special introductory paragraph! In The Court Of The Crimson King
In The Wake Of Poseidon
Lizard
Islands
Larks' Tongues In Aspic
Starless And Bible Black
Red
Discipline
Beat
Three Of A Perfect Pair
Thrak
(Roland Fratzl Reviews) The ConstruKction Of Light
No, of course not. His name is Robert Fripp. Get the shit out of your
ears. He may be an egotistical prick, but he's made some good music here or
there. Mr. Fripp is an avante-garde guitarist who has led his main band
King Crimson through a number of different types of music throughout the
last three decades, from psychedelic dreampop to go-nowhere crap music to
nightmarish rock to free jazz improv noodlings to tight-as-a-thistle
complicated 80s guitar pop right on through to whatever the heck they're
doing today, all while having no qualms replacing the entire band several
times and retaining the name! Might as well, when you're
Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrobert Fripp!
I'm not a huge fan of these guys, by any means. However, my brother
absolutely loves them, and over the years his enthusiasm has at least
somewhat rubbed off on me. A little bit.
Fripp annoys me, though. My brother treats him like a god, and it's really
annoying to hear him constantly quoting Robert as if it was scripture. I
mean, I respect Fripp VERY much as a guitarist (he's not exactly my
favorite guitarist, but in my mind he's almost undoubtedly the best and
most complete guitarist on the face of the earth), but as a person ...
ehn. My brother defends his often boorish behavior, saying that he is
merely the latest in a long line of British eccentrics. My opinion,
though, is that he has become so obsessed with pushing the boundaries of
art that he's managed to pretty much lose most of what makes us human.
But many people like that. Using my brother as an example, KC appeals
mostly to those who feel that the emotional resonance of music is
absolutely irrelevant, that only panty-wastes would possibly care about
the emotional impact of a song.
On the other hand, taken as what it is (music for the ears), it's still
quite interesting at times. I can't stand their live improvs (though my
brother worships them), but the compositions are often very interesting
from a technical standpoint.
2: If U've got a spare $60+, check out
Fripp's 4-CD mid-70s live set, THE GREAT
DECEIVER. The band w/ Bruford & Wetton
was Good, & fans in2 their angrier,
darker, heavier stuff will find the set
well worth the $$$. "Fracture," "Larks 1
& 2," "Talking Drum," "Doctor Diamond" R
all brilliant, &, most important, REALLY
NOISY!
3: The 70s 2-record import YOUNG
PERSON'S GUIDE TO KC also has a lot of
good stuff on it (tho not "Great
Deceiver" or "Fracture") & at the time I
bot it (about 1978) I thot it was the
best $13 I'd ever spent on an album.
Really opened my ears....
4: Bob Fripp IS a little stuck up, but
on the GREAT DECEIVER set U'll hear his
speaking voice. He's a little ...
effeminate. Sounds like an Ivy League
college English teacher. Very proper.
Ever read any of his writing in Musician
magazine? He Xpresses himself very
clearly. Also, he sposedly sent a ton of
letters to EG Records in the early 80s
when they went bankrupt & took some of
his $$$ down with them -- those letters
would likely B real revealing. More
samples of Fripp's writing R in
DECEIVER, the FRAME BY FRAME box set &
YOUNG PERSON'S GUIDE....
Nice 2 C U reviewing again.
He certainly started on a high note! This one lil' debut release
encompasses EVERY facet about King Crimson that was ever great -- the
brain-screaming acid rock of "21st Century Schizoid Man," the gorgeous Moody
Blues melancholia of "I Talk To The Wind," the mellotron driven nightmare
vision of "Epitaph," the free jazz noodle dicking of "Moonchild," all coming
together into a fitting finale with the brain-screamingly gorgeous visionary
dicking of the title track. The production is strong and full of late 60s
hippie darkness and depth (the fuzzed-vocals in "Schizoid" are a bit hard on
the ears but that's the point - the song is supposed to wake you and shake
you), the vocals are the best they would ever be on ANY King Crimson album
(thank you Mr. Greg Lake before you ran off to start your OWN overblown art
rock band!) and the instrumentation is endlessly interesting, all even
within the context of what other bands could have easily turned into normal
rock songs (KC made 'em special with the talented guitar noodlings of the
ol' Fripp ship!). Did you enjoy the way I used THREE separate
parenthetical phrases in that last sentence? What time's my hand job?
So yeah, it's a great album - but how come the songs are given multiple "parts" in the tracklisting?
All of them stick to basically one melody the whole way through, and I don't hear any serious lyrical
shifts in any of the songs. That's Fripp for you.
And yeah, it's a friggin' fabulous album ... but Moonchild is just so
dumb. Sure, all three epics are in my top ten Crimson songs (yeah, Epitaph
is my favorite KC song, what's it to you), but Moonchild just sucks beyond
words.
I'd give it a solid 9, but no more.
