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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The History of the Crimson King (Part One) – In The Court of the Crimson King

 - Vancouver, British Columbia -

Introduction

Very few bands have a history as rich and fascinating as King Crimson. They are a mysterious band and have been hugely influential in the music world, but have never really found their way into the mainstream spotlight. They have seen many faces and many incarnations. Their 40+ year existence has seen only 13 studio albums, but also includes several EPs and countless live releases, both audio and video. What's also worth noting is that King Crimson is not a typical band in the sense that there have been no consistent members from their original incarnation to their current one, except for guitarist Robert Fripp, who has worked with numerous acts such as David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Brian Eno, Andy Summers (of The Police), and many others. Their music changes shape as often as their line up and as such they have explored many genres of music. Wanting to review a specific album from their discography seemed pointless to me as each era of King Crimson, or even each album, has history and connects in some way to something previous in their discography. Similarly, each album's influence branches off into individual members' solo careers or members' collaborations outside of the name King Crimson. It's like a root system that should be looked at as a whole. Since King Crimson isn't a band in the sense that they are not a specific collection of musicians, Robert Fripp describes them more as “a way of doing things.” Often groups are founded and play together but do not become King Crimson until the right sound is found.

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