STARLESS AND BIBLE BLACK

After the terrible "Larks' Tongues in Aspic", pretty much anything Fripp and Co. could have released would've been an improvement over its predecessor. This is true of "Starless and Bible Black", but only to a certain degree.

Yes, the album sounds a little bit more like a true attempt at writing structured music, but it still sounds more like glorified jamming than anything else. For every person that calls this "experimentation", another one could give it a more proper (in my view) name: recorded self- indulgence and show-off. True experimentation requires form of some kind, even if the experiment involves trying out a new form or structure. We can't just press "record" in a console, play whatever comes into our minds, and call it "experimentation". There are a few moments when KC music sounds just like that. And it's a pity, for this band (and its mastermind, mostly) showed us what they could do when they had a clear goal in their minds (other than trying to out-prog everybody else, which is what it looks like they wanted to do with this album and its predecessor).

This band is no favorite of mine, but I still own some of their albums, and I'll keep giving my thoughts on them as I re-visit them. I thought the experience was going to be better than the first time I listened to all of them, but, apart from the fantastic "In the Court of the Crimson King", up until now it obviously hasn't been the case. Good thing the much better "Red" is on my listening-horizon.

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