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| King Crimson - The Power To Believe |
 Released: 2003 Label: Sanctuary Cat. No.: 06076-84585-2 Total Time: 51:11 | |
Reviewed by: John "Bo Bo" Bollenberg, October 2003 With The Power To Believe, innovative quartet King Crimson proves that you don’t have to send hundreds of thousands of soldiers to war. You can battle your anger on any musical instrument you like, resulting in a power that you will only encounter in a nuclear plant. The KC recipe hasn’t changed that much over the years, as we still encounter a great deal of repetition in their music; however, Fripp’s guitar now battles against the Warr guitar of Trey Gunn and the well measured antics of Adrian Belew. The guy who’s controlling it all is Pat Mastelotto, who gives the right signals at the right time, putting percussive accents to the indeed difficult music. At first I was surprised when I saw the name King Crimson pop up at some jazz festivals, but once you put your teeth in this album you know that KC is never far away from the originality and technicality of jazz. As with jazz, this isn’t the kind of CD you put on whilst you’re doing a myriad of other things. This music demands full concentration. Throughout the years these guys have also learned heaps where studio techniques are concerned, so what they offer you is the best result they can obtain in a studio today. The opening section for "Elektrik" sounds so simple, but if you know KC then you can bet your socks something difficult will follow it. As predicted we’re absolutely right because a more complex rhythm sporting lots of Fripp delight follows it. On one hand you get the dark sounding, aggressive rhythm, on the other hand the fragile nature of Fripp’s guitar. Like electricity ("Elektrik") you can’t see it but it’s definitely there ... and very dangerous! Mastelotto perfectly illustrates his talented skills where timing is concerned during the short "Facts Of Life (Intro)" followed in its footsteps by the fierce "Facts Of Life," with once again damned powerful drumming by Pat. "The Power To Believe II" takes us back to the east where the atmosphere is set by means of authentic acoustic percussion, resulting in a kind of meditation. It’s a fantastic composition with layer after layer of superb music, as if it concerns multiple layers of varnish covering a valuable piece of antique. "Dangerous Curves" is an ingenious piece of music that builds and builds, gaining more and more power as time evolves, and kind of exploding towards the end. In order to make the wait for the new album a little more bearable, the band issued Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With as a single [as an "ep" –ed]. King Crimson issuing singles is not what I would call perfect marketing, but then again they probably knew all along that the new album would take much longer than expected. The song isn’t really representative of the album, either but as a "shock effect" in small circles, maybe it could have done the trick. When I compare this track with the rest of the material on offer here, I tend to skip this track altogether and get on with the "real" stuff! With "The Power To Believe III" it’s as if we’re heading back to the band’s Red period. Again we get great timing from Mastelotto, who at one time slows down his rhythm drastically. The album closes with "Coda," based on some wonderful soundscapes. No doubt a difficult album, but then again we wouldn’t want Crimson to deliver anything else would we? Certainly from a technical point of view, both composition and recording wise, The Power To Believe outshines a lot of releases. However, the difficult nature of it all might not directly translate the genius into healthy salesfigures. War and peace on CD. No doubt Tolstoy would be pleased! [See also Dave's, Clayton's, and Keith's reviews -ed.] More about The Power To Believe: Track Listing: The Power To Believe I: A Cappella (0:44) / Level Five (7:17) / Eyes Wide Open (4:08) / Elektrik (7:59) / Facts Of Life: Intro (1:38) / Facts Of Life (5:05) / The Power To Believe II (7:43) / Dangerous Curves (6:42) / Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With (3:17) / The Power To Believe III (4:09) / The Power To Believe IV: Coda (2:29) Musicians: Contact: Website: www.king-crimson.com Discography
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