THE CONSTRUKCTION OF LIGHT

Following on the heels of THRAK, The ConstruKction of Light is most likely the least focused, inspired, and well-constructed album that the band has ever made.

Now, there are some really neat moments here. But I'm talking mere moments. On the whole, the album does not go much of anywhere at all. It features much of the same style as THRAK, only melody seems to have taken the back seat. The double trio has vanished, and now a lot of the drumming and percussion is done via computer. This wouldn't be a problem, not really, if it were more creative more of the time. Instead, we have a lot of music that on paper looks great, and even sounds pretty cool the first time, but the more you listen to it, the less you care about this album. The last strains of Discipline are still here. Nevertheless, The ConstruKction of Light does not quite capture that sort of energy anywhere.

The title track is one of the better songs. A mostly instrumental tune in the vein of VROOOM or THRAK, it plays with some fast and complicated guitar, but it still does not quite bring that essential King Crimson energy to the front. Plus, it drags on awfully long for what it does have to offer. The vocals appear in the last couple minutes, applying the same sort of guitar delay to the vocals, a neat effect but nothing groundbreaking. FraKctured displays some blazing guitar chops over the course of its length, as well as some pretty clean guitar bits. Overall, this too is a neat song, but it runs a fair bit too long to hold interest very well. Of interest to long-time Crimson fans is the Larks' Tongue track, which plays on the main theme found on the original album but really does not add a terrible much to the by now long winded and confusing suite. Fripp's guitar rages mightily here, as well, but again, until the coda, it's a fairly weak track. This Coda is a neat bit to add onto the end, being basically the only song that's not too long for its own good.

Probably the least inpiring output from this band's studio efforts, but there has to be one somewhere. People who really like The Power to Believe and THRAK will find enjoyable bits here, but the final word is that it really is an easily bypassable album.