Sounds like it was thrown together from the debut's outtakes. The title
track is a shameless ripoff of "Epitaph," "Pictures Of A City" is a
laughable attempt to recreate "21st Century Schizoid Man" and "The Devil's
Triangle" (otherwise a great number) goes so far as to include a sample from
the previous record!!!! Plus, the hippy folksy nature of stuff like "Peace"
and "Cadence And Cascade" doesn't hold up to today's scrutiny -- because
nothing happens in the songs to begin with. Unless "boring" counts as an
action verb these days. Only the cool jazzy "Cat Food" and the weird as
hell noise experiment "The Devil's Triangle" save this record from having
its ass kicked across my apartment right now. Well, that and my
ever-increasing fear that a vengeful record will angrily roll razor-like
across my throat whilst I sleep.
I'd easily give this a 9, just like its predecessor.
And I like "Devil's Triangle" too, just because one of the sections is
called "Garden Of Worm" and it's all this crazy noise that evokes images
in my mind of children being chased through a garden by a big ol' worm.
Spooky!
I suppose that now is as good a time as any to go into additional detail
about what this early version of the band sounded like. Well, they had an
incredibly annoying knack for going back and forth between insipid hippy
folkish shit and unBELIEVably abrasive noise rock, with snares
a-rat-tat-tattin', horns, saxes and flutes a-blowin' and guitar & mellotron
blending together to make ugly as sin noises to scare your little puppy dog
and make your Christmas tree jump out the window. The lyrics, written by
hilarious comedic funnyman Jerry Seinfeld, are fantasy renaissance nonsense
about jesters and kings and little boy games and poopdish along those
lines. Honestly, on this one and last album, the song themes themselves
are so depressingly weak, only the mid-song jam sessions make them worth
listening to. Plus, there's not even any Greg Lake on this one - just yon
court jester named Gordon Haskell who sounds like thine typical British
kiddy show host (except on one wonderful, mystical song featuring Yes's Jon
Anderson!). Oh, and GG Allin takes a poop in the middle of side B. But
aside from those two guest appearances, this is some bleak British swallow.
At their best, early King Crimson brought together a veritable whirlwind in
a teapot of swirling, maddening noise. At their worst, they played insanely
dull songs. This album doesn't sound like a total ripoff of the last two,
but it's also not very entrancing except, again, during the cool jam
sessions that you'll find between the crappy actual songs. Just BAD
classical/jazz/art rock melodies. With UGLY presentation. And a
piano!
So you say you're a big fan of very poorly- (and slowly-) paced
classical/jazz/pop that doesn't go anywhere at all? You love to hear a band
that seems to have no idea what the hell it is they're trying to accomplish?
Look no further, my man! My MAAAAAAY-AY-AIN man! Aside from one kickass
blast jam ("Sailor's Tale") and a couple of lovely sax passages strewn
throughout, this whole album is like Sominex for the penis. Oh hell, did I
say "penis"? I of course meant YOU, you prick. The singer on this one is
Boz Burrell, later to join rock gods Bad Company. The guitarist is Robert
Fripp but you hardly hear him anyway - he's too busy creating important
piano/string/horn-buried pompous art music to bother actually playing the
guitar (aside from "Sailor's Tale," of course). What was he trying to do at
this point in his career???? It's not hippie music, it's not free jazz
(aside from a couple of key moments), if it's meant as classical, it's
worthless oversimplified classical, if it's rock, it's fucking AWFUL rock
("Ladies Of The Road" is both bland AND sexist! Much like me, except I'm
bland OR sexist!). Time to call it day, ol' Fripp. You suck.
Mmm, I'll never forget the last time I had MY tongue in a spic. That fuckin
Puerto Rican slut had the tastiest On this album, Robert has surrounded
himself with a whole new gang of noisemakers, including former Yes GOD
drummer Bill Bruford and future Asia mouthpiece John Wetton! And they're
GOOD!!!! They've tightened and toughened up their little pussy sound, made
it kick solid ass, and most importantly have decided to concentrate almost
completely on the cool instrumental jams that were the highlights of the
last few records. For once, they actually sound like they've got a VISION
in mind for the band! The only problem is that they still can't write an
actual *SONG* that doesn't make you (me) want to cringe and stick your (my)
fingers in your (your) ears (vagina). "Exiles" is so bad, it's like...
like.... why, it's like ASIA!!! The other two "songs" suffer too, aside
from the nice instrumental breaks. But at least Fripp has finally found
something he's good at! This is it, mang. Hard avant-garde improv jazz
rock. THIS is where the Crimson needs to concentrate.
But then I listened again. And I realized one thing: the instrumentals are
great, actual _songs_. They have great builds, incredible dynamics between
hard and soft, actual riffs and melodies ... they rule!
And even some of the 'real' songs are nice - they sag a bit, but they're
not at all bad. And even if they were, even if the album were just the
three instrumentals and crap, it would still deserve an 8.
