VROOOM

This EP's release was a convenient momentary consolation for all us eager prog collectors who were terribly excited about the upcoming re-installation of the Progressive Crimson King for the 90s: "Vrooom" remains a perfect complementation for the "Thrak" album (the only studio effort by the double trio line-up). With the core quartet of Fripp, Levin, Belew and Bruford as 4/6 of this line-up, the expectation was that this should be some sort of refurbishment of the 80s era with some sense of surprise added to the fold. What the two newcomers brought in was a clever augmentation of the full ensemble's sound, which means that, even if the wirting and arranging styles were already determined from the previous decade, a new found stamina was added to the new material: this KC was really heavy and willing to go places at filling up each sonic pore and flooding every sonic room in the rsurrected Crimson Building. Now, the namesake opener is an excellent blast of refreshing progressive rock with a well-defined neurotic twist: the first body is a refined exercise on architectonic power, the second one delivers a majestic exhibition of schizophrenic psychedelia on a midtempo scheme. Great starting point! The next one 'Sex, Sleep, Eat, Drink, Dream' follows in the footsteps of the opener's power while dominated by Belew's Talking Heads-friendly thing: the instrumental breaks among the sung parts generate an interesting source of sophistication. 'Cage' is wild and inventive: I only wish it had been entirely instrumental and twice as long. 'Thrak' is a monster that definitely demonstrates the sort of artistic expansion that the double trio was headed for, and so is the amazing jam 'When I Say Stop, Continue', an excursion by people unafraid of reflecting the mysteries of the universe through a combination of order and chaos in rock sound. The semi-jazzy ballad 'One Time' wraps things up on a melancholy note. I must admit that I was somewhat shocked by the rougher approach that four of these pieces met on the "Thrak" album: I prefer all the "Vrooom" versions since I particularly enjoy the stylish sound mix that allowed these adventurous excursions to breathe in their own bizarre exquisteness.I also prefer the longer version of 'Thrak' and the more concise version of 'One Time'. All in all, this EP and the "Thrak" album were the best manifestations of the second Belew-era King Crimson.