3 keepers
keeper avg .500
All of King Crimson's extremes are here, from intense chaos to serene textures. The first title track**** has some of both in several parts:
1. Bombastic riff-o-rama
2. Improv freak-out 1
3. Improv freak-out 2
4. Minimal violin interlude
5. Pretty violin theme
6. Tense violin theme (appears again in "Part Two")
7. Broingy guitar (with low octave pedal) conclusion
about half of which are memorable. The brief "Book Of Saturday" and "Exiles" are at the quiet end, the latter similar to "Starless" or "In The Wake Of Poseidon" and beautifully sung by John Wetton. Side 2 begins with "Easy Money"****, a dark, mid-tempo "Have A Cigar" and "Dogs" type rocker, spiced-up with some creepy laughter (the distorted maniacal cackle a the end is chilling). "Talking Drum" very gradually builds over 7-1/2 minutes from near silence to a shuffling Can vamp. Robert Fripp's aggressive 5/4 guitar riff introduces the metallic instrumental "Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part Two"****, which it seems will later provide the template for "Red" (from the album of the same name); as the intense flow is cleverly broken up by a refreshing ascending riff that releases and builds tension it's the most direct and satisfying track on the album.
2. Improv freak-out 1
3. Improv freak-out 2
4. Minimal violin interlude
5. Pretty violin theme
6. Tense violin theme (appears again in "Part Two")
7. Broingy guitar (with low octave pedal) conclusion
about half of which are memorable. The brief "Book Of Saturday" and "Exiles" are at the quiet end, the latter similar to "Starless" or "In The Wake Of Poseidon" and beautifully sung by John Wetton. Side 2 begins with "Easy Money"****, a dark, mid-tempo "Have A Cigar" and "Dogs" type rocker, spiced-up with some creepy laughter (the distorted maniacal cackle a the end is chilling). "Talking Drum" very gradually builds over 7-1/2 minutes from near silence to a shuffling Can vamp. Robert Fripp's aggressive 5/4 guitar riff introduces the metallic instrumental "Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part Two"****, which it seems will later provide the template for "Red" (from the album of the same name); as the intense flow is cleverly broken up by a refreshing ascending riff that releases and builds tension it's the most direct and satisfying track on the album.
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