THE CONSTRUKCTION OF LIGHT

The opening track here, "Prozakc Blues", captures what the listener invariably feels at various points in this album. This is the first Crimson album to come since Thrak, and thus since Fripp fired Bruford. Tony Levin isn't here either - not sure why, but perhaps Fripp just didn't invite him. The mood is sombre, and tainted with disappointment. Of course, this being Crimson, there is still some good music here. The title track is very good, and the fourth instalment of 'Lark's Tongues in Aspic' lives up to the very high expectations it can't escape (and Belew's "Coda: I have a Dream" perfectly wraps up both this edition of Lark's Tongues and the album). But even the good tracks are dripping with a sombre feeling. Lark's Tongues Part IV sounds like someone (perhaps the one on ProzaKc?) hitting out at the world out of disappointment, and I Have a Dream seems wistful and melancholy for better times. Belew's other tunes here ('Into the Frying Pan' and 'Oyster Soup Kitchen Floor Wax Museum') are decent enough, but don't reach the heights of his excellent solo work or his work on previous Crimson albums. But the worst song here - perhaps the worst piece ever released on a Crimson studio album - is 'FraKctured'. This is Fripp's complex instrumental offering, in the vein of 'Fracture', but here Fripp plagiarizes his own compositions by very blatantly and visibly copying key parts of 'Fracture' but in slightly different note order. Not only is the result simply not musical, but it is exceptionally off-putting, the direct opposite of inspired. He seems to intentionally to want to insult the intelligence of Crimson fans, or something. I honestly can't figure it out, other than he must have been in a real grumpy mood. Regardless, it is the lowest point on an already low-feeling album. Being Crimson, there is some good music here (again, 'Larks Tongues IV/Coda' and 'Construkction of Light' are the two best), but one just can't shake that depressing feeling. I give this album 5.8 out of 10 on my 10-point scale, which translates to low 3 PA stars.

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