THRAKATTAK

"Warning!!! This recording contains explicit live instrumental improvisation and a poster". I no longer have the poster but the sticker with this warning is still on my copy. Believe it or not, this was my first Crimson purchase. I'm not going to lie to you, the only reason I bought it was because there was a song called "Mother Hold The Candle Steady While I Shave The Chicken's Lip". I thought any group with a song title like that must be good! I had only vaguely heard of KC before. This was their latest release at the time; the only other KC available in the stores near me was ITCOTKC.

This is a live instrumental album of improvisations performed by the Double Trio line-up on the Thrak tour. The crowd noises have been edited out(similar to the live songs on Starless And Bible Black). Speaking of SABB, one of the songs here is called "This Night Wounds Time", which is taken from the sleeve of SABB. This song and "Mother..." have my favourite two parts on the album, when the tom-tom is the main drum. You hear it once every few seconds. It just fits the mood of the rest of the instruments.

This album has lots of Warr guitar, Soundscapes, synthetic piano, electronic percussion and screaming guitars. There is even some marimba and brushes on the snare drum. The music here is some of the most out there that KC has ever done. Completely uncommercial. The sound is really good and the playing generally great. None of it is very memorable however. I always listen to this all the way through without skipping anything. Good but not essential. 3 stars.