June 18, 1982 - Beat

I somehow missed publishing this review in the proper order, and I apparently have my second instance of losing an entire half of a review into thin air! I'm pretty pissed off that I messed this up somehow and only have my review for side one of "Beat".

A month after my last release and nine months since "Discipline", King Crimson released their ninth album "Beat" on June 18, 1982. This is actually the first time in King Crimson history that the band has had the same line-up for two albums in a row! This 80s line-up plays the same new-wave style of rock as the last album, which was different but still pretty good. The name is inspired by the beat generation of the 1950s which influenced both Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew greatly. Let's check out some more new King Crimson!

The album begins with "Neal And Jack And Me" which is named after beat writer Jack Kerouac and his friend Neal Cassady. Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew play some similar yet different guitar riffs as these two love to simultaneously play different riffs. It sounds like a decent main riff and Belew comes in to sing the verse in his typical, odd vocal style. Tony Levin's bass in the background is nice as well and there's no chorus as they choose to just slightly alter the main riff. The next go round Fripp adds some cool Frippertronics between the vocals, and Belew does some nice yells as well in this interesting verse. After a couple more solid verses, Belew sings "Neal and Jack and me, absent lovers" over and over while the main riff continues on until eventually things fade to a close. Up next is "Heartbeat" and one guitarist plays a nice slow riff while the rest of the band add some cool, slightly trippy stuff to the mix. Belew's vocals are pretty good once again as he holds some long notes in this slow main riff. This leads right into the chorus where Belew continues his long, high vocals singing "riiiiiiight next to me". Like the previous song, this is a different, interesting style of rock but it's nothing especially flashy or crazy like their older music. They return to the slow main riff for another verse and chorus before Fripp plays a slow, trippy guitar solo. It's very slow-paced, but sounds pretty cool and it leads right back into the main riff for a final verse and chorus. Track 3 is an instrumental titled "Sartori In Tangier" and Fripp opens it with a slow Frippertronics bit that sounds very trippy. After this opening bit the rest of the band form a main riff that sounds very 80s with some decent bass by Levin as Fripp continues playing some trippy Frippertronics overtop. It's difficult to describe all the noises he makes with his own instrument, but everything sounds pretty good. It sounds like the same effects that are used on last album's "The Sheltering Sky" and it makes for a pretty cool lead instrument as Fripp is basically soloing overtop this 80s backing riff. They slow it down for a minute or so with Bill Bruford playing some cool drum fills, then they return to the Frippertronics-led main riff as we hear some more crazy cool stuff before they end this song a bit abruptly. This was easily my favourite so far, much more happening all the time I thought. The final song on this side is "Waiting Man" and we hear both guitarists doing their different riff, same time routine again. Together it sounds pretty good and Bruford adds some cool percussion to this riff where someone is always playing something at every moment. Belew sings some more long-held vocals overtop this interesting riff and after he sings the name of the song the guitars change to a different riff, but it's at the same pace as before and is a nice transition into the next verse. After this verse Bruford takes over with some more great percussion and he leads the way for a bit in this cool jam. This sets the stage for another slow, trippy guitar solo by Fripp and he once again doesn't play too fast, but plays some epic stuff overtop this interesting riff. Belew returns to yell a final verse and bring this first side to an end. 

Apologies for messing things up so bad! In a very quick summation I liked "Beat" and I thought it was better than "Islands", but not quite as good as their last album "Discipline". My next post will be back in the proper order as we return to 1983!

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