Turning towards prog rock for the next installment of my perpetually-listening-to-my-entire-record-collection-in-alphabetical-order project. But first a quick stopover in Chicago.
B.B. King – Live at the Cook County Jail – Oh! To have played in this band! It’s killing, from the downbeat. Wilbert and Sonny Freeman as bass and drums are ferocious! There are so many things to love about this record, from the report with the audience to the sheer life and vitality of B.B. King’s performance. But let’s not overlook, in this day and age of overly quantized and pitch corrected music, the astonishing bounce of the shuffles on this record, and the totally out of tune guitar King is playing on side 2.
King Crimson – I remember hearing “21st Century Schizoid Man” and various tracks from the Adrian Belew era, sometime in about 1988. I think it was because their music had just recently been released on CD, but what I clearly remember is checking them out at a record store I was working at. My mind was blown. I love some of this music as much as any of my favorite moments in music, but tragically, the only King Crimson concert I went to was the worst concert I have ever seen. And I have seen New Kids on the Block in concert.
In the Court of the Crimson King – I love the playing on this record, the use of free music and textures on side two, Greg Lake’s voice and bass playing, the great melodies and rich harmonic textures that this band can do, and I especially like the mellotron. This one is a classic for a reason.
In the Wake of Poseidon – Honestly, this is my third or fourth time ever hearing this record. The episodic way that the first track is built is a fantastic prediction of future work. Otherwise, it’s ok. My PTSD about this record comes from the aforementioned worst concert of my life, and my ire focuses (not entirely) on Mel Collins. When he plays on this record, I…take note. Mellotron, though, and the choir on “In the Wake of Poseidon” is really beautiful. On the other hand, “Cat Food” is unneccessary.
Lizard – Supposedly this is more jazz oriented, but I’m hearing John Dowland, not John Coltrane. If I think about it as a modern recording of Shakespeare-era compositional practices, it’s not that bad. Of course, people who are all about John Dowland are going to disagree, but that’s ok. Just…not jazz. The groove on “Prince Rupert’s Lament” is heading the right direction, towards the later KC that I like.
Islands – I never liked this record, but I should. If you think about it, it should be right up my alley. Experimental music with free form sections and strange instrumentation. The vocalist reminds me of Patty Waters, who I like. I like shredding guitar and fusion. Woodwinds. But I just never, ever liked this record. I know I should be more patient with the cornet solo at the end of the record, but…no. And after seeing them live, and knowing that much of the reason for that tour was to re-imagine this record, and Mel Collins was there doing his thing, like he does on this record…and that was such a profound disappointment…I’m not changing my mind about this anytime soon.
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic – Ok, now we are talking. This band, and this album, rock. I love John Wetton’s voice and his bass playing, so he is a welcome addition. David Cross on violin is a welcome addition. Bill Bruford? Come on. He’s awesome. Ok, so sometimes the changes are a bit difficult for John Wetton to hear through, but overall the musicianship, the compositions, the arrangements and the production quality are light years beyond the previous couple of records.
Starless and Bible Black – I was late to the game on this one, so I don’t have the same teenage-boy memories of the nerdiness of this record. That is, I had to take it on its musical merits alone, which are many. Meter shifts, unexpected direct modulations, jams running into the hook, arranging madness, 7/8 over 4/4 and other math problems. Great record. Still, I’m not a great fan of the lyrics overall, but with John Wetton and Bill Bruford, in addition to Fripp, the music is killer. I would love to see “Fracture” live.
Red – And here we go, on our way to amazing. This record is, obviously, incredible. Great writing and playing, and exactly the sort of layering that will start to become the main sound (as far as I’m concerned) in KC: layered ostinato, aka, according to me, “Frippcycles”. I like John Wetton’s voice a lot, and thankfully there is no autotune at this time, because we get some really excellent out of tune background vocals, too. And this sounds, in some places, so much like Rush, and that makes me happy. But what doesn’t make me happy is the fast section of “Starless” and the saxophone solo. I wish Evan Parker were on that!
Discipline – This is what I have come to love about my LP listening project. When you go through alphabetically, you automatically have a deep dive into the music of each musician or band, one at a time. And then, within that space, if you organize things chronologically, you end up here: having fought your way through some good records and some terrible records to a moment of possible perfection. I adore this record. It’s brilliant, quirky, weird, nerdy, avant garde (whatever that means nowadays), innovative, inventive…sounds like the lyrics to track one right now. Love it. Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Bill Bruford and Robert Fripp. Killer. The title track is the best one.
Beat – I’m mixed on this one, but it is still the best KC configuration. The two tracks I like the most are spectacular: “Heartbeat” and “Sartori in Tangier”. Given that this is built on the writing of Neal Cassidy, the topics and language are great, and given that it’s Below, Levin, Fripp, Bruford, it’s also exceptional. I just don’t like it as much as Discipline or Three of a Perfect Pair. One other thing that I keep noticing, on both this record and Three of a Perfect Pair, one of them (Fripp? Belew?) is playing a synth-guitar that sounds like what Abercrombie was using at the time. Check John Abercrombie, Marc Johnson, Peter Erskine for a great example of that.
Three of a Perfect Pair – Another great one. I love the sound of this era. Belew’s voice and guitar playing are fantastic, and anything by Tony Levin in this era is flawless. Side one (the “Left Side”) has great songs, awesome songwriting. Side two (the “Right Side”) is weird instrumentals. Excellent.
R.