1. Three of a Perfect Pair – I think I sing along to this song every time I listen to it. It’s so psychedelic and yet still fairly catchy. This song has very groovy synths as well. Absolutely perfect in every way. 10+/10

2. Model Man – This is a very groovy song, and the bass really helps add to that. Another good song as well, despite poppy tendencies. 9/10

3. Sleepless – Almost disco-like at times. Belew’s voice almost makes me feel like I’m about to be drawn into a spinning vortex that looks like a moving kaleidoscope. Again excellent bass on this song. Bruford feels especially hypnotic on this song. The guitars have a whining feel to them at times. A very emotional song in a really twisted way. 8/10

4. Man with an Open Heart – WOULDN’T MATTER TO A MAN WITH...well, you get the picture. Another song I love singing along to. Exciting, breathtaking, dazzling, those are only some of the words I could possibly use to describe this song. 9/10

5. Nuages – Starts with a slow, very psychedelic guitar opening with a similar beat in the background. This song also has a very Middle Eastern feel to it. 8/10

6. Industry – This song starts off very, VERY dark with a strange, almost mechanical drum beat and sobering synths. The drums change a bit after 2 minutes in and bass and guitar come in as well, making the song even darker, which really says something considering how dark the song starts out. Quite an appropriate title as well. It makes me picture gears and heavy machinery cranking monotonously in a dimly-lit factory. One of the best tracks from this era of KC. 10+/10

7. Dig Me – Starts almost as dark as Industry before some groovy synths and guitar come in. The tempo is very strange on this song. Another excellent track. 9/10

8. No Warning – An instrumental song. This one is very dark like Industry, but unlike that song it has a slight psychedelic tinge to it. Also very enjoyable. 9/10

9. Larks Tongues in Aspic (Part 3) – Don’t expect this song to sound like the previous two versions. Very groovy and psychedelic with funky bass and guitar as well as almost manic drumming. It really has a feel of all the musicians trying to throw in all they’ve got into the last song. A great closer to this album. 10+/10

So in conclusion...well, my mind is somewhat mush right now, but I can say that this is a highly underrated KC album. Like I said, 80s KC is my favorite era of the band, but this is probably the weakest of the 3 albums. It’s very good to say the least once you keep your ears and mind open to it and give it repeated listens, but it’s not quite a masterpiece. 4/5 stars.

by birdwithteeth11


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1. Three of a Perfect Pair- Very solid and enjoyable song with fantastic vocals by Belew. The man is an incredibly overlooked vocalist, frontman, and guitarist, and that still shows on this album. This song continues the disciplined sound of the previous two albums and it compares quite well in that regard. Solid instrumental work all around, great song! It gets more experimental towards the end and definitely isn’t a typical 80s song, despite what some people may think. 9/10

2. Model Man- Again an incredibly enjoyable song that is more than a typical composition. Having the Neal and Jack and Me DVD (which I highly recommend) also helps an appreciation of these type of Crimson 80s songs. The guitar work again on here is experimental and very good, and the other instruments are also up to par. Belew’s vocals shine once again. Still maintains that straightforward, disciplined song structure, however. “Take me as I am!!” 8/10

3. Sleepless- Atypical Crimson intro! Beware, but keep listening because this is another good song. Instrumentalists again are fantastic here (what else could you expect?), but a 1970s Symphonic fan might be turned off by this. Perhaps the most 80s-tinged song on here, but still pretty good. My least favorite on here. 6/10

4. Man with an Open Heart- Oddly designed song here that continues the same type of art-rock compositions. It has a demented feel to it almost. Neat song, but still in poppier vein. 7/10

5. Nuages- Oooooh, now here comes the real interesting music! This is a haunting 80s Crimson instrumental with great structure and instrumentation. Really awesome song and a very excellent mood. 9/10

6. Industry- Fantastic! This is truly a groundbreaking piece of music that manages to take progressive elements even much further than the previous song. If you have your doubts that 80s Crimson ever accomplished anything progressive, give this a listen. The song majestically builds perfectly over the span of 7 minutes, fitting its title quite well. Mechanical, yet incredibly beautiful in its structure… every instrument shines extremely here. Bruford’s drums are especially powerful for my tastes. This is definitely the best song on here. 10/10

