ROBERT FRIPP & ANDY SUMMERS: I ADVANCE MASKED

Electric guitars, synthesizers, guitar synth, bass guitar, and percussion. That is what this album provides in spades, all generated by our two protagonists without any outside help. Let it be said here that if you're a fan of either Robert Fripp or Andy Summers (or both), I Advance Masked (recorded in September 1981 and May 1982) is a "must listen" as these performances find them in especially abstract, exploratory moods.

40+ years after its release, and rumors still persist that this is an ambient album (song titles, perhaps) when nothing could be further from the truth. Listen to the aggressive, driving title track, the speedy picking in the Eno-esque "China - Yellow Leader", and fast and furious songs like "New Marimba" and "Still Point". There are quieter moments, such as "Under Bridges of Silence" and "Girl on a Swing", but these are distinctly in the minority. Some will not care for the 1980s cliches such as the synth washes and electric sitar ("Hardy Country") used from time to time, but there is just too much going on to comfortably fit anyone's attempt to stereotype. Tracks such as "The Truth of Skies" and "Seven on Seven" have an almost unsettling "bizarreness" to them and keep this album from ever becoming dated. "Lakeland/Aquarelle" seems to be improvised, and "Stultified" closes with an emphatic gong.

For those who are wondering, Fripp is the dominant performer (especially on "In the Cloud Forest") on this recording in spite of Summers being first billed. Of course, in 1982 Summers had by far the most high-profile name in the marketplace, so that stands to reason. At the same time, I'm told he was going through a divorce at the time, so this album does not have the best of memories for him. Nevertheless, I Advance Masked is unequivocally a 4-star album, and the average listener should find it sonically closer to Ghost in the Machine than to Beat. I'll close by insisting that if the catchy yet atmospheric "Painting and Dance" had been released as a single, it would have been HUGE.