King Crimson: Classic Or Dud

Incredible final comment from Fripp (well, Robert Fripp), set-up around the 9-minute mark.

Wow/ugh, I've never seen him in this context before:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3FUcSHeJJg

yeah fripp toured with those guys a few years ago. I know he opened with soundscapes to the massive yawns of most of the attendees. I didn't go, kind of which I had.

I understand he was often booed, too. In a recent Mojo interview he was actually apologetic. He said he'd practiced hard to keep up with the shredders during the concluding jam, but figured (incorrectly) that he was free to do something more mediative during his opening set.

why does metalheads never want 2 chill

They're all so hyperactive. There's a dude I know who turns out to be a Berklee educated secret shredder. He seems pretty mellow, but his office walls are adorned with all these stupid 10-string guitars in ugly shades of black and neon green, with silly active pick-ups and spider web decals and crap like that. Outliers in his tastes are the Cure and Zappa, but he's the kind of guy who can listen to Yngwie un-ironically. And I can't even imagine doing it for a laugh. I know, despite being a Cure fan - or maybe specifically because of it - he hates the Smiths, but I wonder if he at least recognizes that Johnny Marr is an awesome guitarist? Or that Robert Fripp is so equally, uniquely awesome? Or that Richard Thompson is a more talented, more creative guitarist than most of his "Flight of the Bumblebee" shredder favea?

Then again, guitarists like Satriani and Vai have session/studio backgrounds. They can play anything and are confortable with lots of different music. Which means they play the shit they play on purpose and by preference.

they have bad taste inherently but every once in a while do something great; like that steve vai solo in PIL's "ease" which is one of my favorite guitar solos ever

I like a few Yngwie albums. When he's got a good vocalist on board, he can put out some quality metal.

Gah, the vocalists are often what kills what little these sorts of dudes have to offer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6i6Pbpc0z4

ok, Street Lethal is kind of badass, sort of like Judas Priest with additional hyperactive guitar. The Paul Gilbert solo is the low point of the song really, just an undifferentiated mass of super fast licks with no discernable phrasing or emotion.

Nah, this song sucks for many of the reasons you point out. Is it a boilerplate Priest song ruined by the shredding? Or a shredder outing ruined by the sub-Priest vox?

I'm ok with the sub-Priest vox, but ymmv

I've had a certain admiration for Vai since seeing him with Zappa Plays Zappa. I keep meaning to give Flexable a proper listen. I give Satriani some props for writing a tune with Verdi's 'enigmatic scale'. Wasn't Sonic Youth his favourite band in the 90s? I don't listen to any of this on the regular, though, esp when Pat Metheny keeps cranking out new albums.

yngwie was on NPR the other day and was interesting to listen to (talk, not play). I guess he has an autobiography out.

Hey Steve Vai:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0iq8q92swY

About the only thing that could get me to start cheering for Whitesnake to start playing again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evmb46sjhc4

I interviewed Yngwie a few years ago. I have the magazine it appeared in at home. If I remember/have time, I'll transcribe some of the choicer quotes.

Gents,

Please take the Yngwie talk to another thread.

KTHXBYE.

$3,440.61!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-King-Crimson-In-the-Court-of-the-Crimson-King-Rare-1st-A1-B1-VG-EX-/190836652566?pt=UK_Records&hash=item2c6ec03a16

Let me bring this thread back to realness if I may

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZB9-pBAv4c

Nice! I love Fripp's occasional death-stare into the camera.

I was blown away to read in the aforementioned Mojo interview that Fripp pretty much charts everything out, Zappa-style.

?

that may be the only 73-74 era KC set I've ever heard without "Easy Money"

Truncated for TV I'd imagine. Blazing version of starless and nice sound quality

Man, the Blind Lemon Pledge-style solo kills me every time. Also the ICAVDBP (International Conspiracy Against Visual Depictions of Bass Playing) reaches evil new heights here, offering more close-up screen time to Wetton's ass than his right hand.

the proper scarey 70s Crimson

heh

?