This is a very good album, perhaps a little less song-based than any
earlier Crimson product, but considering the quality of Lizard,
I'm not apt to complain. Plus, the lack of structure isn't a stricture
(man, I'm clever); Fripp and the band don't hold back on their
avant-garde tendencies this time around and the end result: two
magnificent title tracks. The actual songs themselves are generally of
high quality as well, though I'll be the first to admit that "Easy
Money" is a bit plodding for my personal tastes. As for John Wetton,
he's nothing compared to Greg Lake, but compared to the vocalists he
immediately followed, he's a godsend. I give the album a high eight.
Okay, for the record: A bunch of random noises played at the same time may
very well constitute "avant-garde composition," but it does NOT necessarily
constitute "anything at all worth listening to for any reason." They're
still writing hideously bland "songs" reminiscent of early Dire Straits but
without that band's natural warmth and drive, and the instrumental pieces
are JUST AS DULL. I find it astonishing that people compare this shit to
YES in their prime. Instrumentally and especially songwriting-wise, YES
blew these dickaround kings out of the water. Most of this stuff isn't even
complicated - it's just rotten! I also find it incredible that Robert Fripp
has the gall to hold a high opinion of himself when his career has mostly
been made up of disappointing shit-jazz efforts like this. A bunch of
four-year-olds could have recorded most of this record. But they would have
been smart enough to realize it was garbage, and promptly tossed it into
Roger Waters' dustbin.
"Fracture" and "Trio" are pretty great though. So that's TWO impressive
King Crimson efforts on the same album! WOW!!!!!!
What annoys me most of all is just when you think King Crimson
metamorphose into a great songwriting outfit, they slam you on the
head with something like this - and they do it INTENTIONALLY, knowing
that you will be offended! It's like a gigantic 'Fuck You, we will do
whatever we will want' when you least expected it. The same thing
happened in the Nineties when after their studio comeback (THRAK) and
live comeback (B'BOOM) they greeted us with THRaKaTTaK. Ugh.
On the other hand, I think Mark is playing a vile trick when he says
'this is compared with Yes in their prime'. I don't know who compares
THIS with Yes in their prime; I would better compare the better, more
normal King Crimson albums like 'In The Court' and 'Larks' Tongues'
and 'Red' with Yes in their prime. And then everybody would see that
Yes can't really hold a candle to KC in their prime - because KC can
be melodic, daring, innovative and unpretentious at the same time,
whereas Yes at best can only be one or two of said epithets at once.
And don't slam me for calling KC an 'unpretentious' band - apart from
an occasional gruesome Sinfield lyrical triteness, their 'normal'
music is perfectly adequate.
Now see, this is what gets me. Obviously the guy CAN make a decent rock
album if he tries. So why does he choose to release albums of he and his
bandmates farting into tubas and scraping violins against each others'
codpieces? Red is a powerful, heavy blast of melodic, creepy, mean
'70s hard rock. Five songs, only ONE of which is avant-penis-caressing, and
even THAT one is pretty eerie. The others darn near sting your
bumblebee in the honeycomb with their midtempo anger and distortion (even the BASS is
distorted!!! And this was 1974, all you Cows fans!!!!). And "Starless" has
this totally killer middle part that builds and contorts and smacks into a
fiery leftwing explosion of Jelly Bean Caruso, much like Yes' astonishing
"Awaken" would a few years later. Yes rule, by the way. As opposed to
King Crimson, who only rule once per decade if that. Having said that,
Red rules. For once (and only once) in his career, the ultimate snob
afficionado bangs his head. Metal health will drive him mad.
Notice how the formula is much the same as on In The
Court of The Crimson King? Well it is. And strangely,
I find Providence more than a little listenable,
atmospheric if you will. Starless is certainly one
hell of a song to finish a career with, until you
discover your 'David Gilmour' side and resurrect your
moribund group to record a load of watered-down AOR,
that is.
Is this what punk was so angry with? Is this really
what Johnny Rotten wanted to destroy? Because no punk
record, not one - ever - rocked with anything like the
force and scale of Red. Stupid little genre.
Seven years later, Fripp forms a new version of King Crimson and it's
post-punk guitar rock! No more flutes, violins, tubas, mellotrons and
avant-garde doodly-doo clomps -- this new band sounds like the Police or the
Talking Heads or solo Peter Gabriel, but a bit more complex! The watery
guitar lines slither, echo and repeat in weird time signatures, the bass
plays wicked dub-type parts, returning drummer Bill Bruford plays funky
dancey almost Caribbean-type rhythms and new co-guitarist/singer Adrian
Belew talks and laughs his way through half of the album! Humor? On an
important King Crimson work of art? Well, I didn't say it was funny
(who besides a smug college student could actually find cleverness in the
lines: "I repeat myself when under stress! I repeat myself when under
stress! I repeat myself when under stress!"? Huh? Hoo?). For some reason,
this album and Larks' Tongues In Aspic have gone down in musical
history as masterpieces. I don't quite buy into all that - there's simply
too many songs on here that rely on the same exact formula without adding
anything new to the brew. However, they are both perfectly enjoyable (and
completely different) albums that you'd be happy to have in your
erection. What do you mean, it would hurt? Exactly how small IS your
penis anyway?
