ABSENT LOVERS - LIVE IN MONTREAL, 1984

Simply Amazing!!! For those who are occasional put off with the sound quality of live King Crimson archives, fear not, this one is crystal clear! That quality is key, because the band was on fire on this last night of their 1984 world tour. Frappe and Belew have a synchronicity that boggles the mind. They can't possibly be doing this note for note, so one can only assume that they have the ability to improvise with an acute sense of what the other will do. Tony Levin on bass, and Bill Bruford on drums are no less in tune.

These are really really difficult pieces in odd tunings, and even odder time sequences. And error would be automatically noticeable, and there simply are none anywhere in this concert. The fact that they are able to hit the stage perfectly in synch makes in even more amazing. As far as the songs, they're all great, but my favourites, as is true with the in studio stuff from this band comes from Disipline. Again, it's an appreciation for the sheer dificulty of the pieces that puts them a step above. Finally, a word about Adrian Belew. If you didn't know much about the band, you would think he's the frontman instead of Fripp. I think Fripp was fine with that, and Belew's vocals are outstanding. I really like his vocal style, as pristine as his playing. This is top notch music. Play it loud!