THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN

In the late seventies, I just about worshipped Robert Fripp. As he was the only consistent member of the world's greatest progressive rock band, he was essentially THE crimson king. Then something went wrong. He broke up King Crimson, audaciously declared all prog bands "dinosaurs", released one great solo album, and then under the guise of some flaky philosopy (that I actually paid to hear him describe - but I presume most of the crowd, like myself, wanted to hear him shred on his guitar), deconstructed his music into odd, but essentially boring disco and even more boring soundscapes.

Then, in 1981, he toured with this band, The League Of Gentlemen. The music is a vague precursor to the "Discipline" band, with Fripp playing guitar patterns similar to what he did with that incarnation of King Crimson. However, as good as his playing was, the rest of the band, a punk/new wave combo, just didn't have the ability to keep up with Fripp being Fripp.

The album is interesting, as you get to hear Fripp play his oddly tuned guitar exercises, and even sometimes shred over these simplistic rhythms and chords.

At least he was heading in the right direction.