THE POWER TO BELIEVE

this is king crimson in 2003! Still going strong, king crimson put out this exceptional release. The sound here is that of metal, but in a sophisticated complex king crimson way. Similar to thrak, this one contains all the heaviness and wierdness, but a bit less this time. I find that this album has quite a bit of filler, whereas thrak had little. the opening track could be considered filler, but I guess it introduces you to the theme. It is merely an electronic voice reciting a simple poem, which you'll hear 4 times throughout the album! Level five is the best track here, long, heavy, progressive and definitely king crimson! This one is full of electronic drumming, insane guitar riffing, and head exploding moments. eyes wide open is another good track, quieter this time. It sounds very mysterious, as does much of the album. It's also the only song where belew's voice isn't distorted and he's actually singing! Elektrik is another strong track, but is a bit repetitive repetitive repetitive. For those of you who like wierd scales, this one's for you! it's a lengthy track (the longest here) consisting of fripp playing endless 'whole tone' riffs (this is pretty much the wierdest scale there is). It also become's heavy toward the end, but only briefly. Oh yeah, it also has a strange quasi-medieval intro and outro which sets the tone perfectly. Dare I say, the intro makes me feel as if I have entered into some realm of the court of the crimson king! Facts of life intro is just that, a short piece consisting of basically, well, nothing! This is where the album starts to loose its footing in a bad way. The lyrics, which are about ants, sand, and death are about as stupid as i've ever heard, and to make matters worse, belew is singing in a ridiculous manner. I wish he would sing 'for real' more! However, the music is good, good enough to make you listen past the crappy vocal idiocy. Power to believe 2 is a decent 'instrumental' though that poem is recited toward the end in an electronic voice. It starts of with what sounds like synthetic 'middle eastern' singing, over some stupid noises. However, toward the middle, some cool little bells come in, reminding one of the intro to larks' tongues pt. 1. this doesn't last though. This song is basically filler. Dangerous curves is a weak track. The first minute of it is silence, basically! it is repetitive as well, but I guess it's an example of frippertronics. I find it to be more filler. Happy with what you have to be happy with is another track in the vein of facts of life, this time being a parody of modern metal. I'ts about the modern metal songwriter composing a song and 'stirring another pot of ambiguity'. There's also a humorous solo by fripp who pokes fun at the 'noisy solos' of modern metal. This song does get a bit of a laugh out of me, but it's okay at best. The power to belive 3 is my favourite of the four, having some heavy instrumental parts during the last two minutes. It includes an interesting tempo change where it suddenly speeds up and then slows down. The last track is more filler, more nothingness, more of that little poem that you're quite tired of by now! This album has its moments, but is okay at best. The true fan will likely enjoy it though. Because of the excess of filler and lack of actual substance, 3/5. real fans should give it a try, but no one else.