The History of the Crimson King (Part Twelve): The ConstruKction of Light

- Vancouver, British Columbia - Touring for THRAK was complete. Though there was only a single studio album to promote, there was an exceptional amount of live material recorded making a healthy amount of bonus material for hungry completest fans. But by 1997, the six-piece King Crimson was starting to feel worn out and unsure of where to take their sound at this point. And, as usual, there was a fair amount of tension between a number of band members, particularly between long time band mates Bill Bruford and Robert Fripp. Bruford would say that him and Fripp “couldn't even agree where to have dinner. And if you can't agree that, you sure as heck can't play together." That along with the six members not sharing coherent ideas and it looked like this line up would see another infamous King Crimson end.

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Minus The Bear - Highly Refined Pirates

 - Vancouver, British Columbia - After the release of This Is What I Know About Being Gigantic, Minus The Bear began work on their first full length album. Before that there would be another EP called Bands Like It When You Yell “Yar!” At Them, which is a statement I can't confirm, but the band are probably better suited to make such a claim anyway. I didn't want to review that one because unlike ...Being Gigantic, that one was primarily a preview EP, sharing two of the songs on the full album as well as a demo version of a song. There are only two unique tracks and it is under 4 minutes of material, though I will say that I enjoy them.

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The History of the Crimson King (Part Eleven) - THRAK

 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Ten years had gone by since anyone had made any mention of King Crimson, and the prospect of the band getting back together was quite dim. The former members all kept fairly busy, Tony Levin with his studio work, Adrian Belew with his solo albums, and Robert Fripp with his Guitar Craft teachings. The 1980s were finished. Then, at some point in the early 1990s, Robert Fripp felt that music was stirring up in him that he described as music that “only King Crimson could play.”  Interestingly enough, he talked with front man Belew and who said that he was feeling like it was time to get the band together again, in one form or another. They agreed that the time had come, though it would be a slow process and be awhile until there was material. First they needed to reimagine the band and recruit the right musicians.

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The History of the Crimson King (Part Ten) - Three of a Perfect Pair

 - Vancouver, British Columbia - It was 1984 and the 1980s incarnation of King Crimson had taken a break from recording and touring to follow their own endeavours and fulfil the other obligations in life. After Beat was released Tony Levin recorded on Peter Gabriel's fourth album, Adrian Belew recorded two solo albums, and Robert Fripp recorded a collaborative album with Andy Summers of The Police. But the time to get back into rehearsals for new King Crimson material had come. But this time, the creative process was less focused. They even recorded a bunch of material and more or less dumped it out, feeling that, for whatever reason, it wasn't what they were looking for. Personally, I'm quite curious as to what it sounded like.

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The History of the Crimson King (Part Nine) - Beat

 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Not a lot of time had gone by since the release of Discipline before King Crimson started working on new material. The album had gotten very positive reviews and was selling very well at record stores. While not a chart topper, it was one of Crimson's better selling albums, even making it into the Billboard Pop Albums chart peaking at 45. Without taking a break the new record was on its way. This would mark the first time in the history of the band that there would be a second record performed by the same personnel as the previous albums.

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