But don't you people actually hear that they DON'T REALLY PLAY like
the Talking Heads? Fripp's guitar style is SIMILAR to the Heads'
style, but it's not the same! It's trickier, jazzier and ever so
slightly more profound. It's like an 'academic' approach to that style
- it's been tamed, crossed with certain jazzy textures and 'cleaned
up' for elitist reasons. I don't want to say it's necessarily a good
thing - I couldn't say which style I actually prefer. I like both.
And for the life of me, I couldn't say what makes the playing more
'artificial' than, say, the playing on Fear Of Music or Remain In
Light. Maybe it's the lyrics and singing that annoys people, actually
- I can understand how Belew sounds a bit 'sterile'. But I don't think
of 'Discipline' as a serious, problem-resolving sonic experiment. I
think of it as a groovy, lightweight experiment. In that respect, even
some of the instrumentals work.
And now I'll play a Rich Bunnell myself and say this: hey all you
people, lay off 'Matte Kudasai'! 'Stupid little pop song'? Why don't
you say the same about the entire 1963-65 Beatles catalogue, Mike! I
LOVE that goddamn song. It's got beautiful guitar sound all over it,
and a gorgeous vocal melody. It's a true KC classic.
Starts off sounding identical to the previous record, but then slowly
reveals itself to revolve around more "serious," moody, romantic material.
However, the songs still depend to a great degree on slickly produced
"Frippertronics," which is Robert's asinine way of bragging that he's
finally come up with an interesting guitar style. And the songs are,
unfortunately, not QUITE as memorable this time around, aside from the
wonderful "Waiting Man" and "Sartori In Tangier," the latter of which made
my fiancee remark, "I think I'll sit here and meditate to your weird
music." Let me say one thing in Robert Fripp's defense. Nah, screw him.
He's a douchebag.
So Robert Fripp and his League of Gentlemen were playing at Columbia
University and, for his own pretentious reasons, Robert decides that his
band is so unique that a concert would be incomplete without a question and
answer session. So a guy stands up to ask a question about
Discipline. And Robert replies, "We're not talking about
Discipline tonight." So another fellow stands up and nervously asks
a question that doesn't make much sense. And Robert replies snidely, "I
thought this was Columbia University." I can be somewhat forgiving of
overconfidence, but not when it comes from a guy who has released as much
worthless shit music as Robert Fripp. That's why I've been so vocal about
my disdain for him throughout these reviews. If you have any stories about
Robert being a NICE man, please relate them here. I could use some nice
tales to counter the ugly stories I've heard about him. About this record:
It's more experimental than
the last one, with three lengthy instrumental jam thingies, none of which
are anywhere near as interesting as the early Crimson's midfest
noise-a-thons, but they're oky-dokey, I supposey-wosey-woo. The real treat
is the cool songs, though. Not so much Frippertronics as really wild slidey
guitar effects that discombobulate you over and over again as you attempt to
treat them like normal '80s rock songs (which they aren't!). Take THAT, The
Edge! No no, the guitar player from U2.
King Crimson returns for the fifty-two jillionth time to update its '80s
sound into a '90s concept. More of a full-Eno U2 sound than that Talking
Heads crinkle sound they had on Discipline and its ornery cousins.
Same trio + a second drummer and some dude who plays a stick, which I
believe is a form of tree branch that is used to bang against the side of a
barn or other tree. Often a dog will be seen with one in its mouth. This
dog is referred to as a "talented musician." Oh now you want to know what
the record actually sounds like, don't you? Well, it's repetitive, with
lots of boring overproduced instrumental pieces and noise experiments
that don't do anything. But the actual written SONGS, unexpectedly enough, are
pretty compelling. Pretty numbers with nice Adrian Belew overemotional
vocals. I personally don't need a slick modern-day radio-ready King
Crimson in my life, and don't much care whether I ever hear this record
again. However, I'm not claiming to speak for the majority of KC fans.
Like I said, there are some nice songs, and couple of neat guitar things,
where Robert bends the strings really majorly or plays a nice little
Sting-like old-person ballad melody. Eff Why Eye, The Crimsons returned
again in 2000 with an album called something like The Construcktion Of
Light that I haven't heard. They also have at least an infinite number
of live albums. Please hey whoopie cat. To all get in line! Get in
line!
Hey guys! Looks like our favourite avant-garde rock band is back yet again,
adding another fine collection of music to their already brilliant 30-plus
year career!
