THE POWER TO BELIEVE

'The Power To Believe' rocks! It fully, sincerely and heavily rocks. In Robert Fripp's own view of what King Crimson is, he states that King Crimson is more a way of doing things than a band. There are characteristics that carry through every single KC album, but not things like "compositional style" or "time signatures" - the reliable factor in every lineup of King Crimson is their highly original (at least in the field of rock) attitude towards the roles of each instrument. Usually, there will be a chaotic element in any King Crimson song, even the relaxed and off-the-cuff-sounding guitar licks in 'Book Of Saturday' or the wonderfully disordered crescendo in 'Islands', and in 'The Power To Believe' this element is channelled through the frankly brilliant mixture of acoustic and electronic drums courtesy of Pat Mastellotto. Fripp is the more reliable and pace-setting element this time around, but now and then his trademark 72-74 era technique and guitar sound comes through to prove it can still be used in a modern context (see 'Facts Of Life').

What impressed me most about this album was how heavy it actually was. It feels great to hear such accomplished veteran musicians see something attractive in making heavy, loud sounds. It's especially satisfying as I'm a heavy/extreme music fan first and foremost and when these two genres clash successfully it makes for truly remarkable albums (see Tool's 'Lateralus', Opeth's 'Blackwater Park', and some might say 'Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence' by Dream Theater although I'm not a fan myself). 'The Power To Believe' is not quite remarkable, not quite a King Crimson must-have, but it's damn solid and stands as a shining example of old dogs learning new tricks. The fact is, young music fans tend to dismiss older musicians because they get detached from the 'scene', and most of the time they are, but 'The Power To Believe' is proof that seasoned musicians whose commercial peak has passed still have the potential to deliver something good. 'ConstruKction' was fairly good, but it sounded a little too electronic and KC need a bit of rawness in their sound. This time it's been refined and updated, more carefully considered, and ordered much better. They haven't released an album like this since 'Larks' Tongues.', something that hits you with its heaviness. Plus - some of the riffs on here are of headbanging quality, especially the middle section of 'Facts Of Life'.