7. Dig Me- This is probably Crimson’s most experimental song from the 80s. It is incredibly enjoyable and twisted, with fantastic instrumentation and great vocals from Belew once again. I like how the song switches between madness and stability all throughout its short length. Fabulous. 9/10

8. No Warning- Further in the realms of more experimental art-rock with this song, similar in mood to Industry and Nuages in that it is quite haunting. The instrumentation and mood again are stellar, perfectly crafting a song of unique form. 9/10

9. Larks’ Tongues in Aspic Part 3- Don’t compare to this Parts 1 or 2, or you will inevitably be disappointed. I made that mistake at first, but this really is a decent composition on its own. It isn’t really the best closer, however. There’s nothing wrong with the instrumentation; the composition just does not hit the bar that was raised so well by the previous 4 songs. Still decent Crimsonian work. 7/10

An overlooked and underrated album in the Crimson catalogue because it is from the 1980s and gets branded with a label of “pop” or not really King Crimson. Don’t judge it based on that, but listen to the album for the music, and you should not be disappointed.

An extremely excellent addition to any prog collection. Just be warned that this is King Crimson and that King Crimson never sounds the same for any period longer than 3 albums, so do not have any preconceptions.

by MovingPictures07


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It all started in Paul Green´s School of Rock in Philadelphia, were Adrian Belew was invited for a seminar, where he could listen for the first time this incredible pair of siblings, two highly talented young musicians, Julie (bass) and Eric Slick (drums). After some rehearsals together, they finally joined Adrian Belew for touring together presenting Adrian Belew´s new material, along with some of his classic repertoire and some King Crimson tracks. The selection on the CD edition covers mainly the “Side One” album, in my opinion a bit overrepresented, provided that “Side Two” and “Side Three” offer a great amount of excellent music.

The powerful start with “Writing on the Wall” gives you an idea of what´s coming next, a refreshed Adrian Belew rediscovering himself, bringing high energy to his music. It is quite interesting realizing the great effort to sound like a live band, staying apart from the overlooped studio arrangements, specially on “Drive”. I really enjoy the middle section of the record, with the superb extended (almost 11 minutes) improvised version of “Beat Box Guitar”, where the band reaches the peak of their creativity and originality, far from what you would expect from a King Crimson improvisation and that shows the great personality of the ensemble.

The other points of interest are the new versions of the classic hits by Adrian Belew. “Young Lions” is maybe a little conservative, but “Of Bow and Drum”, quite different from the original, and “Big Electric Cat” are provided with a new energy that really updates them.

Of course, King Crimson had to be represented on a show like this, due to the great involvement of Adrian Belew with the band. You are missed in your expectations if you want to listen to King Crimson, because it is an Adrian Belew concert, leading on guitar without the continuous supervision of Robert Fripp from behind, and with the rhytm section trying to do something new, not only remaking Tony Levin's and Bill Bruford's sections. And they succeed on their efforts.

So then , although the record doesn´t offer the complete show (I had the great pleasure to see them live, and the setlist was larger), it brings you the opportunity to discover the new “side” of Adrian Belew with greater ideas than ever, far from the pop songs he was used to, and exploring new musical directions, accompanied by two great musicians who have a great career in front of them. I can´t rate this record with no less than 4 stars, but it should be essential for crimheads.

by victor77


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A return to form…if there ever was one.

This is the best King Crimson album since ‘Discipline’. The Adrian Belew nuances were ultimately gone, the lyrics became somewhat insightful and the guitar interplay was wonderful. ‘Level Five’ was one of the best King Crimson songs in a long time. It was heavy and brutal, feeling unstructured, but there certainly was a structure. Figuring King Crimson would never even create a light song again because of the last two efforts, ‘Eyes Wide Open’ can bring the tears up from classic Crimson fans. The renditions of the title track remind me of the Peace trilogy in ‘The Wake of Poseidon’.

