THE POWER TO BELIEVE

King Crimson's most recent studio album, The Power To Believe, is probably the most interesting studio album since the 1974 breakup of the band. The album has a very modern sound, with a nice production and with a very typical King Crimson sound. With this I mean there are lots of chorused guitars, Robert Fripp's unique style of playing his guitar and many interesting and original pieces of music.

The album opens very nice with the first part of "The Power To Believe I", soothing a cappella that segues into the most powerful track on the album that is "Level Five". "Level Five" is probably the best track on the album, with its powerful riffs and unique mood. The album continues showing us the several sides of King Crimson. From the soft "Eyes Wide Open" we move to the great "Elektrik", which a great song. "Facts Of Life" is a song just as powerful as "Level Five", though I am not particularly fond of the vocals here. The second half of the album is apart from the heavy "Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With" more soundscape based. The almost seven minute long "Dangerous Curves" slowly works towards its epic climax, while "The Power To Believe II" is a softer song in an eastern style. The album closes with "The Power To Believe III" and " The Power To Believe IV". The songs on the second half all are pretty good, though not very memorable. The album does feel like one complete thing, which is good. The songs do fit in with each other very well, though there still is a lot of diversity.

The Power To Believe is a very good album, though it comes nowhere near the excellence of the King Crimson from the 70's. I will reward this album with three stars, as it is pretty good but nothing more than that.