STARLESS AND BIBLE BLACK

King Crimson's follow up to A Lark's Tongue in Aspic, is one of the weaker Crimson albums of the 1970s. Yet even with this being weaker, it has some of my favorite King Crimson moments. I love the Great Deceiver, it would have been a great single, full of bombast and expertise, and the only spot that I know where Fripp contributed to the lyrics - Fripp heard a vendor outside of the Vatican harking "Cigarettes, ice cream, figurines of the Virgin Mary" and insisted to Palmer-James to include that line in the the song.

The other excellent song is the guitar workout Fracture, which was later reworked as Frakctured on The ConstruKction of Light. Fripp has repeatedly said that this was the most difficult song to play, and I concur (it takes a lot more dexterity than I have, that's for sure).

The most intriguing song is the live Trio, which only has Fripp, Wetton, and Cross participating in the improvisation. However, Bruford gained writing credit by NOT playing.

All in all weak but interesting and a sign post for the future album Red.