BEAT

It's still an interesting album, with a couple of good songs, but in truth, it seems the 80s ideas of pop and cheese really caught up to King Crimson for this release. Instead of the highly complicated depth of Discipline, we have a much more straightforward and static release that would be Crimson's weakest album were ConstruKction of Light not in the running. The songs are nice usually, some almost bringing some energy forward, but on the whole, the album is uninspiring and unmemorable. The sparkling production and sound dynamics of the previous release, also, are missing. Tony Levin doesn't really get to explode like he usually does, and in the end, Beat is just a flat album by the band, the first one that's in the exact same vein as the one before it.

Few of the songs really stand out. Sartori in Tangier has a pretty cool bass beat and a neat melodic sound effect over it. Waiting Man features the classic Discipline style of complex music, but on the whole it really fails to do anything new or go anywhere very exciting. Two Hands is a pretty cool sort of love song. Though this song is not really progressive (in fact, I'm feeling 80s Genesis on this one), it really is nice and the mood of the song can be pretty refreshing. The Howler is more aggressive, in the vein of Discipline, though for some reason the whole song fails to take off. Requiem is reminiscent of earlier King Crimson improvisational work, though it suffers from a bit much noodly guitar and not enough structure.

Truth be told, if you love Discipline and just can't get enough of that sound, check here. It won't be the same or nearly as good, but it's not all bad. Just a fair bit subpar. If you aren't familiar with King Crimson at all, let alone simply 80s King Crimson, steer clear until you get your feet wet with another release of theirs, like Red or Discipline.

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