This is really a great record, has quite a bit of variation, between loud and soft passages, metal and soundscapes and most importantly, Belew is not annoying. I would recommend this to any fan of King Crimson and heavy prog listeners.

by ProgBagel


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Madness.

This is another crazy album by King Crimson, heavy and muddy. They are starting to become a little unpredictable at this point putting out a decent one mixed with a bunch of weak ones. This one is another weak one compared to ‘Thrak’. This album did produce some gems that rose above the previous work though. ‘Frakctured’ is a reworking of the one from ‘Starless and Bible Black’ and it is obviously weaker, but still good. The interplay between Fripp and Belew is just ridiculous on this one and the same for ‘Larks…Part IV’ which is better then Part III. The best track on here is not a King Crimson track, but that of ProjeKct X.

If you liked Thrak, this one can be bought as well, but it just isn’t as good. ‘Prozack Blues’ has to be one of the worst songs ever created by this band. There are a lot of cautions to take on this one, be cautious!

by ProgBagel


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Crazy.

The most ridiculous thing about this album is the double trio. Two guitars, basses and drummers. This combination creates a mass amount of rhythms, textures and improv. I love the sound of this album, it is EXTREMELY heavy and loud. Comparison’s can be drawn to the Red era of Crimson.

Belew finally carries some songs by his vocals alone which he hadn’t been able to do since the ‘Discipline’ album. The guitars are violent and crushingly heavy, near an industrial type sound. The drums are very processed and add to the effects, and the drummers on here display ultimate technicality. All in all, this creates an awesome record, but still not one of the better Crimson records.

I recommend this to fans of the band as they will fine great stuff on here. The non-Crimson might want to take caution in approaching this. Sounds old but, this isn’t a typical Crimson album.

by ProgBagel


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Take everything that Discipline had, and make it annoying.

The more poppish approach gave this one that oh so ill feeling, of a band doing something intricate and complicated, but then trying to intentionally throw in some pop that just does not integrate well at all. All of the spoken word dialogues in Discipline also took a deep plunge, making me want to squeeze the air out of Adrian Belew. Shorter songs, and more focuses on the chorus made this an anti-King Crimson album, things just weren’t calculated as well.

Two possible tracks that stick out are ‘Sartori in Tangier’ and ‘Requiem’. ‘Requiem’ was a bunch of beautiful ‘Frippertronics’, but you could find those on plenty of Fripp’s solo albums, and those are where the best are really at.

I think this is a pretty bad work, avoid unless you are a big fan. ‘Discipline’ is enough.

by ProgBagel


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King Crimson marks a return, with a whole new face to add.

There was really nothing that can compare to this, besides the Talking Heads as far as I can tell. New members Adrian Belew and Tony Levin gave King Crimson a new rhythmatic sound of dueling guitar rhythms with a bass and drum polyrhythm. These four combined created a sound unlike any other. Adrian Belew’s voice was something different, but didn’t take much really to get used to. All the songs on here were awesome, I just didn’t get a feeling that this was something the hit my heart as something to remember. An excellent and adventurous album I would recommend to anyone, especially those who have never heard of King Crimson.

by ProgBagel


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When you listen to some new bands, you may say that everything has been invented and previously composed and that there are no new bands with a unique sound, because they sound like some older band, and that may be true, but the good news are that if a new band appears and uses lots of sounds and styles to approach a proper and own sound, it's always a pleasure listening.

This band called Akt, is one of the coolest Italian bands that have appeared in the last few years, i previously reviewed their EP called Fraktal.One which features some covers of one of their main influences which is King Crimson, i enjoyed that EP, but now believe me that this album is excellent.

In 2007 they released this album called Dentrokirtos and what a shame that i didn't know them last year because i may have put it in my top 5 of the 2007, the band had originally 4 members but one of them left Akt and now they continued being a trio, (power trio maybe?). So Dentrokirtos, an album that has almost 50 minutes of great and enjoyable music that has a variety of sounds and styles, and 7 different songs going from the 4 minute to 9 minute lenght.

