September 22, 1981 - Discipline

A long three months since my last release, and an even longer seven years(!) since their last album "Red" King Crimson released their eighth album "Discipline" on September 22, 1981. Before their seven year hiatus founder Robert Fripp disbanded the group but he apparently changed his mind and decided that King Crimson will live again! John Wetton is no longer with the band sadly but star drummer Bill Bruford does return for this album! King Crimson are a four-piece in this incarnation and Bruford and Fripp are joined by Tony Levin (bass, Chapman Stick) and Adrian Belew (guitar, lead vocals). This new King Crimson play a much different style of music than back in the 70s, described by some as new-wave. It's certainly a different kind of rock than before, but Fripp always has a bunch of crazy ideas in his head and i'm excited to see where he takes us next!

The album begins with "Elephant Talk" and new vocalist Belew had some fun writing the lyrics to this one. It starts with some trippy guitar that's all over the place before Fripp settles into an offbeat riff and the rhythm section joins in. Levin plays the Chapman Stick and it sounds like a very low bass where every note has a bit of trippiness to it. I think it sounds pretty good and along with Bruford's solid drums they form an interesting main riff. We hear Belew sing for the first time and he has a very unique and interesting voice that seems to fit this crazy music well. His first lines are "talk! It's only talk" and he follows with a bunch of different words that describe different kinds of talking or speech; all of which begin with the letter A. It's an odd concept and Belew's delivery is very offbeat and not typically what you'd expect from your lead singer, but I like it. The music continues with the main riff and Belew begins the second verse with the same "talk! It's only talk" and again sings about different ways to converse, only this time all the lyrics begin with B! I'm sensing a theme here and they finally move to a chorus where Belew's only lyrics are "backtalk" and Fripp adds in some crazy noises played on his Frippertronics, his own personal mix of keyboards. It's a different style of rock for sure, but it's still far from mainstream. Belew begins the next verse and it follows the same pattern as we hear a variety of C talking words and in the following chorus Belew's lyric changes to "cheap talk" as we hear more Fripperteonics overtop the main beat. We hear a Frippertronic solo that is hard to desribe as Robert makes some really strange noises. This "solo" sounds very light as he plays some interesting stuff overtop of the same trippy main beat. Bruford's drums sound solid the whole way through and this leads into the next verse. Just in case you hadn't noticed the theme, in the middle of more talkative lyrics Belew says "these are words with a D this time". I think it's pretty funny and a very unique and interesting way to write lyrics, and Belew's chorus lyric follows the theme as well with "doubletalk". This chorus is followed by another solo, this one on guitar and I'm not sure if it's Belew or Fripp but it sounds pretty good! After a cool little solo they head to the final verse as we hear our E-related talking words! This leads into a final chorus where Belew's last words are of course "Elephant talk!" The next song "Frame By Frame" starts off with one guitarist playing a speedy riff that sounds pretty cool while the other plays a slower riff overtop. They mesh pretty nicely and Bruford comes in and plays some great drum fills in this cool opening as well. The speedy guitar gets higher and higher up the fretboard and after over a minute of this solid opening part everything stops but one guitar as we hear a nice new riff. The other guitarist begins a similar riff, but he plays his notes in the short space inbetween the other guitarists notes, making for a cool effect as both Fripp and Belew play some nice guitar. Belew begins singing the first verse and he sounds a bit more like a singer instead of just a crazy talker in this one, showing he has a nice high voice actually as he leads the verse. After this solid verse they return to the cool speedy opening riff and Bruford delivers a few more epic drum fills! This part is pretty awesome and they move nicely into another well-done verse. There doesn't seem to be a chorus as they just switch back between these two parts, but I don't mind at all as everything sounds pretty good, no need to mess it up with a chorus! After jamming the speedy riff a bit more the rhythm section drops out and for the last minute or so it's just the two guitarists as they continue to play off each other really well and play some cool stuff right to the end of the song. Track 3 is called "Matte Kudasai" which is Japanese for "please wait". Fripp plays some slow, droning Frippertronics that sound trippy and interesting as Belew and Levin play a slow, smooth main riff as this song is way slower paced than the last two. Belew's guitar is slow but sounds good in the background as Fripp leads the way with his crazy keyboards. After a minute Belew finally begins the first verse and I think his vocals sound pretty good in this slow setting as he holds lots of high  notes. It's obviously not a headbanger but it sounds pretty good as Belew sings nicely and Fripp and ebbs and flows, sounding like he's pushing his weird instrument to the limits with some weird, high pitched noises. This was chosen as the single for the album and I can see why of all their usual weird stuff they went with this slow, sad song for the single. They don't stray from the path really as they lightly jam out a few verses and this sad song fades to an end. The final song on side one is "Indiscipline" and the rhythm section open it as Levin plays some slow, trippy Chapman Stick and Bruford plays some wicked fast drums! He's really going at it in this opening as the guitar echoes the bass with some slow weird stuff. They move into a pretty cool main riff that has Bruford continuing his great drumming along with the bass in the background. Fripp leads the way on his Frippertronics, playing some indescribable stuff; words can't really do justice! It's pretty crazy, and pretty awesome as he is basically soloing overtop this already solid riff and it sounds great! After a minute and a half of this rockin' opening, it gets very quiet and we hear Belew talking, not singing, as he describes creating something. We're not really sure what he's talking about, but he does a great job of sounding obsessed with whatever it is. It's very weird indeed, but I love this odd King Crimson music as there is some trippy guitar in the background as Belew continues his story. He proclaims "I did!" as they crash back into the opening riff and it sounds like a wall of sound hits you. Things sound pretty crazy, and kind of heavy, as Bruford continues to play some great drums and Fripp blows our minds with his Frippertronics. Things get quiet once again and Belew says "I repeat myself when under stress" several times over as the trippy background guitar resumes. Belew returns to his obsessive voice and delivers the line "the more I look at it, the more I like it" really well. After some more amusing anecdotes Belew proclaims "I wish you were here to see it!" and the wall of sound comes crashing in again. The quiet to loud switch hits really hard as they resume the crazy sweet main riff and Bruford and Fripp continue to play some great stuff. Belew ends the song with one final "I like it!" as they bring this mostly solid first side to a close. 

