The only progressive rock band from the '60s to be making new, vital, progressive music in the '90s, King Crimson returned from a ten-year exile in 1995 with THRAK, their first album since 1984's Three of a Perfect Pair. As with the '80s band, guitarist/ringleader Robert Fripp recruited singer/guitarist Adrian Belew, bassist Tony Levin, and drummer Bill Bruford for this incarnation of his classic band. However, he added to this familiar quartet two new members: Chapman Stick player Trey Gunn and ex-Mr. Mister drummer Pat Mastelotto. Effectively, Fripp created a "double trio," and the six musicians combine their instruments in extremely unique ways. The mix is very dense, overpoweringly so at times, but careful listens will reveal that each musician has his own place in each song; the denseness of the sound is by design, not the accidental result of too many cooks in the kitchen. Sometimes, as in "THRAK," the two trios are set against each other, in some sort of musical faux combat. In others, they just combine their respective sounds to massive effect. On "Dinosaur," perhaps the strongest track on the record, Mastelotto and Bruford set up an ominous tom-tom groove that supports an even more ominous guitar figure. The vocal, the musings of a long-dead sauropod, are vintage Belew, just as the freaky, falling-down-the-stairs solo in the middle is vintage Fripp. Other high points include the drum duet "B'Boom" and the two Belew/Fripp "Inner Garden" pieces. Allusions to earlier Crimson abounds, such as the form of "VROOM," for example, which is suspiciously reminiscent of "Red" (from the 1974 album of the same name), or the shout-out to "The Sheltering Sky" (from 1981's Discipline) in "Walking on Air." Thankfully, this never gets annoying, but instead acts as a subtle nudge and a wink to faithful fans. King Crimson came back in a major way with THRAK, and proved that, even in its fourth major incarnation, Fripp and company still had something to say. High-quality prog. Daniel Gioffre
Tracklist :
1 VROOOM 4:37
2 Coda: Marine 475 2:41
3 Dinosaur 6:35
4 Walking On Air 4:34
5 B'Boom 4:11
6 THRAK 3:58
7 Inner Garden I 1:47
8 People 5:53
9 Radio I 0:43
10 One Time 5:21
11 Radio II 1:02
12 Inner Garden II 1:15
13 Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream 4:48
14 VROOOM VROOOM 5:37
15 VROOOM VROOOM: Coda 3:00
Credits :
Backing Vocals, Chapman Stick [Stick] – Trey Gunn
Backing Vocals, Electric Upright Bass [Upright Bass], Electric Bass – Tony Levin
Guitar, Effects [Soundscapes], Mellotron – Robert Fripp
Guitar, Voice, Words By – Adrian Belew
Music By – King Crimson
Percussion [Acoustic & Electronic] – Bill Bruford, Pat Mastelotto
5.3.24
KING CRIMSON — THRAK (1995) Two Version (2004, RM | HDCD | Serie 30th Anniversary Edition) + (2006, Japan, WHD Entertainment, IECP-10045) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless
KING CRIMSON — The ConstruKction Of Light (2000) Two Version (2000, Pony Canyon Inc., PCCY-01455) + (2006, HDCD | WHD Entertainment, IECP-10046) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless
King Crimson, one of the few first-generation progressive rock bands to remain nearly consistent in the quality of their output throughout their career, fall flat with The ConstruKction of Light, the band's 12th studio album. Unable to shed the weight of their oft-brilliant history, the most promising moments of ConstruKction are crushed underneath the bulk. What makes ConstruKction such a disappointment is, despite how "progressive" the band-fragmenting ProjeKct approach appeared on paper, upon execution, it produced an utterly backward-looking album. More self-referential than a Jean-Luc Godard film, nearly every song on ConstruKction contains a heavy-handed nod to a previous Crimson song. There are even two tracks that are directly named after old Crimson material: "FraKctured" and "Larks Tongues in Aspic-Part IV." The most notable shift the pared-down, four-piece Crimson makes with ConstruKction is getting rid of acoustic drums in favor of electronic "V" drums (courtesy of Pat Mastelotto, who took over full-time duties after Bruford left). Crimson does not seem to lose much in the transition, and, overall, the musicianship is superb as usual, but it's almost as if they thought new technology and a stripped down lineup would make up for a dearth of new ideas. Treading water is still treading water, even if the waters happen to be deep. There are, however, two bright spots on the album: "Into the Frying Pan" and "Heaven and Earth." The former features guitarist/vocalist Adrian Belew at his quirky best, and the latter (credited to Project X instead of King Crimson) is a beautifully textured, near-ambient piece that slowly builds intensity before a long, slow release. Together, they suggest that King Crimson may still have some gas left in their tank after all. Jason Nickey
