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Recorded: 1981, Released: 2000
Tracks: Discipline; Thela Hun Ginjeet; Red; Elephant Talk; Matte Kudasai; The Sheltering Sky; Indiscipline; Frame By Frame; Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (Part II)
Best track: Red
Track to skip: none
I’m doing something different on this set of reviews. I’m going to cover a whole period of a band’s existence. In this case, it’s King Crimson from 1981 to 1984. I’m listening to all the releases in order, and pretty much continuously for the next few hours. So, in order these are: Live at Moles, Discipline, Beat, Live at Cap D’Agde, Three of a Perfect Pair & Absent Lovers. Some stuff, like the Champaign-Urbana Sessions, would be ideal to have (and I’ll get it sometime), but I’m going with what I have.
King Crimson disbanded just prior to the release of Red in 1974, with the live album (USA) and the career-overview (Young Person’s Guide) following within the next year. Fripp made solo albums, recorded and toured with Peter Gabriel and Bruford and Wetton formed UK in the next few years. For all intents and purposes, Crimson was dead. In 1981 Fripp decided to form a new band and he recruited former KC drummer Bill Bruford, guitarist and vocalist Adrian Belew (who had played with Zappa, Bowie and Talking Heads) and bassist Tony Levin (played with John Lennon, Gabriel and on Fripp’s Exposure). The original name for this new group was Discipline, and it was later that Fripp resurrected the King Crimson name for the group. This show, the band’s debut on 4/30/81, was still under the “Discipline” name and actually took place just about two weeks after the first rehearsal of the band. 2 weeks!
This gig is the debut of what would be the full Discipline album, as well as the live debut of Crimson’s Red. I love this version of Red. It’s a bit slower (like the original version) than this lineup subsequently played it, but I like it better this way. It’s a lot heavier (also, like the original) too. I think with Red and Larks’ 2, this was the big clue to the audience that this band was in fact King Crimson, just with a different name. There is no denying what band is playing these pieces. The quality of this disc isn’t the best, but it’s definitely good enough to hear everything. It’s very slightly distorted, but I’m listening on headphones right now and I can hear everything just fine. On some of these songs the band is spot-on (as on Discipline & Red) and some songs the band doesn’t quite have ‘it’. I’m not saying they’re playing poorly or anything, as even at this early stage they still blow most bands out of the water. Some songs, like Sheltering Sky and Indiscipline, they’re still a bit ‘loose’ and need some more tightening up. Some of the tunes have a few differences in them, especially Elephant Talk, where Tony’s intro is cut out and the ending is very different. Indiscipline isn’t as fierce as it would become, even on the album proper. Overall I like this disc and I’m sure if I was in the audience that night then I would’ve had my head blown open. I’m happy to have this debut gig from this band on disc, but it pales in comparison to what they did on the Discipline album. This Collector’s Club CD is for collectors only, or those who are curious about the progress of this band.
Rating: 85
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