THE CONSTRUKCTION OF LIGHT

King Crimson

Eclectic Prog

3.15 | 986 ratings

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Bonnek
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator

Can you have a decades spanning career without one slip? The Constukction of Light will sure be selected by many as Crimson's most obvious career slip.

And I can't say I'm really attracted by what I found here either. I hear a Crimson at loss for inspiration, going through the motions without much conviction for the material. FraKctured is a good example. How could they name this dreary excess of notes after the superb masterpiece that was Fracture. Lark's Tongues IV is better and would become a nice live treat in the tours following this album and the ensuing Power To Believe.

The album marks quite a change from Thrak. Bruford and Levin were absent from this line-up and Mastello's drumming makes the sound much more powerful but also less dynamic. Again it's partially a recording and production matter as he sure didn't disappoint me on Power To Believe or on the concert recordings from the era. The guitars come much to the fore and make the album almost metal and even grunge in places. As pointed out before, Into The Frying Pan sounds like an Alice In Chains track that received a Crimson treatment.

Next to Into The Frying Pan, there are only two other tracks with vocals. ProzaKc Blues is rather fun but Belew's distorted vocals don't work for me. He would really shine on the rough live version he delivered on Elektrik though. The same goes for the noisy Oyster Soup, not a bad song but much better in its live version.

Sitting in between two of their best studio albums and some astounding ProjeKct albums, this one comes off as a surprisingly awkward and blurry record. I wouldn't say it's bad but I'm missing both creative fire and urgency in the performance. It's not entirely unthinkable that I will like this album one day but I wouldn't bet on it.

Bonnek | 3/5 | 2010-6-5

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