DECEPTION OF THE THRUSH: A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO PROJEKCTS

"Deception of the Thrush: A Beginners Guide to ProjeKcts" is a compilation album by UK progressive rock act King Crimson. The album was released through Discipline Global Mobile in October 1999. "Deception of the Thrush: A Beginners Guide to ProjeKcts" features tracks from the "ProjeKct" albums by the band. The ProjeKct concept is a concept the band invented to be able to tour and record music without having to gather all six members of the band at the same time, but rather work in smaller groups while still using the King Crimson name. Wether it be three or four members of the band playing together in different constellations guitarist and band founder Robert Fripp is the only constant. I haven´t heard the original "ProjeKct" albums so I don´t know how much you´re missing out on by only owning "Deception of the Thrush: A Beginners Guide to ProjeKcts" but for me personally this compilation is more than enough.

The music on the album is mostly instrumental improvisations, but there are what seems like some structured pieces and bits in the tracks. The music is rather experimental rock/ fusion and the playing is very impressive at times. Personally I prefer more structured compositions and after a while I begin to lose interest and even though the music is quite atonal and challenging it kind of becomes background music to me. Not because the music isn´t interesting, but because it lacks memorable hooks. That´s of course an aquired taste and I´m sure the more dedicated fans will enjoy this more than I do. The production and the musicianship on the compilation are as expected excellent. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.