Man, when will these guys ever get tired of doing this? When are they ever
gonna put out a pop album like Yes did in the 80's so that they can finally
have a hit and earn some money for a change, like they deserve to?? It ain't
gonna happen, and that's to their credit...they continue to push the
boundaries, to go where no man/one has gone before!
In my opinion, Yes and King Crimson have always been the angel and devil of
prog rock...Yes being the more upbeat, happy, airy-fairy, faggety one, while
King Crimson has always been the darker, heavier, moodier, more experimental,
and ultimately far more interesting band of the two. How can you even dispute
this, Mark?? And all you other Yes freaks :P
Don't get me wrong; I like Yes. They fused rock (well, wussy rock) music with
classical, and being the ambitious perfectionists that they are, they
succeeded in this endeavour, at least for a couple of albums before losing
their way, then selling out in a desperate bid to get going again, having a
huge hit and album, then making more mediocre music before redeeming
themselves somewhat recently. King Crimson on the other hand, has been a far
more dynamic sonic experiment since day one, always striving to create music
that has not come our way before...sometimes the attempts were less than
inspired, but at least they always walked that edge, always looked for
something new, always tried to evolve our modern understanding of what music
is, and how it should be played. They were never, and still aren't to this
very day, predictable...the only thing predictable about them is that their
music is unpredictable.
This album continues in the sort of heavier, moodier vein, some of which was
started on the last one, Thrak, which I might add, is a severely underrated
album...that fruit who rated it a five doesn't know what he's talking
about...it's easily one of their best albums...a good high eight, maybe a
nine, just like this one. Adrian Belew is once again the vocalist here, as
well as guitar noodler along with the ever present Bobby Fripp...everything
they do is just so interesting! There was one guy who summed it up best by
saying "in 12 bars of King Crimson there's more going on than in other's
entire albums". On Thrak the band was a six-piece; here they've slimmed down
to four. Bill Bruford left again apparently after a spat, after which he said
he would never play with them again...yeah, how many times have we heard that
before? Or has that chicken gone home to roost in Yes again?? HA!
The only track that's truly interesting and original is the opening PRoZaK
Blues (or however it's capitalized). The vocal distortion effects are
fabulous, making Adrian truly sound like an old blues-singer. And the way
that the drums play 5/4 then 7/4 while the bass plays 7/4 then 5/4 creates
a _very_ distorting and fabulous effect.
But the rest? Blah. First of all, the lyrics on this album suck mightily
(apparently even Fripp has been recorded as writing this). Second and most
importantly, though, is that the rest of the album has very little
original about it. LTIA 4 is nothing (and even Fripp has admitted this) a
pseudo-medley of the first three LTIA's, Red, Fracture, and some other
piece that fails to come to mind. Meanwhile, the intertwining guitars are
the EXACT SAME STYLE as during Discipline.
In other words - where the hell is the "progression"? This album _screams_
"we've run out of ideas!" I'd _maybe_ give it a 6.
Ah, how nice it is to see KC on this page - the prog geekiness polygon is
now closer to completeness.
I really don't think you should let your low opinion
of Fripp colour your opinion of the band's musical
output. I'll take your word for it that he indeed WAS
a complete asshole, but this really doesn't come
across while listening to them, apart from in their
aimless prog improvisations and the 'revolving door'
band structure (Yes were guilty of this as well you
know). All the other bands you've reviewed have been
reviewed on their musical worth, why can't King
Crimson?
Mark!: It's a pleasure 2 argue w/ U a
little. 1: KC & The Sunshine Band did a
lot of really great, life-affirming
stuff, e.g.: "Starless," "Fracture,"
"Frame By Frame," "Sleepless" (w/ that
great Adrian Belew line about Cing
submarines in his ceiling), "The Great
Deceiver," "Epitaph," "Schizoid Man,"
etc. All lite, pleasant, early morning
wake up music, I'm sure U'll agree.
Well, yeah, of course it's a ten. It really says something that this album manages to be so
unanimously lauded even though Fripp, in all of his maniacal delusions, decided to make ten minutes of it
a bunch of boring dinky keyboard noodling that doesn't go anywhere ("Moonchild"). It's because
the other four tracks are genius - "Schizoid Man" is a noise-rock classic, and basically
the only reason that the word "rock" is included in the term "progressive rock." "I Talk To The
Wind" is probably the most beautiful song they ever made (though it's kind of hard to hear
after your ears have been blown out by "Schizoid"). "Epitaph" is a smooth-playing, dramatic
masterpiece. The title track is grandiose and spectacular, like so many Genesis compositions
that would follow in its footsteps.
First of all, the songwriting was not the product of Fripp on this album,
but rather of Ian McDonald (wizard of mellotrons and winds).
