 32VD-1123) + (1988, Serie Big Artist Collection | Virgin Japan, VJD-28004) + (1990, Virgin Japan, VJCP-2306) + (2011, USA | RM | Serie King Crimson 40th Anniversary Series) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Starless and Bible Black is even more powerful and daring than its predecessor, Larks' Tongues in Aspic, with jarring tempo shifts, explosive guitar riffs, and soaring, elegant, and delicate violin and Mellotron parts scattered throughout its 41 minutes, often all in the same songs. The album was on the outer fringes of accessible progressive rock, with enough musical ideas explored to make Starless and Bible Black more than background for tripping the way Emerson, Lake & Palmer's albums were. "The Night Watch," a song about a Rembrandt painting, was, incredibly, a single release, although it was much more representative of the sound that Crimson was abandoning than where it was going in 1973-1974. More to that point were the contents of side two of the LP, a pair of instrumentals that threw the group's hardest sounds right in the face of the listener, and gained some converts in the process. Bruce Eder
Tracklist :
1. The Great Deceiver (04:03)
Robert Fripp / Richard Palmer-James / John Wetton
2. Lament (04:05)
Robert Fripp / Richard Palmer-James / John Wetton
3. We'll Let You Know (03:42)
Bill Bruford / David Cross / Robert Fripp / John Wetton
4. The Night Watch (04:40)
Robert Fripp / Richard Palmer-James / John Wetton
5. Trio (05:41)
Bill Bruford / David Cross / Robert Fripp / John Wetton
6. The Mincer (04:11)
Bill Bruford / Richard Palmer-James / Robert Fripp / John Wetton
7. Starless And Bible Black (09:10)
Bill Bruford / David Cross / Robert Fripp / John Wetton
8. Fracture (11:15)
Robert Fripp
Credits :
Bass, Voice – John Wetton
Guitar, Mellotron, Electronics [Devices] – Robert Fripp
Lyrics By – Richard Palmer-James
Percussion [Percussives] – William Bruford
Producer – King Crimson
Violin, Viola, Keyboards – David Cross (tracks: 3, 5 to 7)