Steve,
When KC last performed here, my interest was at an all-time low, to the extent that I hadn't bothered to pick up the new CD when it was released the previous day. I basically considered 'The ConstruKction of Light' to be their weakest, most derivative album to date, and the promise of progress suggested by 'Level Five' did not inspire confidence. And the gig I saw on the 'Level Five' tour was possibly the most dismal and dispirited show I've ever seen.
And what do you think of "The Power to Believe"? I think it's easily their best work since "THRAK", especially the instrumental tracks ("Level 5", "Elektrik"). I'm still not too keen on Adrian Belew's singing, which I thought was much more enjoyable on "THRAK". On "Power", he sometimes appears to be fighting against the music. I also think the vocal songs are rather awkwardly written in a way, making them nit as interesting as the highly developed instrumental work. I'm going to see them at "the worst festival in the whole of Europe" on July 12th, and I certainly have high hopes for that gig. Frankco
francko.lamerikx@philips.com wrote:
And what do you think of "The Power to Believe"? I think it's easily their best work since "THRAK", especially the instrumental tracks ("Level 5", "Elektrik"). I'm still not too keen on Adrian Belew's singing, which I thought was much more enjoyable on "THRAK". On "Power", he sometimes appears to be fighting against the music. I also think the vocal songs are rather awkwardly written in a way, making them nit as interesting as the highly developed instrumental work.
Well, I like "The Power to Believe" more than "The ConstruKction of Light". But I think both pale beside the live album that came between them, "Heavy ConstruKction". I do like Belew's songs more on this one, since he was sounding downright cranky on TCoL. And I like the improvised or mostly improvised pieces a lot. (I think "Deception of the Thrush" and "Seizure" are some of the best work by any of the post-70s Crims.) But I long ago grew tired of Fripp pushing a button on the arpeggiation generator to generate new pieces. That pretty much hit its peak with "Red" and perhaps some of "Discipline". And it helps when Belew puts a melody over the riff/repeat/modulate/repeat structures. But the instrumental composing only seems "highly developed" in the sense that Fripp's gotten his bag of tricks so well defined that he can crank out yet another reshuffling of them without much trouble. But this might all be quite different when you see them in concert.
participants (2)
-
francko.lamerikx＠philips.com -
Joseph Zitt