The album opens with Spazzadiluvi which as i mentioned above, will remind you of King Crimson Belew-era because of the guitar sound, the Crimsonesque style continues until the half of the song when vocals enters, kind of spoken word with Italian lyrics but nothing to do with that classic Italian vocal style from 70's bands, at the end it has some cool music, punched bass lines and great keyboard work.

Elicrisio begins with an acoustic sound, percussion and then some nice guitars and piano that make a kind of happy sound but after some seconds vocals enters and produce a sound like very pleasant and relaxing that if you listen to it with headphones, then you will receive a moment of tranquility, during the song the vocals continues with a kind of armony, and the beautiful music continues with the additin of some keyboard background and great guitar riffs. The vocals returns in several moments and you know that i love Italian vocals, so that is almost always an extra point. At the half of the song, you will hear to a piano oriented style with a classic sound accompanied by the synth, which produces a symnphonic and electronic sound at the same time, very cool. I am sure that after listening to this song, you will understand what i mean with fresh stuff = great music.

Waltz Oblio is the longest song reaching almost 10 minutes, and it begins with an agressive style, keyboards and drums together but then it slows down creating an atmosphere of uncertainty then it returns as it beagn and then it returns as the second part but now with the addition of an accordeon sound making that obvious waltz style that the name of the song itself evokes. After some 3 minutes the music fades away and just electronic samples continues, reminding me a bit to early Porcupine tree works combined with even some Nine Inch Nails textures. So now you are realizing that the band gathers several styles and combines it to create a unique sound, not just in the album as a whole, but in a single song!. After 5 minutes with a delicate guitar and bass playing the vocals appear and in some moments with a more emotional singing, there is no drumming in this part, actually are samples but very well put the drums return a couple of minutes later. Excellent song!

Next song is Comete and opens with a soft sound, it is like a xylophone i don't really know but it puts an smile in my face and make me feel safe and relaxed, it may sound even like a lullaby in the first 2 minutes. Later, a very delicate guitar sound appears along with a keyboard background. The whole song has the same soft sound, the time and tempo is always the same, but passing the seconds the other instruments are appearing little by little creating some short crescendos. This is a song that can be listened to in an open air place, it feels so natural until. but wait...the last part of the song becomes stronger, the piano keeps playing but now drums and a more agressive electric guitar appears, in some way reminding me to Pink Floyd, a very nice song.

Alcune Margherite di Legno has guitars and vocals in the beginning making a darker ambient and suddenly after 1:30 minute it changes a bit with a more aggresive sound letting us know again that their love for King Crimson is evident, thought it is shown in small passages, is quite obvious. Before minute 3 it has another change of style like classic dance music i dont really know how to describe that, but what im sure is that they are really, but really talented musicians with lots of fresh ideas that i at least can thank. At the half of the song, there is another uncertainty moment, where there are kind of murmurs and spoken word with some strange noises here and there, kind of intriguing, this song my be used in a movie's scene.

Le Sette Impressioni del Fauno Scorpioni we are almost reaching the end, there are just 2 songs letf, after som 5 silence seconds, the song explodes and the quality of the musicians is shown there, here like in the third track you will listen to an accordion, now the vocals sound a bit like Francesco di Giacomo, wit a different style of course. This song is cool due it's originality, i mean it is not common to listen to an accordion, nice italian vocals and some electronic drumming at the same time, it is wonderful! There is a moment where everything is just happy but then again changes and provokes another feeling in your person. I like when music is not just music literally, but it does something on you, i hope you understand what i mean.

The shortest, and last song of the album is Abbandoia and opens with an spacey sound, then the guitar enters and creates and incredible mood, as i said earlier, if you listen to this with headphones is totally different because you will find things that without them you would not, this is an ending track, a goodbye and on me it provokes both, a sense of satisfaction, and sadness. Beautiful short song!

Well, what an album is this, i will be terribly honest. I was listening to the album while writing the review, but before doing it i was supposed to rate it with 4 stars, but now, i just can't help but giving 5 stars to it, because i am so happy and delighted by this dynamic, intelligent and excellent music.

It is something different believe me, i strongly suggest it.

Enjoy it!

by memowakeman


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