STARLESS AND BIBLE BLACK

A lot of prog bands, King Crimson in particular, had this strange propensity to release albums that were almost complete copies or at least heavily similar to their predecessors. Of course, some of this was undoubtably an attempt at tightening up the loose ends that the previous albums left un-sewn. However, as Crimson exhibited with In the Wake of Poseidon in the past, that wasn't always the case.

And that isn't necessarily the case, here, either; one of the big misconceptions about this record is that it was merely a pale imitation of Larks' Tongues in Aspic, and nothing more. There's certainly just as much artistic merit on here as there is on Larks', and perhaps even more. The lyrics are improved significantly; they're generally reminiscent of those in "Easy Money", delineating the enormities of modern society. The individual tracks are even more explosive and engaging, with their jolting time signature changes and tasteful violin-work.

And, of course, that's only the first side.

The second side contains Crimson at their most experimental; the two epics, "Starless and Bible Black" and "Fracture", contain some of Robert Fripp's most nerve-racking guitarwork, some of David Cross's most unorthodox violin-work, and, of course, some of Bill Bruford's most independent and fractured drumwork.

But what's with the unnecessary use of invective at the poor 'health food faggot'? Offensive and unnecessary. Also, the experiments on the second side do tend to drag out a bit, but that isn't a major complaint.

Otherwise, Starless and Bible Black is an excellent album.