80s King Crimson

I love the King Crimson catalogue, however, it took me a while to get to their 80's albums (Discipline, Beat, Three of a Perfect Pair). They failed to impress me initially and I worked my way around this decade. Recently though, I gave these albums a more thorough listen and have gained a new appreciation for them. They are truly unique (just like all of King Crimson's albums really) and fun to listen to. Some of my favorite songs are Frame by Frame, Absent Lovers, and Dig Me. What are your thoughts on these albums and what are your favorite songs?

I haven't heard those albums in a long time. I'll need to revisit again. I think 3OAPP is very underrated. I hated it for the longest time before it finally clicked with me.

Sometimes, I have difficulty with Belew's vocals.  That said, I like all three.  Discipline is my favorite followed by Three of a Perfect Pair, then Beat.

Edited by omphaloskepsis - April 30 2021 at 11:47

I think these albums sooner or later drag you to their own world, specially the first two. Matte Kudasai is the first song in the batch that started to feel like a classic to me.

I repeat myself when under stress I repeat myself when under stress I repeat myself when under stress I repeat...

Probably my least favourite era of the band, but good albums nonetheless.

I don't think I have an overall favourite album from this era. There's some good tracks on each album.

Frame by Frame
Matte Kudasai
Neal & Jack and me
Sartori in Tangier
Heartbeat
Three of a perfect pair.

There are probably new wave bands, who clearly influenced Fripp at this time, some of who I prefer to KC in the 80's, notably XTC.

Edited by Blacksword - April 30 2021 at 05:48

I WISH YOU WERE HERE TO SEE IT!

my favorite track from these three albums is "Neurotica", followed by "Indiscipline"

I think 80's KC is pretty darn extraordinary - my favorite period of the band.  The interlocking guitar madness is so delicious.  Dig Me, Neurotica, Sartori in Tangier, Sleepless, Discipline, Indiscipline, Threee of a Perfect Pair, THE SHELTERING SKY, just so many amazing moments.  When i first encountered this music it was so radically different from anything i had heard that I was confused - i remember asking the older brother of a friend of mine who played it for us, what kind of music is this?  He said I don't know.  I still feel that way about these songs - but i love them.  I fairly quickly collected the catalogue, and started seeing them live during the double trio era, but these albums (and the Absent Lovers live album) are the pinnacle. Not knocking other eras -  SABB, LTIA, Red are my second favorite set (LTIA and Red are like messages from a parallel reality), but there is a lot more 'filler' in the Court-Lizard era and Double Duo onwards era in my humble and perhaps erroneous opinion