All the KC guitar parts and stuff, they're apparently written out and notated, composed, as opposed to worked out live or in the studio.

BTW, have any of you heard or heard of this guitarist?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1iJfr0DqUk#!

She's awesome.

But he only writes out his guitar parts? Or does/did he write out the whole composition and give parts to everyone? I thought that's what Zappa did but didn't think KC worked that way.

I wonder if he wrote out his solos on Eno and Bowie albums.

(Why does that blow your mind?)

Thanks for Mollestad link btw!

Given how famous 73-4 KC in particular were for their improvs I very much doubt everything was written down.

Josh, your reading comprehension is questionable. In the interview (http://www.moredarkthanshark.org/eno_int_mojo-feb13.html), he's talking about composing material in written form, not handing out written charts for everyone to follow.

man watching a young Bruford is really something else

Yeah that was the highlight of the vid. Watching him dig into the fast section of lament I felt like I was really hearing him think "this is the music I really want to be playing", as corny as that sounds.

My reading comprehension is terrible! But:

So how, as main writer, did Fripp compose? "Manuscript, pencil, guitar and write it down as it flows by," he says. He nips into the next room and comes back with a sheaf of handwritten scores, which he presents. "Can you remember Red, the opening bars? It was originally part of Blue and it's written here. There are bass parts written out for Red, for strings and overdubbing. Here you have The Battle Of Glass Tears and Cirkus from Lizard. The original parts for Schizoid Man are in here, the fast breaks," he says, singing along.

Here he's talking about writing things out for guitar, blues, strings ... what did I miss? What's the difference between composing in written form and handing out charts? Why else would he be notating bass, strings, etc?

I wonder if he wrote out his solos on Eno and Bowie albums.

Famously, these were all pretty much spontaneous, The solos in "St. Elmo's Fire" and "Baby's On Fire" were the product of minimal direction. Much of "Heroes" was pretty one take, iirc, and I believe "Scary Monsters" he cranked out in a couple of quick sessions with very little forethought.

The Belew story I heard re: "Lodger," by the way, was similar to how he said "Remain in Light" was made; he was basically told to just play a bunch of stuff, and those noises and solos were moved around and stuck in weird places during the editing process, well after he was done.

So that quote is the second time I've heard mention of "Blue" which obviously never came to fruition. Does anyone on this thread know more of that story? Did it become something else later?

He's got scores with bits and parts, not full arrangements. He writes down the bits to remember them and show them to the players -- which is normal, and a very different thing from handing out full complete arrangements. He liked to compose with pen and paper, other dudes use tape recorders. He never says he wrote out everybody's parts, and none of those players would have stayed if he had.

Eh, I think you're being as pedantic as I was being generalizing. The fact that he writes out any of his parts is impressive to me, but perfectly in line with his precise nature.

none of those players would have stayed if he had.

Though to be fair, stability and longevity has not been a KC hallmark!

Are the three early '80s records the longest he went with the same line-up?

You can't forget that Fripp comes from a supper club jazz kind of background, and non-specific charts are pretty normal for that world.

I wonder how imposing the King Crimson fake book is.

xp - it definitely was. Beat and Power to Believe are the only two KC albums with the same lineup as the previous one (and Beat is IIRC the only studio album without a title track)

I think the Fripp/Belew/Gunn/Mastelotto lineup might win out timewise, but just barely.

Yeah, if so, just barely. Never liked Gunn in the band ...

I still say the abandoned (final?) lineup with Gavin Harrison from Porcupine Tree was soooooooo awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtTUxPPGp-c

This is more indicative:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w0vxQ-ueCI

xp - it definitely was. Beat and Power to Believe are the only two KC albums with the same lineup as the previous one (and Beat is IIRC the only studio album without a title track)

― frogbs, Thursday, May 23, 2013 2:57 PM (32 minutes ago)

TOAPP has the same lineup as Beat