904 King Crimson - Discipline (1981)

 904 King Crimson - Discipline (1981)

Studio Album - Progressive Rock




About the Act:

King Crimson were/are a Progressive Rock band from England. They started ahead of the curve in 1968, and many people claim they actually kicked the whole thing off with their first album, "In The Court of the Crimson King." To say they have been influential in the genre is a bit of an understatement. They have been active in short bursts over the years, and with various line-ups, but guitarist Robert Fripp has been the central driving force throughout. They have constantly reinvented themselves over the years, and pushed the boundaries of music in interesting and challenging ways, also challenging the concept of what it means to be a band. For a while they were a loose collaboration of sub-groups (called ProjeKcts) and they currently have a three-drumkit frontline.

While you can definitely hear the influence of other bands and of particular genres and musical styles in their music, then have always been leaders rather than followers. They are one of the most progressive of Progressive Rock bands. All hail to the King.


About the Album:

This was the 8th studio album by King Crimson.

At this stage, Robert Fripp decided to put together a band with a different sound. He recruited Adrian Belew (a second guitarist) who had been playing with Talking Heads, Tony Levin on bass, who had been doing session work, particularly with Peter Gabriel, and Bill Bruford of Yes on drums. They were initially called "Discipline" but changed to "King Crimson" before releasing this album.

At a time when many Prog bands were floundering, becoming more commercial or dying off, Fripp managed to re-invent King Crimson (for about the 3rd time) and not by becoming more commercial, but by experimenting in a new direction. Fripp called the sound he was after "Rock Gamelan". Apparently Gamelan is an Indonesian music style that uses interleaving percussive notes. 


My History with this Album:

I encountered King Crimson first in my late teens, but not this album until probably in my 30s. It has grown into one of my favourite albums by the band.


Review:

So, this is King Crimson, and therefore is not for everybody. It is complex and experimental, and can be hard to listen to. On this album there is particularly some very complex arpeggiating-style guitar playing, often using "phasing", playing the same thing out of time with itself. There is also quite a bit of use of polyrhythms and polymeters, different people playing in different time signatures and different rhythms, creating a very complex backing. A lot of the playing is very percussive, some is very fast, and most is undistorted. It is rhythmically very complex, and harmonically unusual - not really discordant, more unexpected. It's a particular sound that they had for this and the next two albums (Beat and Three of a Perfect Pair).

Surprisingly, given the experimental nature of the music and arrangements, most of the tracks are recognisable as songs, and even have reasonably normal structure. The inaccessibility of the music is tempered by the accessibility of the songs, using repeated lyrics so you can learn the words and sing along.

The lyrics are... curious. The Wikipedia page for the album gives some explanations. I particularly like "Elephant Talk" which has lists of words for different elements of talking in 5 verses, the first list are all words starting with A, the second of B etc, ending with E and the enigmatic final "Elephant talk?" I also really like "Indiscipline", and I feel a bit like finding out what it is about actually spoils it a bit. To be honest, I like all of the songs.

There are two instrumentals as well. They are still fine examples of this music, and as a musician, I enjoy trying to work out what is going on, but I do actually like the songs better. I like this album quite a lot. It is bold and interesting and refreshingly unusual. I like it. 


8.8/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7KxUQCCvE0edGiqBS6ywEd

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3PhWT10BW3VfS-Li7DhUqW8k-lfy1tvo

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discipline_(King_Crimson_album)


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