"Overrated," says the jaded teenager. The songs are pretty good, yes,
but this was hardly their masterpiece. "21st Century Schizoid Man" (and
there will be a lot of those tomorrow) is the classic, and only
"Moonchild" can really be called "crappy" (and it's not the noodly part
at the end that bugs me... it's the song part! What a dumb song!) but
there's not much here to scream about. Even "Schizoid Man" isn't the
insane screaming evil molten lava song everybody says it is. It's just a
fuzzy slow rocker with a neat fast middle section which would later be
ripped off by Yes. This album basically sounds like the Moody Blues
would have sounded if all that pot wasn't making them write songs about
birdies and see-saws and Timothy Leary. Not bad. I give it a low 7.
Anybody who denies this record a 10, or at least a very high nine (I
can understand that 'Moonchild' really irks people - hey, it irks ME),
should simply stay away from progressive rock, as it's prog-rock
epitomised. Not the first prog-rock ever made - the Nice actually beat
KC to it, but arguably the genre's Sgt Pepper.
As for Mike's comment: no way could the Moody Blues ever sound like
that, even if they had never touched pot in all of their life. They
simply didn't have the astounding chops of this band. Can you imagine
Graeme Edge keeping up the tempo on 'Schizoid Man'? And if 'Schizoid
Man' isn't the insane screaming evil song everybody says it is, then
what IS the insane screaming evil song? Something by Slayer? The guys
kicked off the song at the very top of the Sixties' recording
possibilities. It's like saying that Chuck Berry's rock'n'rolls are
tepid and sissy because his guitar didn't have the Ramones' chainsaw
buzz sound.
The obvious candidate for the 10, and possibly the
best prog album full stop (or 'period' as you
Americans say). I agree with every word you've written
here. I'm one of those rare weirdoes who enjoys
'Moonchild' all the way through; and why the fuck is
the first 2 and a half minutes of it 'dumb' Mr.
Defabio? I find it beautiful and charming.
Tend to agree with Rich here. My tolerance for noodly jams is really, really
low. The title track, as well as "Schizoid" and "Wind" are grand. Thanks to
mark for indicating that much of what follows isn't worth my time. Of
course, Cut The Crap is the greatest album ever, so what does he know?
You know, In the court of the crimson king is an amazing album for the
beginning alone, even if you're not a huge airy soft psych fan. It's the only
one by them I own and on other releases I've not found a rock based psych
sound like 21st century schizoid man. This is similar to stuff I've found by
Spirit or many other psych bands of the time in this respect. If anyone out
there has ideas about more rock based psych stuff along the lines of Electric
Prunes or early Love, or perhaps some suggested pickups for more of the same
with King Crimson, email me with suggestions.
While black sabbath was one of the first of the "eeries" to record(and by far,
outstanding),lets not forget that king crimson recorded in the court of the crimson
king in 1969....another eerie wonder.
Technical note. The reason there are separate song titles (songs within
songs) on this record is because in those days the artists got paid royalty
rates dependent on the number of "songs" per album side. The record company
was "bluffed" into paying more for less. Unfortunately this set a trend for
ludicrous era to follow, when bands like Yes would- oh, hell just look at
some of their song titles!
Huh?? Yeah, the entire thing (besides "Cat Food" and "Devil's Triangle," which both kirk mirty arses)
pretty much just retreads In The Court, but that doesn't mean it deserves a low score! The
melodies are still really nice (yes, "melodies" and King Crimson. Strange, huh?) and the
production values are way up from before. The acoustic songs aren't really worth hearing, but
I still give it a really high eight. Just think of it as In The Court, rerecorded and
remastered.
I disagree. Yes, this album is "Fripp is being forced to write songs
because his band is leaving him, so in order to not lose his fans he stays
in the same style as before," but the songs are good! And there's no
Moonchild! Every song on here (except for those stupid Peace things) is
almost as good as its counterpart from the debut (even the title track),
and Cat Food and DT just rule!
My opinion of this album seems to be exactly the same as everyone
else's. Side one sounds too similar to the last album, side two is cool.
Especially that "Cat Food" song! I love that song! Why isn't it on any
compilations? And why are King Crimson compilations so terrible?
I join the common chorus of indignation here. I think Mark overreacted
a bit. According to that logic, the first one or two AC/DC albums
should have been given a 10, and all the others a 4 or 5 at best. Why
do we have them all rated as eights or nines?
I don't get the particular slamming of 'Pictures In The City', either.
The song does sound like an attempt at recreating 'Schizoid Man', but
it has a great jazzy groove all by itself, and is an excellent
followup. Think of this album as a Magical Mystery Tour to In The
Court's Sgt Pepper. That'll make you feel better.
The only thing that really annoys me here are Pete Sinfield's lyrics.
Somebody slap that guy for me for writing such moronic, trite, cliched
crap for such a musically good record.
Now come on! The amount of band's that repeat
themselves album after album after album on this site,
and this one gets a 4??? For instance, you have no
qualms about the similarities between Ride the
Lightning / Master of Puppets on the Metallica page,
but KC get slaughtered by the same reasoning.
