DISCIPLINE

The phoenix that emerged from the ashes!

After the release of "Red", Robert Fripp declared King Crimson dead and for seven long years, it was actually dead. John Wetton went to occasionally play with Roxy Music and Uriah Heep, Bill Bruford did the same in Genesis and National Health (besides his solo albums), they both played together again in that awful UK album and Robert Fripp played with Brian Eno and as a session musician for several bands such as Talking Heads, Blondie, Peter Gabriel, and David Bowie.

Another musician who also collaborated with Talking Heads was Adrian Belew, who was currently a member of the Frank Zappa band and it was with this musician that Fripp started to create a new band that was going to be called Discipline. For this new band, they got Tony Levin (session musician for several artists such as Peter Gabriel and John Lennon), an American bass player who was innovating with the use of a weird instrument called Chapman Ctick and fortunately Bill Bruford was available to work with Fripp again.

It was this new half British-half American line-up that started to create this ambitious sound that was a very nice and interesting mixture of Progressive Rock and New Wave music; experimenting with a lot of different sounds and musical styles. After Belew, Bruford and Levin convinced Fripp to switch the name of the band to King Crimson, the name "Discipline" was given to this magnificent new album.

1.- Elephant talk (04:43): The opening track has become one of the favorites for many Crimson fans all over the world (including me). Levin starts the song with his Chapman Stick while Bruford changes the classic acoustic drums for a more electronic kit; the voice of Adrian Belew with his particular Kentucky accent and Fripp playing in a more rhythmic and less solo-y and riffy way are screaming that this Crimson is different and it has a lot to offer to the listeners. The elephant noises are also a very fresh touch.

2.- Frame by frame (05:10): My favorite song of the album; the song shows a lot of influence from Belew's days with Talking Heads. Levin's choruses and Fripp's guitar lines are amazing.

3.- Matte kudasai (03:49): It wouldn't be a King Crimson album without a beautiful soft ballad. Here we don't have wind instruments like saxophones or flutes but rather Fripp's sweet solo and Levin's sensual bass.

4.- Indiscipline (04:33): The closing track of the A-side is the most aggressive. Insane drums and a very strong guitar riff give this song a slight resemblance to the "Larks' tongues in aspic" - "Red" era.

5.- Thela hun ginjeet (06:26): Here we have perhaps one of the most interesting pieces of the album; Bill Bruford played the drums with an African rhythm that goes through the whole song while Levin's jazzy bass and Fripp's distorted guitar accompany it creating an almost world music texture.

6.- The sheltering sky (08:23): The instrumental piece of the album it's also the longest one; kind of an ambient piece with stingy guitar lines from time to time. The softly played percussions are hypnotic.

7.- Indiscipline (05:06): As much as "Discipline", this song also has a lot of 1973-1974 Crimson influence, but here the Chapman Stick and the low-profile guitar give the song a more eighties sound. A groovy ending for a groovy album

King Crimson started again with a new style and it was brilliant. Some people don't like this new style but to me, this is one of the most iconic albums in their discography. I personally love the album so much that I actually got its cover tattooed on my right arm.

SONG RATING: Elephant talk, 5 Frame by frame, 5 Matte kudasai, 5 Indiscipline, 5 Thela hun ginjeet, 5 The sheltering sky, 4 Discipline, 4

AVERAGE: 4.71

PERCENTAGE: 94.29

ALBUM RATING 5 stars

I ranked this album #63 on my TOP 100 favorite Progressive Rock albums of all time.

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