Side two opens with "Thela Hun Ginjeet" which is an anagram of "Heat in the Jungle". An odd name for a song for sure, Belew and Fripp are both playing some fast-paced stuff as they once again mix guitar and Frippertronics nicely. Bruford joins in with some speedy drums as well but Levin's bass is much slower than everything else. Together it makes for another cool, interesting main riff and we hear Belew and Levin sing the name of the song together several times before Belew sings a few lines by himself. After he sings "heat in the jungle street" the bass and drums continue but the guitar stops and Fripp's crazy noises move to the background as we hear Belew talk some more. He describes an encounter he had in New York City where someone pulled a gun on him and the talking parts of this song are based on a real incident that happened to Adrian Belew. He likes to repeat the phrase "this is a dangerous place" and Fripp plays some more crazy Frippertronics in this part. Belew finally returns on guitar as they resume the main riff and play another chorus. It quiets down for another talking part as Belew describes how he was shaking and feared for his life, continuing to say "this is a dangerous place". He tells a story of being ganged up on by a few guys who stole his tape that he had. He explained to them that he was in a band and it was a recording and they ended up letting him go, but the encounter clearly left a heavy mark. They resume the fast-paced main riff once again and after singing the name a couple times Fripp goes off for a Frippertronics solo. The rhythm section does a great job backing him as Bruford continues to play some solid speedy drums while Fripp goes off wandering. He plays some trippy, interesting stuff in this solo and he really seems to love playing his unique keyboards nowadays and leaving most of the guitar work to Belew. They end the solo with a nice flourish and this weird song slowly fades to an end. Track 6 is an instrumental song called "The Sheltering Sky" and it's the longest song on the album at nearly eight and a half minutes. Bruford starts it off with a light drumbeat that sounds kind of like congas that sounds pretty cool and Belew joins in next with a nice light guitar riff. Levin comes in next with some very low Chapman Stick and each slow note he plays sounds pretty epic. This makes for a cool backing riff that has an interesting mix of sounds and Fripp finally joins the mix with a lead Frippertronic riff that sounds like a mix between keyboards and a trumpet. It's another unique noise as Fripp plays a slow but epic riff overtop of this cool backing riff. With no vocals, this whole song is basically a Robert Fripp experiment as the rest of the band just continue the same riff while Fripp leads the way with some cool sounds. It's a decent backing riff and I like Bruford's pseudo-congas but it does start to wear a little thin as the song goes on for over eight minutes. It gives Fripp lots of time to play mad scientist as he continues to make screeches and drones that sound unlike any kind of music. It's very trippy indeed, I think they just went a little too long; it could've been a better song at 4-5 minutes. Eventually it does fade away as Bruford ends as it began with some cool drums. The final song on the album is the title track "Discipline" and it is also instrumental. Fripp is on guitar for this one as well and he and Belew play off each other nicely again as they play different guitar riffs that seem to fill each other's gaps so there's always someone playing something.
Levin and Bruford form a cool rhythm section as all four members play some cool music. All the parts would be solid on their own but they also mix really nicely together and form a solid main riff. One of the guitarists is playing some cool, fast stuff but there are great contributions from everyone in this one. They continue to jam this riff for the whole song, but it never gets boring as someone is always playing something cool; usually one of the guitarists. They keep it fresh and fast-paced the whole time and things sound pretty impressive! The bass and drums drop out for the finale as Fripp and Belew share center stage and play some final cool stuff before the album comes to an end.

That is the end of "Discipline" and I thought it was certainly a unique and interesting album. It's a huge change from King Crimson's last album "Red", which I thought was their best release, as this 80s line-up didn't really play anything progressive at all. Don't get me wrong, I do like this new style of 80s rock led by Adrian Belew and lots of Frippertronics, but if you came in expecting the same old King Crimson, boy would you be surprised! But how does it compare to their other albums? I think it's better than their weakest album "Islands" but I don't think it surpasses the super progressive "Lizard" or comes anywhere close to their better albums. Still, I am happy that King Crimson have returned in some form and I look forward to hearing where this new line-up will take us next!