Tracklist :
1. ProzaKc Blues (05:28)
2. The ConstruKction Of Light (1/2) (05:50)
3. The ConstruKction Of Light (2/2) (02:49)
4. Into The Flying Pan (06:54)
5. FraKctured (09:05)
6. The World's My Oyster Soup Kitchen Floor Wax Museum (06:24)
7. Larks' Tongues In Aspic - Part IV (1/3) (03:41)
8. Larks' Tongues In Aspic - Part IV (2/3) (02:50)
9. Larks' Tongues In Aspic - Part IV (3/3) (02:36)
10. Coda: I Have A Dream (04:51)
11. Heaven And Earth (by ProjeKct X) (07:48)
Credits :
Bass [Touch Guitar], Baritone Guitar – Trey Gunn (tracks: 1 to 10)
Drums – Pat Mastelotto (tracks: 1 to 10)
Guitar – Adrian Belew (tracks: 1 to 10), Robert Fripp (tracks: 1 to 10)
Vocals – Adrian Belew (tracks: 1 to 10)
Written By – Adrian Belew, Robert Fripp, Trey Gunn and Pat Mastelotto (tracks: 1 to 10)
Written By [Words] – Adrian Belew (tracks: 1 to 10)
KING CRIMSON — The Power To Believe (2003) Universal – UICE-1045 | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless
The Power to Believe (2003) marks the return of King Crimson for the group's first full-length studio release since ConstruKction of Light (2000). While it draws upon material featured on the live Level Five (2001) and studio Happy with What You Have to Be Happy With (2002) extended-play discs, there are also several new sonic sculptures included. Among them is the title track, which is divided into a series of central thematic motifs much in the same manner as the "Larks' Tongues in Aspic" movements had done in the past. This 21st century schizoid band ably bears the torch of its predecessors with the same ballsy aggression that has informed other seminal King Crimson works -- such as In the Court of the Crimson King (1969), Red (1974), and more recently THRAK (1995). This incarnation of the Mighty Krim includes the excessively talented quartet of Adrian Belew (guitar/vocals), Robert Fripp (guitar), Trey Gunn (Warr guitar/Warr fretless guitar), and Pat Mastelotto (percussion). Under the auspices of Machine -- whose notable productions include post-grunge and industrial medalists Pitchshifter and White Zombie -- the combo unleashes a torrent of alternating sonic belligerence ("Level Five") and inescapable beauty ("Eyes Wide Open"). These extremes are linked as well as juxtaposed by equally challenging soundscapes from Fripp on "The Facts of Life: Intro" as well as Belew's series of "The Power to Believe" haikus. The disc is fleshed out with some choice extended instrumentals such as "Elektrik" and "Dangerous Curves," boasting tricky time signatures that are indelibly linked to equally engaging melodies. Both "Happy With What You Have to Be Happy With" and "Facts of Life" stand out as the (dare say) perfect coalescence of Belew's uncanny Beatlesque lyrical sense with the sort of bare-knuckled, in your face aural attack that has defined King Crimson for over three decades. If the bandmembers' constant tone probing is an active search to find the unwitting consciousness of a decidedly younger, rowdier, and more demanding audience, their collective mission is most assuredly accomplished on The Power to Believe -- even more so than the tripped-out psychedelic prog rock behemoth from whence they initially emerged. Lindsay Planer
Tracklist :
1. The Power To Believe I: A Cappella (00:44)
2. Level Five (07:17)
3. Eyes Wide Open (04:08)
4. Elektrik (07:59)
5. Facts Of Life: Intro (01:38)
6. Facts Of Life (05:05)
7. The Power To Believe II (07:43)
8. Dangerous Curves (06:42)
9. Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With (03:17)
10. The Power To Believe III (04:09)
11. The Power To Believe IV: Coda (02:28)
Credits :
Drums [Traps], Drum Programming [Buttons] – Pat Mastelotto
Guitar – Robert Fripp
Guitar [Warr], Fretless Guitar [Fretless Warr] – Trey Gunn
Guitar, Vocals, Words By – Adrian Belew
Music By – King Crimson
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