THREE OF A PERFECT PAIR

King Crimson's next album was 1984's Three of a Perfect Pair. Its oxymoronic title belies the somewhat jumbled nature of its writing, with the two sides of the record having their own themes. Side one (called "The Left Side") features poppier, more accessible music, and side two ("The Right Side") leans more into King Crimson's experimental and improvisational tendencies. (When bonus tracks were added for a CD remaster, they were dubbed "The Other Side".)

Also, the lineup remained the same here. Good job, guys!

Three of a Perfect Pair opens with its title track, and it's pretty typical '80s Crimson. Fripp and Belew play interlocking clean guitar lines that are alternatingly smooth and jagged, Levin and Bruford provide some nice funk, and Belew's vocal performance is strong. For the most part, this piece doesn't stand out among their '80s output, but the synth solo in the middle is wonderful.

"Model Man" is warm and poppy, and it's yet another song I could have mistaken for a Talking Heads piece. "Sleepless" features a distinctive slap bass opening that showcases Tony Levin's skills as an instrumentalist. It's darker and tenser than the preceding cuts, and it was a modestly successful single. This song is a hair longer than it needs to be, but it's solid overall. (Three different and unnecessary remixes are included as bonus tracks on the 30th anniversary remaster of this album.)

"Man with an Open Heart" continues with the poppy trend of the Left Side, albeit with some of Fripp's signature unorthodox guitar chords.

The Left Side ends with eerie electronic sounds on "Nuages (That Which Passes, Passes Like Clouds)", and eerie electronic sounds is all it offers. There's no real progression or build in tension or structure. It just sorta floats along. It sounds like background music for a video game from 1998.

Kicking off The Right Side is "Industry", which starts in a vein similar to "Nuages". This seven-minute piece meanders for its first couple minutes before something of a backbone emerges. As the name hints, the band draws from Industrial music here. The tones are austere, and there's a certain robotic nature to this piece. Unfortunately, the various elements of this song don't ever coalesce into anything noteworthy. It's a lot like many of King Crimson's '70s improvisations, but with a 1980s sound palette.

"Dig Me" has some better development, but it comes off as somewhat slapped-together. The verses feel like they're in a constant state of disintegration, but the chorus is majestic and melodic; the two don't fit together. This is followed by the instrumental "No Warning", and it suffers from aimlessness similar to the two preceding instrumentals on this record. At least Bruford gets a chance to show off here.

Three of a Perfect Pair closes on "Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Part III)". The album cover is meant to be a simplified interpretation of the original Larks' Tongues album cover, and the themes of contrast throughout the album make sense in the context of a sequel. Following a jittery intro, The Right Side finally has something that feels like a real song. The music is tense, energetic, and thoughtful. Somehow, this composition manages to feel like a new wave sequel to the original, and it works shockingly well.

Three of a Perfect Pair is a spotty record. It's also one of the band's blandest. The closing cut is the best of the bunch by a wide margin. There are a couple other decent tracks, but much of this record comes off as disappointingly generic.

Aside from the above-mentioned "Sleepless" remixes, The Other Side bonus tracks include three other experiments. One, titled "The King Crimson Barbershop", is a Tony Levin composition featuring everyone except Robert Fripp doing a barbershop trio. It's goofy, silly, and totally unserious. This is the quintessential super-unnecessary-no-it's-not-going-on-the-album-why-would-you-even-ask-but-fine-it-can-be-a-bonus-track-now-that-it's-been-30-years song.

"Industrial Zone A" is a short instrumental focusing on menacing ambiance. "Industrial Zone B" is a four-minute instrumental with a bit more meat on its bones, though it still suffers from a lack of direction.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2024/04/15/deep-dive-king-crimson/