THE POWER TO BELIEVE

The Power to Believe is King Crimson's best studio album since reforming in the mid 90s. Notice that I didn't say THRAK. The truth is, I don't like THRAK as much as most people, though there are some good songs on it. But back to TPTB, King Crimson have melded their experiments with Metal and Fusion over the past couple of years with Robert Fripp's ambient tendencies to create a unique sound that couldn't be any more different than their symphonic beginnings. I won't reference The Construktion of Light to make a comparison, because I haven't listened to it enough. Go on other reviewers' opinions for that type of insight.

Overall, I like the symphonic side of King Crimson more than the avant-garde, though the latter side of the band is often very diverse and intersting, as it is on TPTB. Because of this predisposition, I enjoy the ambient songs more than the others. "The Power to Believe: Parts I-IV" are all sparse or ambient instrumentals, or in the case of "Part 1: A Capella," simply vocal. All of these are interesting, despite being toned down. Well, not every part is toned down. "Part III" begins as such, but soon ramps up into a frenetic, and fairly scary jam. "Part II" is the best of the four, with multiple shifts in the music. There is an intriguing introduction with an synthesized Arabic feel similar to "The Sheltering Sky" from Discipline, which goes into a soft and beautiful tubular bell section. "Part IV" comes close to being my favorite in the series, with an ambient soundscape deserving of being on Porcupine Tree's "The Sky Moves Sideways," a classic of the Space Prog genre. If all of these were spliced into an epic, it would be one of the most brilliant in King Crimson's career. But in this case, I believe the four sections work wonders at seperating out some of the more aggressive song on TPTB.

Speaking of, "Level Five" is a VERY aggressive, hard, loud, and technical song with just the right amount of unease and eerieness to go along. "Eyes Wide Open" is a sort of ballad, being softer than all of the other rock songs on TPTB, but coming from King Crimson, you can imagine how it differs vastly from what most people would consider a ballad. It has some great minor melody lines too. "Elektirc" reminds me of "Discipline" off the album of the same name. It has similar energetic picking with a great groove, yet is much eerier. There is also a short (electirc!?) flute introduction and conclusion to the song, and though seems out of place, it is melodic and enjoyable nevertheless.

I don't really see why it was necessary to make a seperate introduction to "Facts of Life." The song isn't too great to begin with and the intro doesn't make it much better. I find the song mostly annoying, as if it is trying to be heavy and avant just for the hell of it. I do think the riffing in the middle of the song pretty good, though. "Happy With What You Have to Be Happy With" fares a little better that "Facts of Life," though it still isn't as strong as other mentioned songs. I think I like it better becuase it is a bit self-parodying. The title I do find amusing as well. To finish the rundown of songs, "Dangerous Curves" is one of those slow-building songs that adds layers of sound and noises over time to create a hightened sense of tension. These type of songs are quite familiar to Crimson fans knowledgable of the band's cannon, and you'd think it'd get boring after awhile, right? Wrong. King Crimson always find was to make these experiments/songs work, and "Dangerous Curves" is no exception. Using electronics and a repeating guitar/bass riff throughout, the band builds up to a not-quite-exhilarating-but-appropriate conclusion which expand on the formula, adding excellent, science-fiction keyboards and powerful drumming. A great combination of the ambient and heavy aspects of TPTB.

If you're looking to get into King Crimson for the first time, I'd suggest that The Power to Believe be your starting point only if you're a fan of Progressive Metal more than Symphonic Prog. It is a very good album--my favorite one from the 1990s and 2000s--but is harder to get into than their earlier 70s albums. However, if you're a fan of the more avant-garde bands in the prog kingdom, or if you've fully explored the earlier eras of King Crimson, The Power to Believe should be for you.