THE POWER TO BELIEVE

About a year after HWWYHTBHW, King Crimson put out their second full-length album in this configuration: The Power to Believe. It features the same line-up as ConstruKction, but it is considerably better. The album is weightier, and industrial elements are incorporated more fully.

The album's title track is a four-part, 15-minute suite spread across the album. The first of these parts, "A Cappella" is a bit of synthesized vocals, like what we heard on the EP that preceded this album. This leads into "Level Five", a live rendition of which was released ahead of this album on the live EP Level Five. This is meant to act as the fifth installment of "Larks' Tongues in Aspic", and the jagged, distorted guitars call to mind that ancestry. Mastelotto's electronic percussion clicks and stutters anxiously, and the industrial inclusions are well-realized.

A much gentler track, "Eyes Wide Open", follows. This cut ranks among the band's strongest mellow pieces, with Belew's vocal performance being especially effective. Creepy synth-reeds open "Elektrik" before moving into a jittery, industrial instrumental. This track melds the band's '80s era guitar style with more electronic flavors wonderfully.

"Facts of Life" has an extended, creepy intro, but the song proper sticks to this album's usual sound. It's heavy, aggressive, and woven through with little electronic touches. The chorus is catchy, and the instrumental passages are dynamic and exciting.

Part II of "The Power to Believe" is its longest section. It's a slinking, uneasy instrumental with some Middle Eastern touches. Mastelotto gets an opportunity to show off here by deploying a plethora of chimes, gongs, and other percussion instruments. The slow fade-in of "Dangerous Curves" builds tension. Structurally, this piece reminds me a lot of "The Talking Drum". Everything keeps building and building to a sudden, powerful cessation of sound.

"Happy with What You Have to Be Happy With" comes next, and it's one of my favorite (latter-era) songs from this band. It's heavy and groovy, and Belew's vocals are powerful and lightly distorted. His lyrics about songwriting are also characteristically somewhat silly.

The Power to Believe ends with the final two parts of its title track. "Part III" revisits the vocals from "Part I" and mixes them in among ominous, instrumental soundscapes in its first half. The second half is a slow, lurching instrumental that feels like a mix between this band's mid '70s output and some of Pink Floyd's spacier moments. "Part IV" is a quiet, droning piece that once more includes the first part's vocal snippets. It adds a sense of calm finality to this record.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2024/04/15/deep-dive-king-crimson/