'Pictures of a City' is not a laughable attempt, the
middle part presages 'Starless' which you seem to like
so much, so why do you hate it? And 'Cadence and
Cascade' is no 'I Talk to the Wind' but it has a
prettiness all of it's own. Of course, the two songs
you admit to liking are indeed great. I give it an 8.
Okay, this one's pretty lame. It isn't even really Gord's voice (which is crap compared
to Lake's, but not horrible) - it's because in attempting to do something new for once, all
Fripp could think of was a bunch of lame medieval crap. Actually, it's not really medieval
at all, but it certainly is lame, full of annoying, go-nowhere jams each filled with synths
that sound like they came from those children's "Play-It-Along" keyboard toys. "Cirkus" is
good, "Prince Rupert Awakes" is good, the rest is very much not good. A low five, at best.
Okay, can't really disagree with this one. This is where Fripp finally
veers off the edge and replaces decent melodies with dissonant crap
and pseudo-medieval 'experimentation'. I can't really believe that on
a King Crimson album the best track features Jon Anderson on vocals,
but it is so.
this album proves that melodies arnt the most importent thing for a song. fripp could create melodies
whenever he wanted, "lady of the dancing watter" (the greatest crimson song ever, except, maybe, fallen
angel) proved that. instead, he decided to create the scariest fusion\rock album ever. this is what king
crimson should have sound like all the time, scary and mentally unhealthy,
this is what good jazz should sound like.
I think it's far superior to Court of the Crimson
King. Very experimental, fucked up, and AWESOME.
can't beat any of the songs on there.
Huh? Worse than Lizard? I don't really think so. At least this one has
a number of decent actual SONGS on it. Plus, Mark forgot about 'Song
Of The Gulls', which is one of the most beautiful pieces of
classical-rock fusion ever performed by the band. I can see where it
could have been 'lost' in amidst some more mediocrity, though. But I
still rate this a couple notches above Lizard.
Nope, a nine. And I did not like it the first few times I heard it. It
sounded like a chaotic mess.
No, man. This album rules. That first song, man! It's all crazy and
scary like! And that LAST song, man! The guitar! It's so CRUNCHY! It
makes "Schizoid Man" sound like "Sometimes When We Touch"! And the
others? They're great too! "Easy Money" has all these neat goofy noises,
and "Exiles" has that spooky intro section, and...aww, man. Great album.
A high 8.
A nine, of course. I really don't see any problems with the actual
songs on here. Why is 'Exiles' so bad? A song is bad when it has no
melody. This one sure has one - I haven't heard it in at least four or
five months, and I can still remember how it goes. It has that cool,
romantic mellotron line it's based on, and it's actually emotionally
resonant, much unlike most King Crimson output. And 'Easy Money' is
also cool, rhythmic, complex, sarcastic, and catchy. Although, of
course, the main accent is still on the instrumentals - the riffage on
'Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part II' is easily the most brutally powerful moment
in the entire KC catalog, only rivalled by 'Schizoid Man'.
Ooh, I thought you'd hate this one. This is one of
those albums that needs a lot of listens to be
appreciated, and Fripp seems to take the 'progressive'
element of prog rock literally here, pushing back all
the boundaries. What do you mean by 'the other two
"songs"'? I can understand if you're distinctly
underwhelmed by 'Book of Saturday' but 'Easy Money'
kicks asse!!! And 'Exiles' is pretty good too. I agree
fully, though, that the best compositions are indeed
the avant-garde hard rock stuff (both parts of the
title track and the incredible crescendo: 'The Talking
Drum') I'd give it a 9. Or at the very least an 8.
I can't believe that no one had thought of that pun yet. Actually, lots
of people probably have, but they've held back out of common decency.
But common decency is not a barrier to Mark Prindle, no it is not!!!
You must have listened to a different album than the one I have. Apart
from "Starless and Bible Black" and "We'll Let You Know" these are all
pretty songy songs, their poppiest stuff from this line up is in this
album. "The Great Deceiver", "Lament", "The Night Watch" and "The
Mincer" are all pretty tuneful. I'm biased to this one because it has my
favourite 70's Crimson track, Fracture. I just can't explain the appeal
of this one to me, but I love it. Dire Straits was a low blow.
Can't really disagree here, although I'd give it a 5 because 'The
Great Deceiver', 'Night Watch' and maybe one or two more compositions
are really melodic and cool (again, I think Mark kinda missed them
while concentrating on the dreck).
TWO impressive tracks??? What about the 'Great
Deceiver', one of the best songs they've ever written!
Okay, all the rotten jazz wanking drives me up the
wall, but I also like 'Lament' and 'The Nightwatch'
(although not that much) so I'd give it a 6.
Hey!
Fracture was the best piece on this LP! It was this period of Crimson at
their absolute peak! You guys all have extremely short attention spans.
Sorry you missed the point...
