THE POWER TO BELIEVE

Man, oh man, this is a tough album to rate. Being a fan of all of the many incarnations of Mr Fripps band, it was after the 80's I lost track of them. I found a used version of VRROOOM and was somewhat impressed. I was impressed mainly for the fact that again, like a chameleon, King Crimson changed their colors and went into a more metal vein. Still, I'm not much of a metal head, so once again I lost track of them. Being a member of a music club, I saw this album as a selection and immediately ordered it. What hit me was that they stuck to the metal sound but it had a more modern sound, akin to what most modern fusion/metal bands sound like today. The only songs that sound a tad different are the songs written by Belew which remind me of his work with the band in the 80's with again a more modern sound, dropping the Talking Head jerkiness. I dig the instrumental songs, (Level Five in particular) then Belew's songs, although I have to admit they are very catchy. So to round up a rating for the album, I can't recommend it enough for newer fans. They have much better albums in all their different modes, be it metal, (Thrak), herky-jerky art pop, (Discipline), symphonic (ITCOTCK), and jazz/metal, (Lark's Tongue, Red). But if you're a fan of the band, it's just about good and a half. 3.5 stars tops.