YES! THIS is the ultimate Cing Krimson record. It starts off all loud
and crunchy and sinister (with a great melody to butt) before going into
a soft, quiet ballad that soon gets all loud and crunchy and sinister.
Then they go into yet another loud, crunchy, sinister rocker. I think
you get the idea. This album is loud, crunchy, and sinister, and I STILL
think Nirvana were influenced by it, and Tool even more strongerly. It's
not a metal album by any means. It's just an angry, mean little album
that's good to listen to when you're throwing things against the wall
and breaking them.
Great album, of course, apart from 'Providence'. I don't see what
makes the songs on here so much angrier than 'Schizoid Man' (which is
what Mike probably thinks), but they're all well-written and
excellently performed. Don't know about the Nirvana influences, but it
sure influenced ME to admit that KC were much more than just a fluke.
Brilliant. For once Fripp's smug beard/smile
combination is justified.
I find it kind of weird that you reviewed Discipline without really
mentioning any of the songs, but I guess it doesn't really matter because the album
is boring as hell. Actually, it isn't really BORING, per se, but compared to what came before,
the music just sounds artificial and sterile. Fripp's guitar playing is good as always, "Elephant
Talk" is pretty funny, and "Frame By Frame" is really catchy, but I don't go for the rest.
How could people lift an album up as one of the greatest of all time when it has an awful
song like "Indiscipline" on it, or when the last two songs consist of
nothing but generic flavor-of-the-month world beat noodling?
I give it a five.
I give this one an eight simply because "Indiscipline" is one of the
greatest songs ever. I love that song. It's hilarious. It's about a
painting! D'ya know that? But that's not all! We also get all kinds of
funky little new wavey songs like "Elephant Talk" and "Thela Hun
Ginjeet" (that last one's got a great little story at the end about
Adrian Belew getting hassled by some thugs while recording the song.)
The only song on here I really don't like is "Matte Kudasai." It's a
stupid little pop song. Oh well. Everything else is terrirrifficic.
The yuppie stuff at the end of the album does nothing for me, but I
couldn't disagree more about the rest. Thela Hun Ginjeet is amazing,
Indiscipline kicks my ass just like the heavier 70's stuff, Matte
Kudasai is sort of gay but I like it,Frame by Frame is everything Rush
should be, Elephant Talk is just great. The boring version of this
album, in my opinion, is Don Caballero's "What Burns Never Returns".
Okay, I'm gonna stand up for that one, particularly since it's one of
those rare cases when I actually rate a record higher than Rich The
Epitome of Unbiased Approach (together with some Roxy Music albums).
Yes, the band bases this album upon the approach of the Talking Heads.
Yes, Belew sounds eerily like Byrne (and sometimes like Bowie. By the
way, did anyone hear the man singing 'Heroes' on the Heavy
Construkction live album from the recent KC tour? It's hilarious!).
Not my favorite by any means. But one of the reasons that the Talking Heads
sounded like they did is owed partially to the fact that Fripp played on Fear
of Music and Belew on Remain in Light. KC just took what was pretty much
their own playing styles on the Heads albums to another level. Adrian Belew
is still a vocal rip off artist though. That's what you get for having been a
sideman forever. Oh, and I still think early Talking Heads ripped off
Television!
Regarding the assholishness of Robert Fripp, I saw King Crimson in last
November on the ConstruKction of Light tour. Apparently, Frippy's testy about
people photographing him, so the thuggish security at the Theater of Living
Arts in Philly padded EVERYBODY down to see if they had a camera. In my
pocket, I had an Altoids tin full of what one of those shows comprised of
police footage on Fox recently referred to as "Christmas cheer." So the thug
pads me down and asks what's in my pocket. My reply (in the most nervous,
quavering voice): "Uh, Altoids." They let me through. But Robert Fripp,
indirectly, almost got me arrested. That asshole.
Never heard this, but I simply have to say a few words
in defence of Mr Tony Levin, who is without doubt the
greatest bass player ever to draw breath. I mean: Pink
Floyd, Dire Straits, Yes, King Crimson and Peter
Gabriel? You don't see them on Michael Anthony's cv,
do you? Levin is amazing. Messrs Trewavas, Myung and
of course Squire are too, but he's at the top of the
tree. I actually think Metallica should move heaven
and earth to get him on board, if they want to have
any kind of future. They should ditch waster Hammett
and politely invite David Mustaine to return to the
fold, too. Now THAT would be a band worth hearing.
Ain't gonna happen tho'.
I have to disagree here. STRONGLY. I was not very impressed at all by this
album, and even my brother, as rabid a KC freak as there is around, was
disappointed.
Interesting that Mr. Fratzl trashes on KoRn for reusing the same riffs and then gives a nine to this album,
half of which is cool-but-not-outstanding and half of which is the biggest redundancy imaginable (both of
those adjectives being relative to other KC, of course).
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